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This has 50 activities and will give kids "a leg up on learning" and plenty of puns. The first stop is the gates of the city, where 10 kooky-looking buildings loom on the horizon. Click on any and travel to places like Symfunny Hall, the Fancy Pants Factory, or the House of Beauty. The "pants" theme loosely unites these locales: peculiar pants (for elephants and others equally hard to fit) are manufactured at the factory and shipped out at the Hub of Transportation; workers live in Pantsylburbia and relax at Pocket Park. At each destination five characters await as tour guides, each in charge of a specific activity. Kingamajig always has a song to sing, while Clyde the bird leads a game called Seek 'n' Find, a computerized version of find-the-hidden-objects-in-a-picture, one kids will adore. For an extra challenge, race the clock. In Bunji the frog's "Poke 'n' Prod" game, kids can make strange yet fun things happen. In each game Bunji doles out item after item that can be moved and played with. In "Making Geology Happen," for instance, kids can cause a volcano to erupt, unleash a tornado, start a plague of locusts, make it snow or rain, and more. In other scenarios, Bunji lets users design a house, compose music, cook, babysit, be a mad scientist, and zip and zoom with vehicles ranging from jets to bumper cars. Bunji, Clyde, and Kingamajig are leaders of Song & Games screens, while Velma the pig and Monkie-Sue direct Fact & Fiction screens. Velma is in charge of Fancy Facts-short, sweet bits of trivia with categories such as Pancakes Around the World, Scary Things Demystified, and Animal Transformations. Finally, Monkie Sue's Furry Tales are short scenes waiting for a director. Point to a person and he or she talks; move an object and the action starts. My favorite is Social Studies Class, in which the aforementioned Mr. Smarty Pants delivers his puns. As if that weren't enough, there's a bona fide bad boy named Rotten Wrench lurking in Pantsylvania. He appears from time to time to cause trouble, and he's got a secret as well. Can you find it? |
