Konami Kids Playground: Toy Pals Fun With Numbers
© 2007 Konami Digital Entertainment, Inc.
Counting with your feet? Designed to get children using their feet instead of their thumbs, this is one of four titles for the PlayStation 2 that resembles DDR (Dance Dance Revolution), only with content geared toward preschoolers instead of teens. For example, one game has children jumping across a stream by connecting numerals -- in sequence -- before time runs out. The titles come bundled with a special vinyl mat that that plugs into one of the PlayStation USB ports. (Note that the titles won't work with existing dance pads.) The 12 games vary in quality and developmental appropriateness for children, and progress can't be saved -- so there's little or no continuity to the experience. That said, several of the games succeed in getting children moving, and it is easy for children to learn where these activities are. (Note that younger children may need to be shown how to get out of a game.) As a way to turn a PlayStation and TV into a movement area, this series works. If you already own the mat, you can buy additional titles alone for $20. Other titles (each beginning with the Konami Kids Playground prefix) include Alphabet Circus, Dinosaurs Shapes & Colors, and Frogger Hop, Skip & Jumpin' Fun. Designed by ImaginEngine for Konami.
$20, PlayStation 2
Teaches: school readiness, movement, counting, numerals
CTR Rating: 82%