Computer Games Can Be Teachers and Toys
                     Submitted by:  Gloria Short

  Nobody smells the stale, old-aunt's-house odor of boredom faster
  than a kid. Slip most kids a book, a magazine, even a video
  that's dusty with too-obvious education, and they'll just turn
  the pages, turn to the ads, or turn it off. To pump some thoughts
  into their progenies' heads, parents have to be clever, devious,
  downright deceitful. Fortunately, we've had a lot of practice.

  Even better, we've got help: other adults--like some of the
  people who make kids' computer software. The home computer,
  which, by turns, serves as a patient teacher and a powerful
  entertainer, or even a combination, works hard as a parent's
  coconspirator when it's equipped with great programs.

  For too long, software publishers stuck to dry electronic
  workbooks and endless exercises in geography. Boring. Now,
  though, kid-savvy companies are trying a different tack and
  giving as much game as gainful education. A handful of kids'
  digital stuff on the shelves in time for the holidays promises to
  bring a few new twists, and some overlooked subjects, to the home
  computer screen. They're even good enough to slip through your
  kids' sense of smell.

  Quarky and Quaysoo may sound like the latest sugar-bombed
  breakfast cereal, but they're actually lead players in an
  impressive PC program called "Quarky & Quaysoo's Turbo Science,"
  from Sierra. First in a planned series, Turbo Science wraps
  cartoon characters and some competition around a core of physical
  science. It's great fun, even for adults, though it's aimed at
  the middle-school crowd--say, 9- to 13-year-olds.

  Harder to describe than it is to play, "Turbo Science" breaks its
  science into 20 topics, from electricity to aerodynamics to
  volume and mass. Broad strokes, to say the least, mark "Turbo
  Science," for this isn't meant as a substitute for a textbook,
  but as an entertaining walk through some scientific principles
  and factoids. Kids race against computer opponents and at stops
  along the way answer questions. Some are simple--What's a good
  insulator against electricity?--while others are harder and
  require that kids use onscreen measuring tools, like a
  thermometer, scale, or volume meter. If kids get stuck, the
  program prompts them to read the included book, which is filled
  with useful facts and colorful, outrageous artwork.

  "Zoo Keeper," a new multimedia learning game from Davidson, may
  be more traditional in its approach, but it's no less
  entertaining. By merging a snappy game with
  near-photographic-quality images, speech, and realistic sound
  effects, "Zoo Keeper" takes kids on a walk through an electronic
  zoo. The idea is to clean up the animals' habitats, which have
  been messed up by--you guessed it--more cartoon characters. (Good
  thing kids like cartoons.) In the process, children learn a thing
  or two about more than 50 creatures, most of them on the
  endangered lists. Kids pick up things that don't belong in the
  habitats, feed the animals appropriate food, and reset the
  habitat controls to the proper temperature and humidity. A pair
  of binoculars lets kids view crisp, high-resolution images of the
  animals, and if the computer has an audio board (such as a Sound
  Blaster, for instance), they'll hear the animals' roars, chirps,
  snarls, and growls.

  The end result is awfully politically correct--kids release
  endangered species back into the wild--but "Zoo Keeper" doesn't
  preach too stridently. It's an interesting alternative to a real
  zoo, if only because this digital park is well stocked.

  Maxis is famous for its SimX line--the "SimCity," "SimEarth,"
  "SimAnt," and "SimLife" quartet--and though missing the Sim
  moniker, its new "El-Fish" follows the party line. Older
  kids--middle-school-aged and up--and adults can handle "El-Fish"
  (for Electronic Fish), an aquatic genetic laboratory. You create
  new types of fish by crossbreeding or mutating and then watch
  them realistically swim inside the computer screen. A mere toy
  for some, "El-Fish" nonetheless relies on some serious science.

  What with the high price of kids' software ($60 is pretty
  typical), you can't afford to go wrong. "Turbo Science," "Zoo
  Keeper," and "El-Fish" may not promise a degree in science, but
  they'll spark kids' interest. They're worth the money, worth your
  kids' time.

  And they don't smell.