Turning game time into brain time

USA Today (Society for the Advancement of Education), Nov, 2004

There's really no denying the fact that kids love video games, but should we be concerned when very young children play the games designed for their older siblings? One of our favorite companies has answered a call from parents to provide safe and educational content in video games for the youngest of players. In the first video-game platform made specifically for 3- to 7-year-olds, VTech, Arlington Heights, Ill., has launched the V.Smile TV Learning System--to great fanfare.

V.Smile teaches essential day-to-day skills and curricula such as math, language, and vocabulary through entertaining gameplay. The video games capture the child's interest and the learning just naturally follows. The system connects directly to the TV and has an extensive library of games, called Smart-ridges, featuring some of the most popular licensed characters, including Scooby-Doo, Winnie the Pooh, and The Little Mermaid.

The Smartridges are coded according to age level: Early Learning (ages 3-5), Junior Thinkers (ages 4-6), and Master Minds (ages 5-7). In Disney's Winnie the Pooh: The Honey Hunt, Early Learners explore the Hundred-Acre Wood in search of honey and play activities that help teach the alphabet, numbers and counting, and telling time. Junior Thinkers can learn vocabulary, matching skills, and phonics in Scooby-Doo: Funland Frenzy, as they solve challenging puzzles on a spooky mystery hunt. In Disney's Mickey Mouse: Mickey's Magical Adventure, Master Minds search for Pluto in a mysterious castle and pick up some logic, math, problem solving, and spelling along the way.

The V.Smile TV Learning System ($59.99) comes with the console, Alphabet Park Smartridge, and a joystick. Smartridges retail for approximately $19.99.

For the even younger child--way too young for video games--we could not resist VTech's Play & Learn Fun Fair ($24.99). In this talking amusement park, the baby can watch the five colored balls roll down a twisting slide, touching off magical sensors to activate different phrases, sounds, and melodies; put the balls on a Ferris Wheel and make them go round and round; play the key-board stairs; etc. Not just fun, this toy helps improve hand-eye coordination, and teaches cause and effect and vitally important early learning fundamentals. That all may be true, but it seems like it's just fun.

VTech toys are available at mass merchandisers, toy stores, and at www.vtech.com.

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