Gentle jungle murmurings overlaid with Robert Guillaume's gleeful voice give the solid, well-conceived typing program, Adventures in Typing with Timon & Pumbaa, an unusual degree of appeal and staying power. While the program will have your child smacking bugs, catching grubs and scampering away from dangerous enemies, children are actually practising the same fundamental skill-based keyboard activities as covered by such adult titles as Mavis Beacon Teaches Typing. Some terrific components of this program include shadows that display which finger should be used to hit each key, a timer that counts the seconds in each two-minute game and the blissful fact that hitting the space bar will fast-forward you past the opening and closing credits. The mysterious, leafy jungle setting is delightfully alive, yet you'll probably need to turn the brightness on your monitor way up to see all the vital buttons hidden in the dark corners of the scene. Be forewarned: to truly conquer touch-typing, you need to drive those keyboard strokes deep into the body's muscular memory. Endless repetition is the only proven method for this. That means that while this program boasts five unique activities (for example, Rafiki gives "lessons" while Timon and Pumbaa play "games"), it is all keyboard practice, again and again. Kids receive encouragement with an enticing visual environment, progress reports, certificates and frequent enthusiastic comments from Guillaume but it is ultimately going to fall upon the parents to see that their children continue with this when the going gets, well, boring. Don't expect your child to see this through without your support. Stay involved and they will. [+]

A terrible storm has knocked out power in Jurassic Park and the huge dinosaurs are on the rampage. As a member of the elite Dino Defender squadron, it's your job to capture as many dinosaurs as possible while you try to restore power in this dramatic and exciting CD-ROM game. The adventure starts once you type your name and accept the mission, and then you must climb, leap, run and jump using your keyboard or game pad control. Be aware that the big dinosaurs take a while to emerge-at first you're followed by a few small ones that make strange squeaking noises. But on the way you can stop and look for supply boxes of gear such as tranquilliser canisters and distractor flares. The scenes are very atmospheric and the tension builds quickly as you're never sure when the dinosaurs are going to put in an appearance. When they do, it's quick and you have to be fast with your controls to survive. The accompanying booklet is well-designed and points out all the navigation and movement skills required to take on the dinosaurs. However it's worthwhile spending time in the game's excellent interactive training academy. Quick to install and well-explained by the narrator this is a first class adventure game which will keep children and adults alike occupied for hours. [+]

There's trouble in Townsville in Powerpuff Girls-Mojo Jojo's Clone Zone for the PC and Mac. Mojo Jojo has devised a terrible plan: he has successfully created Robot clones of himself that contain knowledge from his own brain, and he has sent them into the streets and to the Underground in Townsville, in order to destroy it. The clones, however, are capable of being overthrown: help the Power Puff girls to capture and defeat the clones by using learning power to unlock rewards by completing activities and collecting the clones' memory chips, and so, ultimately saving Townsville from Mojo Jojo's evil and villainous plans. You may well be wondering who the Powerpuff Girls are? Red-haired Blossom is the leader, and always wears pink dresses. Buttercup, with short black hair, wears green clothes and is really tough, while Bubbles, the most sensitive of the trio, wears blue dresses and has blonde bunches. All were created by Professor Utonium and all have special skills and incredible super powers, courtesy of their creator, which they regularly use to save the world from danger. By playing these games, your children will develop their maths and reading skills, logic and problem-solving abilities, their critical thinking analysis and sequencing and direction following abilities-all of which are necessary for educational development. The CD-ROM is aimed at children aged 6-10 years, which covers a large range of abilities, but to accommodate this age gap 5 levels of difficulty have been built into the program. Progress is automatically remembered, and can be monitored. There are also print-outs available: choose from 25 activities including cross words, colouring, word searches, and more. [+]