The Incredible Adventures of the Amazing Food Detective

 Review

Common Sense Media says

Kids become detectives to fight childhood obesity.
greenON: Content is age-appropriate for kids this age.
yellowPAUSE: Know your child; some content
may not be right for some kids.
redOFF: Not age-appropriate for kids this age.
not for kidsNOT FOR KIDS: Not appropriate for kids any age.

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Quality
 
Sometimes media can be age appropriate but a real waste of time. Our star rating assesses the media's overall quality.

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Parents say

Not yet rated

Kids say

Not yet rated

What parents need to know

Parents need to know that while this game has eight short mysteries and 24 fun arcade Mini games, it delivers a serious message about eating healthy and exercising. The target audience is 9- to 10-year-olds, but most of the Mini games can be enjoyed by children as young as 6. Parents will appreciate that this game turns itself off after 20 minutes of play and won't let kids back in for 60 minutes. The game can be played in English or Spanish and comes with teacher and parent materials. It also offers printables with lessons on healthy living.

  • Sends a great message about being active when it shuts off after 20 minutes, tells you to go be active, and won't let you back in for 60 minutes.
  • Not applicable.
  • Not applicable.

What's it about?

In THE INCREDIBLE ADVENTURES OF THE AMAZING FOOD DETECTIVE (www.AmazingFoodDetective.com), a free online game, children join forces with a detective to solve eight mysteries of why some kids are unhealthy. By playing the game, kids learn about healthy foods and exercise habits. The Amazing Food Detective, an animated female gumshoe, provides kids with a lineup of eight children from diverse cultural backgrounds, each representing a mystery. Some of the mysteries deal with children who exercise but are not very strong (solution: eat more protein), who skip breakfast, and who eat too much; in each, the player helps the unhealthy children make changes to their lifestyles.


Is it any good?

 

A unique feature of this online game presented by Kaiser Permanente is that it shuts off after 20 minutes, encourages kids to go do something active, and then keeps them out of the game for 60 minutes. The game can be played in English or Spanish. In addition to unlocking Mini games, each mystery links to printable materials including healthy recipes, Internet scavenger hunts, experiments, exercises, and more.

Kaiser Permanente, a leading health maintenance organization, has partnered with Scholastic to distribute this game and related teaching materials and parent guides to 5,000 schools. Teachers and parents interested in these supplemental materials can find them for free on the Web at www.AmazingFoodDetective.com.


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What families can talk about

Families can talk about the mysteries. Why was the child featured in each mystery unhealthy, and how did your actions change his or her life? Have you experienced any of the problems these children faced? Which of the printable materials did you find useful? The recipes? The exercise logs? The scavenger hunt?


This review was written by Jinny Gudmundsen
Kid, 13 years old
April 9, 2008
 
I READ JUNIE B.JONES IS ALMOST A FLOWER GIRL
AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

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Teen, 17 years old
April 9, 2008
 

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Adult
April 9, 2008
 
Great way to get kids thinking about healthy choices
While very simplistic, these little games might start kids thinking about healthy choices. The games are fun and educational. I think it's best for kids ages 5-10. Older kids will likely be bored.

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This review was written by Jinny Gudmundsen
Platforms:Windows, Mac
Available online?Available online
Genre:Edutainment
Developer:Kaiser Permanente
Release date:September 28, 2007
Price:FREE
ESRB rating:E

This review was written by Jinny Gudmundsen

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About our rating system
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.
Learning ratings
BEST: Really engaging, great learning approach.
GOOD: Pretty engaging, good learning approach.
FAIR: Somewhat engaging, OK learning approach.
NOT FOR LEARNING: Not recommended for learning.

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