Dora and the Crystal Kingdom (Wii)<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\nThis one is best described as your child\u2019s first 2-D platformer. So if the recently released New Super Mario Bros. Wii is too hard for your young ones, try this game instead. It\u2019s definitely the longest game I reviewed, so it\u2019ll hold kids\u2019 interest longer. Some neat graphical effects, too, like how you color the faded world as you walk by.<\/p>\n
Good kids\u2019 educational video games<\/strong><\/p>\nAnd that\u2019s all I reviewed. Now I\u2019ll go over some other kids\u2019 video games that I\u2019ve had personal experience with. Of course, there are TONS of good video games for kids: LEGO titles, Kirby, even Mario. But I wanted to narrow mine down to some that are and were considered more educational fare. Although some non-educational kids\u2019 games may seep out here and there.<\/p>\n
Stickybear<\/strong><\/p>\nBack when I was in Kindergarten, we got our first home computer: the Apple ][+. One series of video games with surprisingly good graphics starred a bear and his family as they provided mini arcade challenges and educational games on those big, black disks! The character was called Stickybear, which was a horrible, horrible name. And I don\u2019t really remember if these games were really any good or not, but I do remember playing them at least.<\/p>\n
Mickey Mouse Space Adventure<\/strong><\/p>\nI\u2019m not exactly sure if that\u2019s the exact title or not, but it was another little kid game I played on the Apple][+. It was kind of like a text adventure such as Zork, but there were pictures of what Mickey could see and do on the screen, so kids would know what to type, I guess. Anyway, as Mickey, you had to go to the different planets of the solar system, learning facts along the way, as you collected crystals for a UFO. The thing I remember most about this game is that it was the first game I ever finished, and that really gave me a great sense of accomplishment as a kid. I think this game may be one of the reasons why I do like reviewing games for kids now. Kids deserve good games for them, too, and I know first-hand the feeling those kids must get when playing and conquering a game made just for them.<\/p>\n
Pokemon Snap<\/strong><\/p>\nBack on the N64, I thought this game was brilliant. And educational. Why? Because it taught good basic photography techniques while you were trying to take snapshots of Pokemon. And that was a pretty original thing to teach kids in a game. On the GameCube, there was another Pokemon game geared toward little kids that I liked, but nobody else did. It was Pokemon Channel. It really wasn\u2019t very educational, as you mostly just watched TV with Pikachu. But it was a cute little activity center and the Meowth\u2019s Party cartoon you unlocked while playing was very cute.<\/p>\n
Final Fantasy Mystic Quest<\/strong><\/p>\nOK this one\u2019s not educational either. This was a RPG on the SNES that Square designed to introduce Americans to RPGs. At the time, when I was just a teen, I thought this idea was kind of lame because it wasn\u2019t as good as FF4 the year before. But looking back on it, I\u2019d like to see a Final Fantasy game for kids now. Or maybe put Mystic Quest on Virtual Console. I\u2019d like to play it again, and I\u2019ll say one good thing about it: the music was really awesome.<\/p>\n
Humongous Entertainment<\/strong><\/p>\nThese were point and click adventure games on the PC that were designed for little kids. They were full of likable characters: Putt-Putt the car and his dog Pep helped out his car friends, Pajama Sam conquered his fears, Freddie Fish solved undersea mysteries, and Spy Fox saved the world! I once heard a rumor that they were going to make a cartoon for Nick Jr. about these characters from the games, shame that never came to fruition. I loved watching my little brothers play these games back in the day. And when I was writing for the newspaper and would go to E3, the visit to Humongous\u2019 booth was one of the highlights of the trip. I would usually have lunch with the developers and have fun talking with them about how cool Putt-Putt is!<\/p>\n
Good Kid Shows<\/strong><\/p>\nWell there are plenty of good kids\u2019 games that I didn\u2019t mention, but this blog is going to be long enough as it is. So now we\u2019ll take a look at good kids\u2019 TV shows that I\u2019ve had personal experience with.<\/p>\n
Modern Day Stuff<\/strong><\/p>\nI\u2019m not really a huge fan of Dora the Explorer and Ni Hao, Kai-Lan, but I will say one good thing about them. I like how they teach kids words and phrases from other languages. I think it\u2019s important to learn another language, if anything, simply because I think it helps us understand our native language better. I think by taking German in high school and college, I have become a better writer. Of course, Sesame Street was teaching Spanish long before Dora (more on Sesame Street later). And plus, Swiper the Fox on Dora is just plain cool.<\/p>\n
Other modern day Nick Jr. shows that I think are cute are Max & Ruby, based on the children\u2019s books. I love Max\u2019s expression when he\u2019s about to get into mischief, and Ruby has to be the most patient big sister rabbit I\u2019ve ever seen. Blue\u2019s Clues is also a cute show for kids. I like Mr. Salt and Mrs. Pepper. But my favorite modern day kids\u2019 show is The Wonder Pets. It\u2019s so adorable and pretty funny, too, if you watch it. I like that bratty duck. I tell you two kids\u2019 shows I DON\u2019T like are Yo! Gabba Gabba and Barney. I think those shows are anti-educational. I\u2019m glad that Barney\u2019s popularity isn\u2019t what it once was. Ugh!<\/p>\n
Old Stuff<\/strong><\/p>\nAll right, now I\u2019ll talk about some good kids shows I watched when I was young.<\/p>\n
Sesame Street<\/strong><\/p>\nThis is the ultimate best kids show. Maybe not as much today, but back then it was. Did you know that Sesame Street just celebrated their 40th anniversary? In a way, it\u2019s good that there are more kids\u2019 shows now, but it\u2019s also bad that Sesame Street has to compete with so much more today. My favorite characters on Sesame Street were Oscar the Grouch, the Yup Yup Aliens, and Cookie Monster. I think the best things the Sesame Street Muppets taught kids was tolerance. Each Muppet has personality quirks and flaws, and everyone found ways to deal with each other. That\u2019s a theme that has been in many Jim Henson Muppet shows, and is why I also think most Jim Henson stuff is good for kids, too. Like Fraggle Rock, The Muppet Show, etc.<\/p>\n
Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood<\/strong><\/p>\nThe only reason why I watched this show was it came on right before Sesame Street. I would change the channel when the puppets would come on, because I thought they were freaky. I did like the red trolley that would take the audience to the Land of Make Believe, though. Mister Rogers had a really hypnotic voice!. When Fred Rogers passed away, I watched a biography on him and it was pretty interesting. Did you know he was a minister?<\/p>\n
Peppermint Place<\/strong><\/p>\nAnother Mr. Rogers-type show that was on local Texas TV when I was a kid was Peppermint Place. It starred a dapper man wearing a red and white striped suit and hat, and he had a raccoon puppet named Muffin, who cracked me up.<\/p>\n
Pinwheel<\/strong><\/p>\nBack when we first got cable, there weren\u2019t very many extra channels. I remember HBO, and later MTV, but right at the start we had Nickelodeon. Back then, there was no Nick Jr. yet, but they did show a Sesame Street rip-off called Pinwheel. I still remember that insipid theme song, and if you saw the show, I bet you remember it, too.<\/p>\n
Nick Jr. Anime<\/strong><\/p>\nAnyone remember in the early 90\u2019s when Nick Jr. showed a lot of kids\u2019 anime cartoons? Seems kind of odd now what with their focus on education, but I bet many an anime fan cut their teeth on this stuff back in the day. I remember one show was about a girl who could make her stuffed toy Koala bear come to life. It actually had a sci-fi like storyline, with a conclusion, and the ending got pretty dark if I remember correctly. Another show I remember was called The Little Bits, and while I never really watched it, I know it was like The Smurfs with little elves that looked like the Harvest Moon sprites. That cartoon was made by Tatsunoko, and I thought it would be funny if they were in Tatsunoko vs. Capcom!<\/p>\n
Muppet Babies<\/strong><\/p>\nThis was a Saturday morning cartoon back in the 80\u2019s and I loved it. Good for kids, too, as it encouraged them to use their imagination. I wish they would make a DVD set of this, but I bet the stock footage they used of movies like Star Wars, plus all the 80\u2019s pop culture references, probably keep that from happening.<\/p>\n
Bobby\u2019s World<\/strong><\/p>\nThis was a Saturday morning cartoon about a five year old boy and how he saw the world. It was created by Howie Mandell and he even provided some of the voices, including Bobby. I think this was Howie\u2019s best work and it was a very sweet show. I wish this would get the DVD treatment, too. I used to have a friend whose little brother reminded me of an exact replica of Bobby from the cartoon.<\/p>\n
Winnie the Pooh<\/strong><\/p>\nFinally I\u2019ll say that Disney makes a lot of good stuff for young kids, too. But I think the best is Winnie the Pooh. It\u2019s one of the only franchises Disney hasn\u2019t ruined yet. The classic movies are still the best, but even the old Saturday morning cartoon was decent. And I bet you can guess what my favorite world was in Kingdom Hearts.<\/p>\n
Conclusions Jr.<\/strong><\/p>\nAnd I think that\u2019s enough out of me for now. I\u2019ll conclude by saying that while there are a lot of good educational video games and TV shows for kids, they can\u2019t replace good teachers and parenting. So I\u2019d like to give a shout out to my parents and good teachers like my high school German teacher. In the comments section, let us know what YOUR favorite kids\u2019 games and TV shows are, as well as your favorite teachers.<\/p>\n
Next time on my rambling blog, I\u2019m going to tell you all about my new job. I\u2019m running a day care, now, but I only have one customer. But that\u2019s fine, because he has eight kids! The dad is always grumbling about some plumbers, so I think they must be doing a lot of home repair. Some of the kids I watch are named Larry, Roy, Wendy\u2026well, I\u2019ll just tell you more about it on my next blog! –Cary<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
OK everyone, it\u2019s time to get out your safety scissors and juice boxes (mmmm\u2026Ecto Cooler\u2026), because in this blog, we\u2019re all going to become little kids again for a short while. Recently I reviewed several Nick Jr. games, and it got me to thinking about other good educational games and TV shows I\u2019ve enjoyed. So […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[12],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3503","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-television"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.gamerdad.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3503","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.gamerdad.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.gamerdad.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.gamerdad.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.gamerdad.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3503"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"http:\/\/www.gamerdad.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3503\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.gamerdad.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3503"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.gamerdad.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3503"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.gamerdad.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3503"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
![\"wonderpets\"](\"http:\/\/www.gamingwithchildren.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/11\/wonderpets-97x150.jpg\" "\\"wonderpets\\"")
OK everyone, it\u2019s time to get out your safety scissors and juice boxes (mmmm\u2026Ecto Cooler\u2026), because in this blog, we\u2019re all going to become little kids again for a short while. Recently I reviewed several Nick Jr. games, and it got me to thinking about other good educational games and TV shows I\u2019ve enjoyed. So I thought I\u2019d talk about them on this blog.<\/p>\n