Product Overview
Join Bear, from the popular Disney Channel television show Jim Henson's Bear in the Big Blue House, as he and his friends explore the five senses — tasting, touching, hearing, seeing, and smelling.
Click on any of the 5 characters to begin an adventure:
- Kids learn about the sense of taste when they help Pip and Pop make their famous clam dip. They choose 1 food from each of 3 food categories — salty, sweet, and sour. These are the ingredients that they will be seeking on their adventure in and out of the Big Blue House. For example, if they choose cupcakes as the sweet ingredient, at some point kids will discover an activity that requires them to pour batter into the appropriate baking pan. To retrieve a lemon (one of the possible ingredients for the dip) hanging high up in a tree, they bounce a ball and hit it until it falls to the ground. Once the 3 items are collected, kids make the dip then "read" a book that outlines their adventure.
- Ojo needs help building a house for Snowbear. Children choose materials that are rough, mushy, and soft. As they look for their selected items, they might click on the toy chest in the bedroom and build noisy toys.
- Learning about the sense of hearing is easy when helping Treelo make music. Along the way, they may stumble upon a maze activity in which Tutter the mouse needs help finding his big piece of cheese, or click on a globe in the living room and play a game of pretend.
- Tutter needs help redecorating, and kids learn all about the sense of sight. Kids select a paint color, a picture, and lighting for the mouse hole then are off on their adventure looking for these special items. Outside, they encounter a path activity in which Bear leads the way with his nose!
- Kids learn about the sense of smell with Bear as they help him make his favorite tripleberry pie. Bear is having a "pie picnic" and kids select different ingredients that they want for their special pie — should they choose honey, strawberry jam or apple sauce? What kind of spice should they choose? After making their selections, it is time to find the ingredients for the pie. In the kitchen, kids can play a memory game with Pip and Pop, and match foods, foods that taste similar, and dishes made from the same food. In the living room, kids grind spices, play a game of pretend, and a whole lot more.
Although each adventure takes place in and out of the house and shares some common activities, the items to collect are unique to the mission at hand. Throughout, kids collect various berries for Bear's tripleberry pie, as well as items like batter and a rolling pin. In all adventures, the pawprint cursor turns yellow when it floats over a "clickable" and turns into a magnifying glass when it hovers over an activity area. Clickables help reinforce vocabulary, and explanations of common objects around the house and in the yard are given (for example, umbrella, telescope, refrigerator). Areas to explore include the kitchen, living room, hall, attic, bathroom, yard, etc.
There are 20+ activities spread over the 5 adventures and 8 songs, 6 of which are original ones. There is a pop-up bar at the bottom of the screen that displays the items collected and those that are still outstanding, as well as navigational icons. This program features rich graphics and a calm atmosphere that many kids will appreciate.
Technically Speaking
Minimum reqs for Windows 95/98 are a Pentium 90, 16 Mb RAM, and 4X CD ROM and 50 Mb hard drive space.
Skills Covered
the five senses, problem solving, creativity, imagination, music appreciation, colors, memory
Educational Value
Problem solving skills are highlighted in the adventures in this program, but kids also learn a whole lot of miscellaneous facts, most of which are tied into the five senses. For example, kids learn many interesting facts about food.
Entertainment Value
The 3D graphics are wonderful and appealing to children, regardless of whether they are familiar with the television show or not. The characters are charming as well. Activities ranged from uninspired to mediocre to fun — a mixed bag.
Design
There is a pop-up bar at the bottom of the screen that helps kids get to where they want to go quickly, and to check out the items they have collected and those that they still need. Children were frustrated by the inability to "click through" a number of introductions and talking sequences.
Replayability
Rather large content and lots of choices in each adventure help contribute to the replay value.
Dollar Value
Suggested retail price is $30 US.
Released: 1999
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