 | 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. |
JumpStart 3D Virtual World
- Windows
- Price: $7.99/mo or $74.99/year
- Genre: Educational
Common Sense Media says
Online learning game set in a big open world is a cut above.
Parents say
QUALITY
Kids say
QUALITY
What parents need to know
Parents need to know that JumpStart 3D Virtual World is an online, subscription-based learning game that takes place in a safe, controlled environment. It provides content for children aged 3 to 10 years, though younger kids in this targeted audience will require help navigating the world to find activities suitable for their age. Unique interactive educational challenges help kids learn their alphabet, solve mathematical equations, gain knowledge of grammatical concepts, and learn about the world. Note that there is a small amount of violence (players jump on creatures called punk-punks and flatten them). You should also be aware that Knowledge Adventure inserts plugs for its other Jumpstart products within the game.
What kids can learn
Kids can learn about math, reading, geography, art, and several other subjects in this vast, broad-ranging educational game that puts players in control of a customizable avatar. They can solve a wide variety of math problems, distinguish between sentences with proper and improper grammatical structure, and explore music, shapes, and art. The game's open world means that kids can choose activities that interest them and never worry about getting stuck doing something they don't enjoy. JumpStart 3D Virtual World is an excellent platform for fun, self-directed learning with seemingly limitless content.
Subjects
- Language & Readingletter or word recognition, reading, spelling
- Matharithmetic, equations, shapes
- Scienceanimals, measurement
- Social Studiesgeography, history
Skills
- Collaboration
- Communication
- Creativity
- Emotional Developmentmoving beyond obstacles, persevering
- Health & Fitness
- Responsibility & Ethics
- Self-Directionacademic development, initiative, work to achieve goals
- Tech Skills
- Thinking & Reasoninglogic, problem solving, solving puzzles
What's it about?
By creating an online, interactive, educational experience, JumpStart 3D Virtual World tries to turn learning into a game. Players explore an expansive environment looking for games and activities, many of which have a strong pedagogical bent. There is far too much content to list here, but younger players will engage in such activities as leafing through voiced storybooks, playing with instruments and toys, and matching shapes and colors in fun, themed mini-games. Older kids can use jetpacks to fly through answers to mathematical equations, color pictures and post their work on billboards around the world, and float through underwater worlds trying to find and identify sentences with proper grammatical structure. Even the games designed primarily for fun -- such as the Robo-a-go-go rhythm game and a dragon pet simulator -- teach kids something, such as the basics of music and animal care, respectively.
Is it any good?
As so-called edutainment goes, JumpStart 3D Virtual World is top-notch. Few games can make learning to identify prepositions and memorizing multiplication tables authentically fun, but that’s exactly what JumpStart does. It even turns learning into a friendly competition, allowing players to compare their performance (anonymously) with others and providing incentive to play more learning games to earn additional stars and coins that unlock other elements of the game.
Unfortunately, we did run into some technical problems. The game occasionally lagged and even crashed a few times while we were testing it. Plus, the controls, while manageable, aren’t perfect. Moving one’s character around using the arrow keys often feels more like driving a car than controlling what should be a nimble little game avatar. Still, these are issues that we hope will be ironed out as the game matures online. If you’re looking for a way to make learning entertaining for your three-to-ten-year-olds, JumpStart 3D Virtual World is a good place to start.
Online interaction: Players will occasionally run into other player-controlled characters in the hub world and in some mini-games, but they cannot communicate or interact with one another, which means there is no chance for children to experience inappropriate content generated by others.
What families can talk about
Families can talk about learning via video games. Do you think it is as effective as more traditional methods? Do you feel as though you are learning at the same pace as you would otherwise? Do you believe you retain what you’ve learned?
Families can also discuss the concept of subscription-based gaming. It’s less expensive to start, but gets pricier the longer you subscribe. Publishers try to make it worth your while by regularly introducing new content, but do you think players get enough from it to warrant lengthy subscriptions?
What kids can learn
Kids can learn about math, reading, geography, art, and several other subjects in this vast, broad-ranging educational game that puts players in control of a customizable avatar. They can solve a wide variety of math problems, distinguish between sentences with proper and improper grammatical structure, and explore music, shapes, and art. The game's open world means that kids can choose activities that interest them and never worry about getting stuck doing something they don't enjoy. JumpStart 3D Virtual World is an excellent platform for fun, self-directed learning with seemingly limitless content.
Subjects
- Arts: drawing, music, rhythm
- Hobbies: collecting
- Language & Reading: letter or word recognition, reading, spelling
- Math: arithmetic, equations, shapes
- Science: animals, measurement
- Social Studies: geography, history
Skills
- Collaboration:
- Communication:
- Creativity:
- Emotional Development: moving beyond obstacles, persevering
- Health & Fitness:
- Responsibility & Ethics:
- Self-Direction: academic development, initiative, work to achieve goals
- Tech Skills:
- Thinking & Reasoning: logic, problem solving, solving puzzles
How kids will learn
Kids can engage in a wide selection of learning games. They'll turn the pages of interactive storybooks, learning to read with the help of a narrator. They'll strap on jetpacks to zoom through answers to mathematical problems hovering in the air. They'll play musical instruments in games designed to teach rhythm. And they'll journey underwater to find answers to grammatical problems. Players select activities based on their current age and abilities, ensuring that they're properly challenged and engaged in games that interest them.
How parents can help
-
Suggest activities in the game that tackle subjects that kids might be having trouble with in school.
-
Ask kids to create learning lessons for you. This way they can demonstrate some of the skills they've learned from the game.
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- Teens & kids
Kid, 11 years old
June 14, 2010
AGE
Awsome
Its perfect for a kid with help needed in math or reading skills to encourage and sprout there learning its the game that teaches and plays
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AGE
Fun but could be more education and could support dual play
My boys (5 and 7) are really enjoying Jumpstart World. They've been thrilled with the new dragon training feature. I don't mind them playing but there are two things I think could really be better. First, I don't think it's as educational as it could be. Training a dragon is fun but there's really nothing to it in terms of math or reading. It's not even close to the educational quality provided by a site like Dreambox Math. Second, they can't play together. While not at all educational, something I enjoy about the Lego series or Scooby Doo Wii is that they can play together. With Jumpstart they just take turns with my older son most often getting more time to play. I think it's good but for the money I think it could be more.
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AGE
Nothing else quite matches the amount of content and quality.
This review is so far just for the downloadable content (not the full on online world). This is only for the downloadable games (which are free with membership) or can be purchased as two packs at retail. My three year old quickly beat the pre-school (My First Adventure) and is now doing the Kindegarten where he is having a good time and can handle about 1/2 of the material. My 6 year old is on the First grade (Trouble in Troubletown or something) and this is a good tool for him. I'm amazed at what he can do. A word of warning regarding this product. Some of the learning games can get very repetitive and in order to collect the gems you have to do them sometimes up to 6 times in a row to get the gem. This is frustrating to my 6 year old. There are other complaints about this product I have, but really, how many PC products out there even get close to level of presentation, updates, fun, edutainment, exploration, artwork? None. It's definately worth a couple months membership if you have kids who like computer games.
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AGE
Great game for all 3 of our kids, 5, 7, 9
My kids love this game. They play for hours. The best part is they get a good balance of education and fun. The Lands are very educational, lots of learning games. To earn the coins my kids have become masters at the learning games because those games give extra points! Teach your kids this and you will have math/reading/science in quantity!
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AGE
Fun, but not as educational as it claims
We've used a lot of the jump start products so we were very excited to find jumpstart online. My 5 year old son LOVES this game and loves running around the world doing the various activities, buying things to ride on, jumping from free fall mountain, etc. However, I am just not that impressed with the educational value of this game. I read several reviews before showing him the game that talked about how educational it is and how it could even be your child's homework. Huh? Almost all of the games I have seen are mostly platform run and jumping type of games and the few educational games that I've seen were not very good.
For fun factor, I'd give this game an A, but as far as educational is concerned, I give it a C-.
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AGE
Great game for learning early computer skills
My boys love it and play it as often as I'll let them. I rated it for 4+ just because of control issues for being able to play by yourself, but if your kids are more apt at computers than mine were than they'll be able to play younger than mine.
My kids favorite game right now is the calendar game to put together.
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Kid, 11 years old
March 6, 2010
AGE
I have play this games
I love this games
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Kid, 10 years old
August 28, 2011
AGE
Very educational but one issue...
Very safe and educational. However, on the blog. Jumpstart does create polls on Polldaddy. And could send your kids right to a non G-rated site. So tell your kids to stay away from the blog.
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| Platforms: | Windows |
| Available online? | Available online |
| Genre: | Educational |
| Developer: | Knowledge Adventure |
| Release date: | March 10, 2009 |
| Price: | $7.99/mo or $74.99/year |
| ESRB rating: | E for No Descriptors |
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