The Bon Bon Gazette: Educational Games for the Wii? Jump Start Pet Rescue is a must

Thursday, August 27, 2009

Educational Games for the Wii? Jump Start Pet Rescue is a must

I've shared before that our household is a big fan of the Wii and the biggest player in the house is my son, who has autism. Both of my kids love the Wii and even my 4 year old can play many of the games. But, up until now there have been few games that were geared specifically for the youngest of kids that are educationally based. Well, we've found a winner here - Jumpstart Pet Rescue Wii and it is available now!

My kids love to play on Jum p Start World online in the virtual world with their personalized Jumpees (avatars). The Wii game plays similar and begins by each player setting up their Jumpee and player account. I didn't have to encourage the kids to make their own and get started right away. My daughter made herself a girl with pink everything, no surprise - we call her Pinkalicious (like the children's book).

The game plays in 2 modes - Story Mode or Explore mode. In Story mode your child will need to complete various "missions" to complete story books and unlock the next "world". You begin in the Neighborhood and then progress to Pet Land, Town Square, the Beach, and then the Jungle. In Explore mode you can access any of the worlds to play learning games.

The kids have been playing this game for the past few weeks thanks to a pre-release copy from Knowledge Adventure and are truly enjoying it. My daughter has adopted a little kitty (complete with a bow on its head) and named it Fluffy - so far her favorite world is the "Pet Land" where she is able to bathe and dress her pet, feed it, and teach it to do tricks. My son prefers the Learning House which has very basic learning games (well below his grade level) including one that he has to collect bugs by number, shape or color. I like that it doesn't require reading and also that it gives verbal instructions so it works on the kids following directions on what to do. I find that the game has a real nice balance of learning with fun - kids won't find this boring at all and will want to play it again and again.

I highly recommend Jump Start Pet Rescue for the littlest and youngest of Wii players (Pre-K & K level) and for children with autism and other special needs. Pet Rescue is a fun game for kids to learn and play using the Wii.

You can read my detailed game review of Jump Start Pet Rescue Wii at Epinions.com

Pictures of my daughter's Jumpee and her kitten: