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Editorial Review:Amazon.co.uk Review:Once again, the BBC has produced a superlative software package for youngsters aged between three and six years old.
Though this is a fairly large age gap to bridge, the content on
Pingu: A Barrel of Fun achieves it effortlessly. For the younger end of the age group, there are shape-sorting, number- and letter-matching, sound- and colour-recognition puzzles to crack. For five- and six-year-olds, the "hard" rather than "easy" skill option will give plenty to amuse. For example, in the easy letter game, players must choose the initial letter of a given everyday object, whereas in the hard version, players must spell the whole word. (Hover over the letter and you get the name of the sound; once you've placed it, the voice-over tells you the name of the letter--an extremely sound educational approach.)
The sound game, a real highlight of the package, is an aural pelmonism, where players must match sounds to make the symbols disappear. In the harder version, the organ grinder plays a tune and players must match the sounds in the correct order. Though most sounds are everyday (telephone, cow, pig) there are some more exotic sounds (lion) that children may not recognise, but they can match them to the pictures shown.
For older players, there is a selection of five games to choose from, each with an easy, medium and hard skill option. In "Ice Flow", you must get Pingu across the water without wetting him so he can deliver birthday presents: a kind of basic Pingu Frogger! "Snow Maze" is reminiscent of a simple Pac-Man, but the added bonus is picking objects up along the way that you can build up into your own original picture at the end. "Fish Tennis" is bordering on the surreal--a kind of elementary tennis reminiscent of the original Atari game, but with Penguins not paddles and fish not balls! "Building Blocks" sets players a puzzle not unlike those in the Krypton Factor--matching shapes together to build up an overall object within a template. In the easy version, each shape is cut into three pieces; in the medium version it is four or five pieces and in the harder one, seven or eight. The only let-down to the game section is "Music Time", a recording synthesiser which allows you to play nursery rhyme tunes, sing along or record your own composition. Though the idea is great, the mouse dexterity required to make it work effectively is probably beyond the target age group, and the resulting sound quality on a home PC is poor.
That said, this is a minor blip in an otherwise fantastic package. It is easy to load, has great graphics that perfectly reproduce the TV programme, and while younger players may require supervision and help, they will still enjoy their favourite character, even if mastering the finer points of the package is beyond them. Whether your child is a fan of Pingu or not, there is plenty for him or her to get their teeth into. From early learning to elementary gaming skills,
Pingu: A Barrel of Fun will definitely last the three years of the target age range and players will continue learning all the time. And, once your children has turned six, a simple and effective Uninstall option means your hard drive won't be clogged up forever. --
Lucie Naylor
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This is the first software I've come across in many years which refuses to run unless the CD is in the drive. Presumably this is some attempt at copy-protection. It means that, unlike all the other kids software on the PC, my kids can't run it by themselves. Also the CD constantly and noisily spins up during game-play, and most of the games feature long pauses whilst the drive spins up.
The kids (3 and 5) find the games reasonably entertaining, but nothing special really, considering ...
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This product is used by my 3 year old son, he loves it.
Pingu - a barrel of fun is a great way to introduce young children to computers. It will teach them how to use a mouse to click and drag and how to use basic keyboard functions. Also it teaches basic spelling, mathematics, colours, shape sorting, sound recognition and also basic music (in the form of an interactive piano)
You will be surprised at how quickly children pick things up with this game, great fun for ages ...
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This was an excellent game for my kid who are not English speakers. Helped with spelling, tune composition (nothing too complicated of course), shapes, colours etc. My kids were given the opportunity to learn English in a fun way. Older kids might get a bit bored but it is a great way to introduce younger children to computer games. Overall its is worth it.The BBC have done a great job.
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The was an impulse buy for me as my autistic 6 year old had recently shown an interest in computers. He played it all over the summer holidays, and taught himself basic spelling, maths, colours, keyboard and mouse skills. He worked out how to change the skill levels himself, and to everyone's amazement managed things like the word spelling on the hardest difficulty. This is a boy who had rarely responded even to his name. He has since started using verbal language to request items and will now listen ...
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Contains a number of games and activities that can entertain and teach your pre-school child in different ways.
Some of the games could be challenging for a three year old - certainly my son can't understand the Frogger-style Ice Flow game. He laughs when Pingu falls in the water!
If you want to give your child some practice in mouse and keyboard skills, and introduce them to letter sounds and shapes, numbers, shapes and sounds while doing so, then I can recommend this.
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