 | ON: Content is age-appropriate for kids this age. |
 | PAUSE: Know your child; some content may not be right for some kids. |
 | OFF: Not age-appropriate for kids this age. |
 | NOT FOR KIDS: Not appropriate for kids any age. |
Dora & Kai-Lan's Pet Shelter
- Nintendo DS, Nintendo DSi
- Price: $29.99
- Genre: Educational
Common Sense Media says
Good pet sim with lots of Nick characters.
Parents say
Kids say
What parents need to know
Parents need to know that Dora & Kai-Lan's Pet Shelter is an animal care simulation game featuring the stars of several Nickelodeon preschool shows (Dora, Kai-Lan, and Diego). The game is made easy enough for very young children to handle. There are no real negative consequences other than an animal looking sad. Animals do go to the bathroom in the game, but they always do so behind a bush, so there's nothing to be seen.
What kids can learn
Kids can learn a bit about the responsibilities and emotions that go along with caring for a pet. Players perform the sort of pet care tasks that some kids might try to avoid in real life, such as washing, brushing, and feeding pets. They'll also perform veterinary exams, which many kids could find exciting. If kids fail to properly care for these virtual pets, they will see sad-looking kitties and pooches and learn about the consequences of inadequate care. The game doesn't offer a lot of concrete knowledge, but kids can learn about the general importance of caring for animals.
Skills
- Collaboration
- Communicationlistening
- Creativity
- Emotional Developmentempathy, identifying emotions
- Health & Fitness
- Responsibility & Ethicslearning from consequences, respect for others
- Self-Direction
- Tech Skills
- Thinking & Reasoning
What's it about?
In DORA & KAI-LAN'S PET SHELTER, Dora the Explorer and Kai-Lan (of Ni Hao, Kai-Lan) team up to run a pet shelter and care for the animals rescued by Diego (of Go, Diego, Go!). Kids follow easy instructions in order to bathe, feed, brush, dress, and play games with four animals (a cat, a dog, a rabbit, and a bird). All the activities are performed by either scribbling with the stylus or calling commands into the DS microphone.
Is it any good?
Aside from multiple familiar faces, Dora & Kai-Lan's Pet Shelter doesn't really bring anything new to the pet simulation genre. It's simplicity makes it nicely geared toward preschooler players, and there's a welcome element of complexity in watching all four animals at once to make sure you're always focusing on the one that needs tending at that moment. But the graphics are strangely rough looking, with stiff animations. It's not that the game is bad, it's just nothing new. Several of 2K Play's Nickelodeon games are far more polished in their presentation than this one.
What families can talk about
Families can talk about the responsibility of caring for a real pet. In what ways is taking care of animals in the game similar to the way it would be in real life? In what ways is it different?
How can you learn about responsibility by caring for a pet? Does playing virtual pet games help?
What kids can learn
Kids can learn a bit about the responsibilities and emotions that go along with caring for a pet. Players perform the sort of pet care tasks that some kids might try to avoid in real life, such as washing, brushing, and feeding pets. They'll also perform veterinary exams, which many kids could find exciting. If kids fail to properly care for these virtual pets, they will see sad-looking kitties and pooches and learn about the consequences of inadequate care. The game doesn't offer a lot of concrete knowledge, but kids can learn about the general importance of caring for animals.
Subjects
- Arts:
- Hobbies: pets
- Language & Reading:
- Math:
- Science:
- Social Studies:
Skills
- Collaboration:
- Communication: listening
- Creativity:
- Emotional Development: empathy, identifying emotions
- Health & Fitness:
- Responsibility & Ethics: learning from consequences, respect for others
- Self-Direction:
- Tech Skills:
- Thinking & Reasoning:
How kids will learn
Kids perform most of the pet-caring tasks by scratching or scribbling with a stylus. While the stylus action has no connection to real-life pet care, kids will definitely get the idea that caring for an animal is a big responsibility and takes a lot of work. When there are many animals in the shelter, kids can be kept very busy. Light feedback through frowny faces helps prevent kids from shirking their duties. Neglected animals can become unhappy and even a bit sick, which adds a little empathy into the responsibility lesson.
How parents can help
- Give your kids real responsibilities with pets at home.
- Let kids come along when you take your pet for a visit to the vet; or, if you don't own a pet, visit an animal shelter.
- Read books about animals with your kid.
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- All members
- Parents
- Teens & kids
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| Platforms: | Nintendo DS, Nintendo DSi |
| Available online? | Not available online |
| Genre: | Educational |
| Developer: | 2K Play |
| Release date: | November 1, 2011 |
| Price: | $29.99 |
| ESRB rating: | E |
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