Contact Us To See Your Ad Here
Powered by MaxBlogPress  

Play and Learn

csglgbutton2.jpg

I know that there’s some controversy about screen time–TV, video games, and computer–especially for preschoolers. That said, my children both watch educational TV (and if I’m being honest, since my second child is so much younger than his big sis, he also watches her nine-year-old non-nutritive TV as well).

They both love computer games, and could navigate the computer easily shortly after celebrating their third birthdays. Computer games are fun, they are educational, and they keep them quiet. What more could I ask for?

If, like me, you like to let your children indulge in computer games, or if you’d like to start your preschooler off with some fantastic activities on the computer, here are two new games that my four-year-old son has been enjoying:

Mia’s Reading Adventure: The Bugaboo Bugs

This game by Kutuoka looks gorgeous, featuring TV or movie-quality 3D animation. In fact, when Kyle wants to play this game, he asks to watch “the movie” on the computer. There are two ways to play–either individual games, which I pull up for him, omia.jpgr the adventure which is more like a video game, which big sister Amanda prefers. The game says it’s appropriate for Kindergarten through grade three. My son just turned four and knows his letters and sounds, so there are some pre-reading games that he can play with my (or big sister’s) help, such as rhyming words or filling in a missing letter in a word. My fourth-grade daughter also enjoys it (although she says she’s just helping her brother play), and finds the adventure portion to be a challenge, so I’d say that age range is appropriate.

The game focuses on literacy skills such as sight word recognition, phonics, rhymes, spelling and more, as Mia enlists the help of the player to help rid the old Victorian house where her family has lived for generations of the Bugaboos before they all get exterminated.

This is a DVD-Rom (which allows for more content on the single disk to showcase the rich graphics) and will run on Windows Vista, XP or 2000 and Macintosh.

Kyle and Amanda enjoying Mia Reading together

JumpStart Advanced Preschool World

This is another amazing game using 3D technology. It is geared for ages 3 to 5, and my computer savvy 4-year-old picked it up fairly easily, but I can also see that it will provide hours of challenging fun.

This is an adventure type game, where the preschooler navigates through the world. There are some features which will appeal to some kids, especially if they are reluctant to play the “educational” portion of the games:preschool-world.jpg

  • on each visit to Preschool World (or as many times as they desire), players can change the clothes of their virtual self and also change hair color, skin color, and other features.
  • upon completion of one of the games, players receive special deliveries into their mailbox
  • the player can also personalize his house–selecting the windows, doors, roof and color.

Kyle loves these special features that help make the game his own, so much so that he’s probably not noticing that he’s learning number and letter concepts, vocabulary, critical thinking skills, and so much more which will help get him ready for school.

This 4-disc game requires a lot of memory (1.4 GB), and runs on Windows XP or Vista, but in spite of its mass, it has run quite easily on my computer.

If you’d like to win one of two sets of both of these games, spread the word, and leave a comment on this post. This giveaway is open to U.S. and Canadian addresses. The winners will be announced at the conclusion of the Creative Summer Days event on June 24.


About Jennifer D.

Jennifer Donovan has been a part of the 5 Minutes for Mom team since 2007. She writes product reviews, covers events, and manages the 5 Minutes for Books weekly column and website. She lives in Houston and blogs at Snapshot about life with her family.

281 Comments

  • 251
    kathy pease
    June 23, 2008 | Permalink |

    count me in please :)

  • 252
    Christy Hickman
    June 23, 2008 | Permalink |

    I would love to win this for our son who will turn 3 in December. We also have one on the way that would benefit from it also. Thanks for the chance to win it!!

  • 253
    June 23, 2008 | Permalink |

    This would be awesome!

  • 254
    Jennifer Schroeder
    June 23, 2008 | Permalink |

    What a great learning opportunity for my two young sons. Thank you for the opportunity to win this!

  • 255
    June 23, 2008 | Permalink |

    I’ve been looking for computer games for my littles that aren’t just mindless, and these look like they would fit! Thanks!

  • 256
    Becky Grayson
    June 23, 2008 | Permalink |

    Perfect entertainment when Mom has something she needs to get done.

  • 257
    June 23, 2008 | Permalink |

    My kids would love these!

  • 258
    Daniel M
    June 23, 2008 | Permalink |

    looks like a great one!

  • 259
    Nichole Wilson
    June 23, 2008 | Permalink |

    Hope I win this for my youngest son.

  • 260
    lee
    June 23, 2008 | Permalink |

    Thanks for the great prize..In time for the Summer

  • 261
    Susanne Troop
    June 23, 2008 | Permalink |

    What a great prize!

  • 262
    June 23, 2008 | Permalink |

    We’ve been wanting to try out some computer games for my daughter.

  • 263
    Sherry Rimbey
    June 23, 2008 | Permalink |

    I hope I win this one!

  • 264
    Cat Hare
    June 23, 2008 | Permalink |

    Would be great for my granddaughter :)

  • 265
    June 23, 2008 | Permalink |

    This would be a huge hit with my nephew. Thanks for the chance to win!

  • 266
    Suzie Lockhart
    June 23, 2008 | Permalink |

    This would be perfect for my son. Thanks for the opportunity to win it.

  • 267
    Renee Turner
    June 23, 2008 | Permalink |

    Reading is just around the corner for us

  • 268
    June 23, 2008 | Permalink |

    The girls love being on the computer and I let them when it’s educational. We’d love to be in the drawing!

  • 269
    amy delong
    June 23, 2008 | Permalink |

    my son is 4 he would really enjoy this!thanks!

  • 270
    June 23, 2008 | Permalink |

    Love the educational computor game; keep them coming; many thanks sW

  • 271
    Beverly Metcalf
    June 23, 2008 | Permalink |

    I would love to win this for my grandchildren. Thanks for having this great contest!

  • 272
    Sara
    July 19, 2008 | Permalink |

    Thank you so much for entering me. I would love to have this for my son, he is so into learning and loves to sit on our lap at the computer right now and this would be perfect for him!

  • 273
    August 8, 2008 | Permalink |

    HAHAHAHAHAHAHAH IS FUNNY

  • 274
    August 8, 2008 | Permalink |

    :X:X

  • 276
    August 8, 2008 | Permalink |

    JAN RICK IT MESS JR

  • 277
    August 8, 2008 | Permalink |

    **************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************

  • 278
    August 8, 2008 | Permalink |
  • 280
    August 8, 2008 | Permalink |

    BLA BLA BLA DO NOT COMMENT AND REPLY ME
    I M, BOY

  • 281
    December 19, 2008 | Permalink |

    Hi There!

    Thanks for the share, I believe the kids will love this. They also have their own favorite, http://thecolor.com. Happy Holidays!!:)

5 Trackbacks

  • Shop Our Stores