The Land Before Time Kindergarten Adventure

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PC version requires:
Windows 95, 486/66, 2X CD-ROM drive, 8 bit sound card, SVGA (640x480 color),16 MB RAM, 12 MB HD

Mac version requires:
Power PC, System 7.5 or better, 2X CD-ROM drive, 16 MB RAM, 12 MB HD

Description:

Sound Source Interactive's The Land Before Time Kindergarten Adventure, for ages 4-6, features six activities and a few extras.

ACTIVITIES

Musical Shapes Part I has children match stone shapes (heart, star, pentagon, triangle...) to the rock they came from. Musical Shapes Part II is a bit more challenging as kids match pictographs of objects and animals to their live counterparts. Both Part I and II are musically activated by correct choices.

Sharptooth Gulch encourages eye-hand coordination as kids use arrow keys to maneuver, Ducky or Chomper, 'left', 'right', 'forward' and 'back' across land, water and tar strips while trying to avoid prowling Sharptooths.

Adventure Stories allows children to Read or Write. If kids choose to 'Write' they begin by selecting a sentence and then a background to place a variety of objects and characters. Upon completion, stories may be played immediately and/or viewed later. Select 'Read' and discover four short stories (3-4 sentences in length) that will be read to the player or view 'My Stories' written earlier.

Jungle Jam lets children experience Jazz, Ragae, Ambient, Somba and the Piano while adding their own improvisations using the drum, musical selections, nature sounds or mystery melodies. As kids click on a few piano keys to make the improvisation happen they are surprised by Little Foot and friends who will pop out to see what's going on.

Living Valley wants kids to paint with animations while listening to music. Not a true 'paint' program... rather children can embellish day or night scenes with animated stickers that come to life.

Creature Cards makes Holidays and even saying, "Thank you" a bit more fun as children design and print cards with pictures of their favorite Land Before Time characters.

EXTRAS

The Land Before Time Kindergarten Adventure also includes an Arcade style game for kids to play; Prehistoric Pinball requires kids to be quick on the letters 'M' and 'Z' along with the 'Spacebar' and 'Enter' key. As the ball bumps and rolls through obstacles, kids keep it going by not letting it get by those dino tails. Play it by yourself or with a partner.

Going Home can be played by up to five players. The board game has children select a character and spin the dial to see how many spaces they can move. Challenges arise in danger zones and sometimes trivia questions, taken from The Land Before Time movies, must be answered.

Upon completion of any adventure, kids may view a Movie Clip. Sound Source Interactive designed this feature to be an incentive to keep kids playing and coming back for more.

Features:

• Six engaging learning activities
• Two 'fun break' activities
• Age-appropriate skill sets are woven into activities
• Kids 'earn' exciting video clips from the first five The Land Before Time videos
• Rich and highly interactive animations and sound components

Technical Aspects:

Report and Conclusions:

From a parent's perspective, I think the title has some great ideas but I am disappointed. The program teaches concepts but does not provide a way for the child to increase their knowledge once the basic concept is learned. Without those Movie Clips, to spur kids on, there's nothing to hold their attention and keep them motivated.

There were also a few minor adjustments I would love to see made. In Adventure Stories 'Read' the sentences are displayed in white on top of busy, character filled, scenes and then read to the child. It would be great if, as each word is read, it lit up in yellow reinforcing to the child which word is being spoken and what it looks like.

I've never seen anything quite like Adventure Stories 'Write'. Choosing sentences and then designing the storyboard is a terrific concept! At the bottom of the screen you can see which storyboard you've already chosen. It would be better if children could view the previous sentence chosen, with the option to click on it, and have it repeated back. This way kids could hear how their sentences would sound together before making a selection. To increase program longevity, include an option to turn off the sound for more advanced readers.

All in all, The Land Before Time Kindergarten Adventure is a cute program with a lot of potential. If you're buying for a Little Foot Fan I have no doubt that he/she will enjoy it.