The Cutting Edge: COMPUTING / TECHNOLOGY / INNOVATION : Some Standouts in Software for Children

There isn’t a computer program written that can take the place of a parent reading to his or her child. And some critics, in these pages and elsewhere, contend that educational software for young children is an inappropriate substitute for other, richer types of education and play.

But, just as TV, movies and certain toys can both entertain and educate, I believe that some computer programs can too. I personally haven’t seen any programs for the prenatal set or even newborns, but there is plenty of software for kids 3 years and older. While there is a lot of schlock out there, the ones here have stood the test of time--or, at the very least, have met with the approval of my children.

“Menlo the Frog” from Windy Hill Productions ([800] 354-6150) is a self-described “musical fairy tale” that takes young children on an adventure in which they learn musical skills, the value of exploration, critical thinking and some simple arithmetic. The good vs. evil story line has your child help the leading frog, Menlo, and his friend Princess Winnicent, keep the music going in their watery kingdom by winding the Melody Man with a magic key. Unfortunately, the key is stolen by the King of Later.

I’ll spare you the details, but the goal is to capture the key and restore the music. Along the way, kids get to play a variety of games, test their musical ears and hone their premath and reading skills. What’s impressive about the program, even to this rather jaded adult reviewer, is the quality of the music and the animation.

If you and your kids enjoyed “Babe,” the movie, then you’re candidates for the computer game “Babe: A Little Pig Goes a Long Way” from Sound Source Interactive ([800] 877-4778). The Windows CD-ROM, for children 4 and up, takes you on an interactive tour of Hoggett Farm, where you’ll get to solve puzzles, play games and be treated to delightful movie clips, photos, animation and sound effects while you bring to life the story of the pig who thinks he’s a dog.

“SimTown” from Maxis ([800] 336-2947) is the pint-size version of “SimCity,” the wildly popular simulation that lets you build and manage cities. Unlike “SimCity,” which is for teens and adults, “SimTown” is aimed at ages 8 to 12. The program lets you build your own town from scratch or, if you’re the urban renewal type, you can load in an existing town and fix it up. Your towns are populated by Sims, whom you can spy on as they go about their business. Kids can even design their Sims and decide what they like to wear or what type of pet they want.

“KidWorks Deluxe” from Davidson and Associates ([800] 545-7677), has long been one of my favorite productivity programs for the 4-to-9-year-old-set. This integrated program provides a word processor and paint program with text-to-speech software that lets kids listen to stories they or others write. Kids (or their parents) can even record their own voices, giving credence to the company’s description of the program as a “multimedia creativity tool.”

If you’re a parent of a child prodigy (and what parent isn’t?), then you owe it to your budding genius to get a copy of the Brain Quest Multimedia “overachiever pack,” a Mac and Windows CD-ROM from Swfte International ([302] 234-1740). The two-disc set I tested covers preschool through kindergarten, but the company also makes both CD and floppy disk programs for grades one through seven.

Based on the card deck series by the same name, the Brain Quest software is basically a series of questions to challenge children of just about every age group. The program helps test and reinforce pattern recognition, age-appropriate math and reading (or pre-reading) skills, spelling and more.

Most companies mentioned here have sites on the World Wide Web that can be accessed from Magid’s home page at https://www.larrysworld.com. Magid can be reached via e-mail at Magid@latimes.com.