Children who are old enough to sit at the family home computer, more than likely, are on the verge of learning how to use it.
While tots are not going to be cruising the Net just yet, parents probably will want to give their OK to allow them to use a new crop of software designed for aspiring computer users. New CD-ROMs are targeted to educate your child by teaching them basic computer skills, helping them with math, even reading them stories.
In “My Very First Software” (VroomBooks, $30) preschoolers (ages 2-4) learn how to use a mouse and keyboard with the help of brightly colored animation. “Peter Rabbit’s Math Garden” (ages 4-8) and “The Adventures of Peter Rabbit & Benjamin Bunny” (ages 3-7) are two CD-ROMs that take the beautiful illustrations of Beatrix Potter’s classic stories and combine them with virtual learning activities, storytelling and mathematical lessons through games. (Both by Mindscape for $35 each.)
“Get Set To Learn” (Creative Wonders, $35), calls in some familiar faces. Namely, Big Bird, Oscar the Grouch, Cookie Monster and other members of the “Sesame Street” gang gone interactive, help prepare your little one (ages 2-4) for the rigors of kindergarten.
First things first
To get started, tykes ages 2 to 4 years old will find that “My Very First Software” puts them in a technicolor world assisted by a Martian-like little fellow named Cybee, who’ll help them along the neon-colored path to learning computer basics.
There are three different programs on this CD-ROM.
Program No. 1 teaches mouse usage by letting children move the cursor over the screen to find the hidden images. As they pass the cursor over the screen, they will hear sounds and see faint outlines of images.
In an underwater scene, as your child clicks on the outlined figure, an image will appear such as an octopus, deep-sea diver, treasure chest, shipwreck or a shark.
“My Very First Software” comes with its very own mousepad. And if that doesn’t get the little dear going, perhaps Cybee will encourage them with phrases like “Cosmic!” or “You’re quicker than a meteorite.”
Program No. 2 teaches kiddies the tricky art of double clicking — a skill some adults have yet to master. They also can learn the names of objects. In the nature scene, they’ll have to find hidden images by double clicking. Let’s see, now where would a baby alligator hide? (hint: inside the alligator egg). Or where would a Monarch butterfly be keeping residence? (hint: a cocoon).
Program No. 3 lets them get creative while learning the keyboard in a feature called “Key Crazy.” All they need to do is depress any character and a picture pops onto their screen accompanied by sounds.
One rabbit, two rabbits . . .
Parents especially will love “Peter Rabbit’s Math Garden” because it has a parent’s-only menu. They’ll also like it because it teaches children basic math.
Many math adventures are to be had as children help Mr. Jeremy Fisher (a proper English frog) go fishing for his dinner party. Children can learn counting as well as sorting as they help Mr. Fisher catch fish and sort them according to size, color and markings.
Games have three levels. At the end of each game, you get the chance to gather radishes by clicking on them as they fall down the screen.
The main menu gives children a total of four games to play; each emphasizes a different math skill — as in the case with Mrs. Tittlemouse, who is cleaning her home for her tea party and needs help sweeping out the creepy crawlers that are all over.
Children get to count creepy crawlers, add and subtract them, while participating in this fun exercise.
At the end of their sessions, kids can grow their own garden by trading radishes with Peter Rabbit for seed packets.
More bunny adventures
Children also can watch Peter Rabbit and his cousin Benjamin Bunny get into all types of mischief in “The Adventures of Peter Rabbit & Benjamin Bunny.”
This CD-ROM lets you hear the stories of Beatrix Potter and see her watercolor illustrations come to life on screen. Parents can personalize the bookplate with their child’s name. Then they’ll want to click on either Peter Rabbit or Benjamin Bunny and hear their stories.
On the Story Page, children can see Benjamin, Peter, Mopsy, Flopsy and Cottontail, Mr. McGregor and others. Children can read the story alone or be read to. Either way, they will think that they have tumbled into the fairy tale along with Peter and friends.
`Sesame Street’ interactive
“Get Set to Learn” brings the whole “Sesame Street” gang — Cookie Monster, Count Dracula, Big Bird, Oscar the Grouch, Zoe and more — to your home computer.
My personal favorite was a game called “Dunk or Dare” hosted by Oscar. Kids will get to count smelly items from the trash, like rotten cheese or pickles, and add and subtract them to the barrel.
Then Oscar will tell you how many pickles you’ll need to put in the barrel. Click on the yellow arrow to add pickles to the barrel. Click on the pickles themselves to take them away. Kids (with some assistance from Oscar) get to dunk Telly in a dunk tank.
Then they are rewarded with a slimy purple frog.
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All these CD-ROMs tested ran well on either Windows 95 or Windows 3.1. Installation should be a snap for adults.
