Product Overview
Kids join Maurice Sendak's Little Bear as he finds lots to do on a rainy day! This software title is based on the adventures of Little Bear of storybook fame and the star of a popular Nickelodeon show. There are 7 simple activities accessible from a main activities screen:
- Kids can do some simple Puzzles with the endearing images of Little Bear and his friends. There are 3 difficulty levels, each with different numbers of puzzle pieces -- 4 pieces, 6 pieces, and 9 pieces.
- In the Matching Game, children uncover the cards and try to find pairs amongst either 8 or 12 cards total, depending on the selected level.
- In Paint a Picture kids color images using very simple tools (paintbrush, paint can, eraser, and mop) and a small palette of basic colors. Kids can mix 2 colors together to create new colors.
- Print Outs contain a total of 27 printable activities organized into 3 categories. Examples of arts & crafts print-outs are a Nature Book and Vegetable Stamps; kids can make a Snack Necklace, Fizzy Lemonade, and My Own Mini Garden in the recipes section; and examples of printable games are a Water Xylophone and a Treasure Hunt.
- Dress Up involves putting hats, scarves, jackets, and more on Little Bear and his friends.
- In Make a Picture with Stickers, kids fill up the backgrounds with stickers. For example, they can add a wheelbarrow, vegetables, flowers, Mother Bear, and other fun stickers to a garden scene, or they can create a birthday scene with stickers of balloons, a birthday cake, etc.
- In Make Gingerfriend Cookies (pictured below), kids follow the recipe to make cookies on a recipe card -- add 2 tablespoons of molasses, 3 cups of flours, 3 eggs, etc. -- then select cookie cutter shapes to cut out the rolled dough. When the cookies are "baked", kids can decorate them with icing colors and sprinkles.
This is a very basic activity center software title -- there is nothing really new here. Many of the activities have print options.
Child testers were most pleased with the Make Gingerfriend Cookies activity -- it involves 3 steps: first following a recipe, then using cookie cutters to make cookie shapes, and finally decorating them. The actual decorating part was somewhat disappointing -- we would have preferred that the icing didn't go over the lines of the shapes because younger users ended up making unintelligible messes out of their cookies.
Technically Speaking
Minimum requirements are Windows 95/98 or NT 4.0, a 486/66 MHz, 16 Mb RAM, and 4X CD ROM. Mac users require a Power PC with 16 Mb RAM, System 7.5 or higher, and at least 4X CD ROM.
Skills Covered
creativity, memory, matching, critical thinking, problem solving, decision making, following directions, counting, measuring units, shape recognition.
Educational Value
Exploring with puzzles, stickers, art, and matching are featured in this game.
Entertainment Value
Little Bear fans will enjoy the program, at least for awhile. The activities are mostly typical activity center fare.
Design
This program is designed well, with a main screen that allows access to all the activities, as well as difficulty levels for some games.
Replayability
Replay value will be very dependent on the child and what other software titles he/she already owns. Children at the youngest end of the suggested age group will probably return to the game more often than older ones, and kids with few software titles will find this game interesting.
Dollar Value
Suggested retail price is $19.95 US. Except for the character Little Bear and his friends and the fun printable activities, this software title doesn't stand out as original or unique.
Released: 2000
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