My Make Believe Castle
A Brand New Program
For Ages 4 to 7

"Once upon a time, there was a dragon named Nicky who didn't know what to do. He searched through his toy box looking for just the right toy to play with. What did he find? He found a prince, a princess, a witch, knights, and other magical creatures. When he put on his toy crown, he began to imagine himself in a castle, exploring, flying, jumping, climbing, and having new adventures with his friends Tara and Todd..."

My little Michelle, age 4, is thrilled with this program from LCSI, the makers of MicroWorlds Logo! One thing that I have learned as I watch my daughters play computer activities, is that they identify with the little characters on the screen. They join in with them. This was a major problem a few years ago when most games consisted of maneuvering as long as you could before getting blown to bits by some alien character! Even now, Michelle will not play some games I have purchased, because some parts are too scary. Fortunately, My Make Believe Castle is fun, creative and non threatening. It is also a thinking game, your child learns to use tools to solve problems. If you would like to read about an experience Michelle had with the program, please follow this link.

What Does It Do?

It consists of several little "friends", including Nicky the Dragon, that walk around the Castle in ways which a little person can control. There are devices, like a banana peel, that can be put in their path and cause different, fun actions. There are different scenes to explore and activities to do.

Something Unique

One feature that I have not seen in other programs, is mood control. Two of the control icons change the mood of the little character. One makes it happy and one makes it angry.

And At A More Complex Level

As all of us know, any computer activity, with the exception of programming, becomes stale after a while. In an effort to prolong the usefulness of My Make Believe Castle, the authors have included an Interactions Editor. Using the Interactions Editor, children decide which action a castle friend will do when it meets another, giving these characters personality traits or moods.

Activities

• The Secret Passage and the Obstacle Course

  Four of the scenes contain a hidden scroll with instructions on how to find the secret passage. The scroll shows a character and a sequence of actions which the character must do in order to open the passage.

• The Family Crest Activity

  Children can write their name on the banner and design a family crest on the castle. This activity encourages creativity and the pre-reading skill of letter recognition.

• Catapult and Bull's Eye Activity

  This activity is fun! You sit a friend in a chair and then use a catapult to hurl fruit at a bulls eye. A hit with the weight of fruit that matches the friends weight causes a dunking!

• The Harp

  Children can make their own tune just by clicking on the colored boxes at the end of the strings.

• The Maze Activity

  The red ant has to reach its friend the black ant. This activity encourages spatial awareness and problem solving.

• The Memory Matching Activity

  The icons, hidden behind a brick are action icons. When the child finds a matching pair, the characters will do this action.

• The Painting Activity

  Children can create a new painting to hang on the bedroom wall, even including frame selection.

System Requirements, Price and Ordering

• My Make Believe Castle is available for Windows or Mac, and is distributed on CD-ROM. It requires 5 to 20 MB on the hard drive, depending on how it is installed. A sound card is optional.

• The Cost is U.S.$49.00.

• Ordering Information

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