Life's Little Lessons with the Berenstain Bears: Little Bears Make Big Helpers

Reviewed by Sara Hartman
Published by Sound Source Interactive

Age Group: Age 2 to 5, Age 4 to 8
Type: Thinking Games, More Fun
Price: $15

PC version requires:
Windows 95, P133, 24MB RAM, 4X CD-ROM, 8-bit sound card, 640x480 256 color/SVGA monitor, 10MB HD

Mac version requires:
Power Macintosh, System 7.5.3, 32MB RAM, 4X CD-ROM, 13" color monitor displaying 256 at 640x480 pixel resolution, 10MB HD

Description:

Longtime favorites, the Berenstain Bears introduce very young users to important life lessons in a new series from Sound Source Interactive. In this title, Life's Little Lessons with the Berenstain Bears: Little Bears Make Big Helpers, children learn about helpfulness and cooperation by helping Papa Bear gather honey, assisting Mama Bear in making a quilt, running errands with the whole Bear family, and helping Brother and Sister Bear clean up their messy room.

Features:

  • The lovable Berenstain Bears
  • Four short stories
  • Four story-related activities
  • Three difficulty levels
  • Ideas about helpfulness and cooperation
  • Two-player option offers opportunities for teamwork

Technical Aspects:

We experienced no problems installing or running this title on a 603e Power Macintosh system with 64MB RAM. The graphics look just like the pages of a Berenstain Bears storybook. Background music and sounds are within the acceptable tolerance range of a harried parent. Installation instructions only are included in the CD sleeve, but there is a support number (not toll-free) and web addresses printed on the package.

Some of the activities could be played without sound, but this is basically a storybook and I would not recommend it for hearing-impaired users.

Report and Conclusions:

My kids love the Berenstain Bears, and we have many of their storybooks. Little Bears Make Big Helpers captures the essence of the storybook series and is easy for young ones to play by themselves or in pairs. My two- and four-year-old testers have been having a great time with the program.

My only criticism is that the title is so limited. There are four stories and four accompanying activities. Each activity has three levels of difficulty, but it doesn't take much time to play through the whole CD. I wouldn't be surprised to see this series repackaged in bundle form in the future.




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