So I came upon PBS Kids and found the 'Arthur' section that had various children's activities. I recall playing Arthur CD-ROM games through DOS a long time ago. =)
1. Supermarket Adventure
from http://pbskids.org/arthur/games/
Targeted Age Group: 4-5 Years
I went through a few of them and decided to introduce D.W's supermarket game.
How To Play This Game?
This game requires the preschooler to help D.W in her grocery shopping. Clicking on the loud speakers will enable the child to find out what D.W needs. The child will then click, drag and drop the 3 items into the white circles at the bottom of the screen. The child can click on any food item to hear it's name, and on the red arrows to move D.W left or right.
Evaluation
'Supermarket Adventure' is child friendly, having no explicit, vulgar content or violence.
I feel that this game can sustain a child's interest because it is interactive and is visually attractive with it's graphics and bright colours. It also plays on a child's auditory ability and helps a child to listen for instructions. The various sound effects and soothing background music enhances this motive. Besides, physical coordination to drag and drop adds on to the range of abilities a child must utilize in this game. Also, grocery shopping is an event children can relate to. It's realistic relevance to children's lives feeds on a child's knowledge and experiences to be an effective educator.
Each round of 'Supermarket Adventure' ends when D.W purchases the 3 items, making it a repititive game which children can enjoy. The method to play the game is also simple to understand. Therefore the challenge in the game appears in the comprehending and matching the pictures to the listening.
For this range of complexity, 'Supermarket Adventure' is developmentally appropriate for the target age group of 4-5 years.
The site not operates well technically and does not require a lot of loading time. There are no delays in reaction times when clicking, avoiding potential frustration.
2. Juggling George
from http://pbskids.org/curiousgeorge/games/#1
Targeted Age Group: 4-5 Years
Later on, I checked out Curious George cause he's a monkey and I adore monkeys; realised that Juggling George was an awesome game to develop a child's listening, counting skills and English language understanding.
How To Play This Game?
The Objective of the game is to select the right number and correct kind of fruits for George to juggle. Children will click on The Man With The Yellow Hat to hear what and how many fruits must be selected, e.g. Pick 4 fruits of any kind, but no oranges for George to juggle. After selecting the fruits, click on George. George will juggle the selected fruits if it matches The Man's criteria.
Evaluation
'Juggling George' is free of steorotyping, demeaning language or unpleasant content. Hence, it is child friendly.
The visual aspects of 'Juggling George' will appeal to children as it's graphics are not only well constructed, but colourful. The function buttons are picture icons, which cause easy interpretion. Furthermore, the sound effects are charismatic and amusing to listen to (George's laughter) amidst the gentle background tune.
This game utilizes a child's counting skills and English language listening comprehension. Children are encouraged to listen to The Man With The Yellow Hat's instructions to accurately select the fruits. The Man asks for a specific number of fruits and states the type of fruits that can be selected. The type of fruits are often not defined. Thus given children an open-ended choice as to which fruits they might prefer. This promotes decision making and independence.
'Juggling George' is also age appropriate as it's complexity reolves around simple and precise instructions. The method of the game is also rather elementary, employing only clicking according to the auditory instructions.
Each round of the game ends when the fruits are chosen correctly and George juggles them. A new round begins with another set of instructions from The Man. However, children will find the repetition comfortable as the instruction will vary constantly.
The site not operates well technically and does not require a lot of loading time. There are no delays in reaction times when clicking, avoiding potential frustration.
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