Common Sense Note
Parents need to know that this software only works with the Comfy Easy PC keyboard (sold separately, $80). It's a perfect first computer software adventure for kids who have graduated from simply playing cause-and-effect games. Kids learn basic problem-solving skills as they help Jumpy the Dog find his missing bone. Since the location of the bone changes when you play the adventure a second time, the software has some replayability.
Families can talk about how important it is to help your family and friends when they are in need -- just like Jumpy's friends all helped him to find his missing bone. Families might also want to discuss how the characters are different, and which character they liked best and why. In this software, animals and even trees can talk. Parents might want to have fun with their kids by imagining what inanimate objects might say.
Common Sense Review
Reviewed By: Jinny Gudmundsen
WORLD OF COLORS is new computer software for use with the Comfy Easy PC keyboard, a special 20-button device that resembles a baby's activity board. This game offers a great "first" software adventure for kids as young as 3.
For families unfamiliar with the Comfy Easy PC Learning System, it is a keyboard with large buttons that display colors, musical instruments, and the faces of five characters, as well as the sun, the moon, and a rain cloud. The keyboard also has a phone and a spin-roller. The Comfy keyboard comes bundled with First Steps, software that provides kids ages 1 to 3 with activities that explore cause and effect. When parents plug the special keyboard into a USB port on their PC, it locks out a toddler from accessing any files on the computer other than the software loaded with the device. The new World of Colors software expands the playability of the Comfy keyboard to kids ages 3 to 5.
When children reach age 3, they are ready to move beyond cause-and-effect activities into problem-solving. World of Colors is a good vehicle to do just that. Preschoolers help Jumpy the Dog in his quest to find his lost bone.
As Jumpy retraces his steps and visits all the places he had been with his bone, his friends Comfy (a boy), Feely (an elephant), Snaily (a snail), and Buddy (a bear) assist him. With Comfy, kids join the search in the woods. While there, they help a talking tree color its fruit by pressing on the colored buttons on the Comfy keyboard. Likewise, when kids join the search at the playground with Buddy the Bear, Buddy asks for the player's help in coloring his overalls and other objects. Children will learn to identify "the color of the sky" or "the color of grass" during this adventure.
Kids will also solve problems that do not involve identifying colors. At one point, Buddy gets stuck on a newly painted slide. He asks the player to help him wash off the paint. If kids push the cloud icon, it starts to rain and Buddy gets unstuck.
World of Colors inserts many clever learning opportunities within its storyline. For example, when looking for the bone, the characters reinforce the concept of placement by having the characters look for things that are under, over, behind, within, and outside other objects.
This software is slow-moving and charming, which makes it more appropriate for preschoolers than kindergartners. The bone is hidden in more than one place, so kids can play the adventure more than once. Our 3-year-old kid-tester loved the story sequences that asked her to use the keyboard's phone to call characters for advice. It delighted her when a character picked up the phone, turned out to face her, and then talked with her on the phone.
World of Colors is a perfect fit for kids who own Easy PC and have outgrown the accompanying First Steps software. It is also a great way to introduce a 3-year old to the computer, but it will require the purchase of Easy PC. While the system is an $80 investment, it keeps your adult files safe and little sticky fingers away from your keyboard. Also, there are many more software titles available for the system.
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Social BehaviorThis software encourages children to help others. |
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Educational ValueTeaches preschoolers about colors, problem-solving, and vocabulary. |
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