Product Overview
The magic of Jim Henson's popular television show, Bear in the Big Blue House, is captured in this computer version that brings fans one step closer to Bear, Ojo, and the gang. Focus is on creativity and imagination — which translates into FUN.
Kids explore the Big Blue House with familiar characters and play 5 activities in either directed- or free-play mode. The activities can be discovered naturally as kids explore the rooms of the house or accessed directly from a map, and are as follows:
Story Maker — kids make a story by themselves or with the help of Treelo and Ojo. Choose one of 4 settings like a carnival or outer space, pick characters in different poses, and decorate each page of the story with stickers. Kids can even narrate their stories with their own voices!
Sundae Bar — Tutter needs help making sundaes! Kids need to choose a size sundae bowl and play a fun arcade-style game to catch the flying scoops of ice cream that Tutter sends from atop the fridge using his "Mouseapult". Decorating the sundaes is great fun, and kids can choose to do so using any ingredients they want, or follow visual instructions to create sundae orders for Bear and friends. All the traditional sundae toppings are here, as well as some far-out ones like clams that will make kids giggle.
Bear Crafts — kids build crafts using household objects either by referring to a blueprint or in a free play mode. For example, kids create a hot-air balloon with a spool, beach ball, and lollipop sticks.
Pip & Pop Jam — this adorable music activity has kids finishing song lyrics with either silly rhymes or ones that make sense. Once all the lyrics are complete, Pip & Pop sing the song! Kids get an earful of cute songs, lots of feedback from Pip & Pop about their lyrical selections, and are guaranteed to giggle away at the silliness.
Puppet Theatre — kids decide how 4 different fairy tales will play out, and watch their puppet show as they direct a puppet back and forth across the screen. For example, players will be asked whether they want Little Red Riding Hood to meet a wolf, meet Bear, or pick berries along the way.
Exploring the Big Blue House will bring up all sorts of surprises. This software contains "enhanced clickables". Though these hotspots could have varied a little more, they are really quite educational. Bear gives kids bits of information with each clickable, and most of these hotspots encourage kids to use their imagination. For example, clicking on the bridge will bring up Bear's thoughts: "Bridges are great for getting across streams. How else can you get across? Maybe a hot-air balloon?"
Kids collect sketches in their sketch book as they play the activities (this doesn't happen often enough, though). These sketches can be printed out for coloring off the computer. Other activities allow for printing as well. For example, kids can print out their finished building projects, complete with a list of the everyday objects required to construct them.
Pros & Cons
The 3D graphics are rich and deep — a visual treat. The program looks and feels like the television show, and fans will love to interact with their favorite characters.
There are some design issues that might require parents to sit down with their kids the first time they play the game. For example, lengthy introductions and conversations cannot be "clicked through" but showing kids that they can press the "Escape" key on the computer keyboard will solve that problem. When preschoolers first set out to explore the Big Blue House, they might have some problems finding the activities and figuring out the "point" of the game. However, if they run their pointer to the bottom of the screen, a pop-up menu appears that gives kids quick and easy access to any room of the house and each of the 5 activities. As well, the icons in the story-making activity probably should have been more kid-friendly — they confused kid testers at first.
This program is designed to enhance creativity, but probably would be best considered a title that inspires and encourages imagination. There is not a whole lot of room for inventive, breakthrough creativity, but the activities and clickables will definitely feed the imagination.
Kid testers didn't want to stop making virtual sundaes, and trying to "catch" the flying scoops of ice cream is almost as fun as decorating the sundae itself! The music activity is outstanding with wonderful feedback and interactivity. Kids giggled when Pip and Pop, smack in the center of their performances of the songs, reacted with confusion over the silly rhymes that kids selected themselves. It has just the right amount of silliness that preschoolers will love. Children also enjoyed recording their own voices to narrate their story pages in Story Maker.
Children accustomed to high-energy video games or television shows may get bored easily, but most kid testers enjoyed the mellow, unconditional atmosphere of the game. The hosts are wonderfully encouraging, and feedback is positive and helpful. In comparison to the first Bear in the Big Blue House title (Bear's Sense of Adventure), which was good, Bear's Imagine That! is better.
Technically Speaking
Minimum requirements are Windows 95/98, a Pentium 133, 32 Mb RAM, and 4X CD ROM. A microphone is optional (but really adds to the fun, so is recommended).
Skills Covered
creativity, imagination, design, music
Educational Value
Buy this program mainly for its "fun" factor. There are some educational benefits with the "enhanced clickables" that help to develop vocabulary and encourage kids to think, rhymes, and story making, but the overriding benefit will be its ability to entertain kids. The choice between directed and free play modes is excellent, though the free play in some activities is somewhat confining.
Entertainment Value
Especially for young fans of the show, this title serves up a fun, imaginative time. The characters/Muppets are as charming as you would expect from a Jim Henson production and the activities are, for the most part, entertaining.
Design
Some design issues mentioned above mean that parents should sit with their child the first time they play the game. This will help preschoolers get acquainted with the different icons and choices they have to make navigation easy. The graphics are a treat.
Replayability
There is a surprising amount of content in the program. I expect replay value to be a little above average.
Dollar Value
Suggested retail price is $29.95 US. There are enough unique activities in the program that make it worth the outlay.
Released: 2000
Reviewed: May 2000
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