Mixed-Up Mother Goose Deluxe

$44.95, Windows CD-ROM (Mac Version in August)

Teaches: nursery rhymes, memory, using a simple map, music

CTR Review

Little Bo Peep has lost her sheep, but this time somewhere in Mother Goose Land. Using the mouse to guide a walking child around, who can be customized in appearance, kids match items to characters in 18 classic rhymes. Once an object is located, say a pail, it is "picked up" with a click and can be delivered to Jack and Jill, waiting by a hill. At each reunion, children are presented with musical renditions of the rhyme, with characters coming to life in song and dance. When all 18 items have been returned to their respective poems, players are rewarded with a multi-character performance. Clearly more of a game than an educational endeavor, the program does encourage problem solving and memory skills and offers kids some practice at basic map skills. Testers found the program to be unfriendly at first -- even the reviewers had to refer to the manual for help in understanding the choices. More spoken, on-screen help would have been nice. Printed materials are clear and concise, however, and once the hints are read, play is straightforward. Parents should plan to spend some "lap time" helping kids get started; three and four-year-olds may need even further help. That said, our test children loved this program and spent hours actively engaged. One five year old tester returned all 18 missing pieces by herself (she was so proud!) and her big sister (age 7) enjoyed the program as well. Records of play are kept and games that are interrupted can be saved. One test dad said that he had expected more activities; he questions whether there would be long term use. It helps that for each new game, the objects are hidden in different places.