Hundred
Acre Wood is now welcoming babies. A pastel patchwork quilt is the
backdrop for the program’s 5 activities, each hosted by a
familiar character. Children interact with the program by tapping
keys on the keyboard (and uncoordinated attempts work fine too).
Winnie the Pooh is on a quest for honey (go figure) and each time
a child taps the keyboard, a surprise pops out of any of his 3
honey pots. Once in a while, Winnie finds honey, and eagerly laps
it up. More often than not, a creature from the animal world
appears instead. Tigger plays peek-a-boo with baby, and it’s a
surprise where he’ll pop up next. Piglet shows children
different parts of his body, and talks about his emotions too.
Eeyore, true to character, grudgingly hosts a painting activity in
which he paints a scene with each color in his paint pots. Of
course, no one will care much, or so Eeyore presumes. And, quite
possibly, many babies won’t. This
activity lacks the pizzazz of similar activities found in other baby
software on the market.
A
clever “do it again” icon allows users to repeat the last
response, so if baby especially enjoyed Piglet’s raspberry in
the “body parts” game, parents can repeat the sequence over
and over. As
is recommended for all baby software, the experience should be a
shared one between caregiver and young child.
Though the visuals
in this program are charming, both the quantity of activities and
features of the program are rather limited. The mouse, for
instance, is only
active when users are switching activities.
Despite
its little dose of humor for adults and dazzling
graphics, as Pooh would say, “oh bother”, we can’t recommend
this program wholeheartedly.
Pros:
- Nice-looking screens.
- A 'do it again' button
is a wonderful touch for young users who never seem to
tire of repeating sequences they enjoy.
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Cons:
- Babies and many young toddlers may not make the
connection between keyboard taps and action
onscreen.
- Not enough activities.
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