Smart-Bear Adventures - Leboe & Grice Multimedia

This series is filled with tons of bear-related facts. The software is more of an interactive book than a game, and as you progress through the story, you unlock new features. For example, in Smart-Bear Adventures 1, you get new image stamps for the creativity center every time you read a new section of the story... read more at MacLife

Didi & Ditto Kindergarten - Kutoka

Here's a kids' game done right. The artwork and animation are of a quality rarely seen in kids' software, and there's a good mix of fun puzzles that your child can do solo or with your help. Our testers had fun pointing and clicking around the landscape to find a puzzle or trigger amusing skits, jokes, or riddles from a colorful array of characters... read more at MacLife

Lua Lua - Phelios

There's no meandering storyline in Lua Lua: It cuts right to the games. Lua Lua packages seven games with colorful graphics and, shall we say, energetic music - as in, parents will be annoyed by it after 15 minutes. The games involve matching, pattern recognition, and puzzle solving, but Lua Lua doesn't provide any instructions... read more at MacLife

Giggles Computer Funtime for Baby - Leveractive

When your baby is having a mashing good time on your Mac, arms and hands flailing away at your keyboard, you might as well have Giggles Computer Funtime for Baby installed. The software reacts to your child's keyboard pounding based on a variety of themes that you select... read more at MacLife

FizzBall - Grubby Games

FizzBall successfully puts new spin on the Breakout style of game, where the object is to eliminate brick walls with a bouncing ball. As Professor Fizzwizzle, you use a fizzball to capture and save cute little animals that have been abandoned on an island. Using a steampunk-style paddle, the professor swats the fizzball at animals... read more at MacLife

Plopp - Planet Plopp

Plopp is a new drawing program for kids with a twist: draw anything you like and Plopp will turn it into a 3D object for you. Sounds impossible? Not quite, but it's fiendishly clever... read more at MacUserUK

Kid Pix Deluxe 3X 1.1.1 - Software MacKiev

Mac games for kids can be fun, entertaining, and even educational, but how about letting your wee one exercise the creative part of her developing brain? Get Kid Pix Deluxe 3X for your progeny, and you might be surprised at how prolific they become... read more at MacLife

The Cat in the Hat by Dr. Seuss - Software MacKiev

From Software MacKiev comes The Cat in the Hat the old Seuss-ian tale. On CD for your Mac... read more at MacLife

Berlitz Premier - Nova Development

Learning a foreign language can be tough. To help you get started, Berlitz, one of the better-known names in language instruction, has introduced Berlitz Premier, a new software series with packages in French, German, Italian, and Spanish, as well as English. I tested the French, Spanish, and German language versions... read more at Macworld

TimePassages Basic Edition - AstroGraph Software

TimePassages can help you understand astrology—the belief that celestial bodies (stars, planets, and so on) influence events on Earth and your daily life. Even though the Basic Edition of TimePassages is limited in its features, it’s still a great way to learn the heavenly ropes... read more at MacAddict

Rosetta Stone 3.0 - Fairfield Language Technologies

Fairfield Language Technologies’ Rosetta Stone 3.0 provides a comprehensive way to learn a foreign language. It teaches reading, writing, and verbal comprehension. It also includes photos to help you associate the new foreign words with images instead of relying on translations between English and the new language... read more at Macworld

World Book 2006 Edition - Software MacKiev

Software MacKiev has redesigned World Book 2006 from the ground up as a Mac OS X application. The result is a visually stunning, fantastically intuitive interface. There are also powerful and versatile search tools that let you use as many as three words or phrases to search by topic and keyword... read more at Macworld

Britannica 2006 Ultimate Reference suite - Encyclopaedia Britannica

With Britannica 2006, you can find information in a heartbeat without going online. A totally self-contained offline product can be a good thing when you're on deadline for a homework assignment and you want to zero in on information without having to read dozens of articles. Many Internet articles may turn out to be inappropriate, because they are off topic, contain explicit content or you can't trust their sources. Britannica's content has been checked for accuracy... read more at macHOME

Secret Agent Europe - 120digital

In this game (reminiscent of Where in the World is Carmen Sandiego?), kids track down international criminals while learning European geography and cultural customs... read more at macHOME

The Goodfather - drmoz.com

Becoming a new father can be almost as intimidating as visiting a mafia don on his daughter's wedding day to ask for a huge favor. That's the tonguein- cheek premise of The Goodfather, a how-to CD-ROM for dads based on The Godfather. In this CD, you'll visit with an animated "Goodfather," a passable, humorous Brando-imitator... read more at macHOME

Kids Kitchen - 120Digital

In this game, kids learn about nutrition with the help of Mr. Gingerbread (they get to decorate him before getting into the kitchen), who hangs out in the lower left corner at all times to offer advice when needed. The kitchen is a simple 2D affair, filled with what looks like clip art... read more at macHOME

Cosmic Blobs 1.1, Lab Rat Edition - SolidWorks

THERE'S NOTHING like a zany Saturday morning cartoon for quality kid entertainment, unless of course you think there's more to the life of a 7- to 14-year-old than mindless couch surfing. With Cosmic Blobs 1.1 Lab Rat Edition (the first version available on the Mac), kids use—rather than snooze—their brains... read more at macHOME

Mathematica CalcCenter 3 - Wolfram Research

Calculation Center was Wolfram Research’s first attempt to make Mathematica, its flagship math calculation program, friendlier to mere non-programming mortals, such as students and beginners. Its menus give you a choice of templates called Instant Calculators and it provides examples as starting points... read more at Macworld

3D Weather Globe & Atlas 1.1 - Software MacKiev

Even the loveliest screenshots do a great injustice to 3D Weather Globe & Atlas. You must see this program running to truly appreciate its beauty and capabilities; even then you’ll have a hard time believing your eyes. 3D Weather Globe gives you an astronaut’s view of the spinning Earth... read more at Macworld

Dora the Explorer: Animal Adventures - MacSoft

You play Dora, who's helping some distressed animals (as distressed as animals in kids' games get, anyway) in the rain forest. You play a series of games to help the animals: matching games, pattern-memorizing exercises, counting activities, and more... read more at MacAddict

Didi & Ditto Kindergarten - Kutoka Interactive

Didi and Ditto are red and blue beavers who inhabit a land of colorful and eccentric cartoon creatures such as Couki the dog, Zolt the wolf, and HipHop the rabbit. They are also the title characters of Kutoka Interactive's latest learning adventure, Didi & Ditto Kindergarten, aimed at children four to six years old... read more at Macworld

Barbie Mermaid Adventure - vugames

We appreciate games targeting young girls (ages 4-6 in this case), yet we'd prefer they had some educational value beyond collecting jewelry for a “big celebration.” Still, this game uses an underwater theme, pretty graphics, adorable animal characters, music

Making Music - Viva Media

In Making Music, a funfilled music creativity toolkit (ages 5 and up), composer Morton Subotnick presents a digital candy store of musical treats. Making Music invites budding maestros (both young and young-at-heart) to compose music using a palette of instruments, notes, rhythms, tempos and other elements. An intuitive graphic interface ... read more at macHOME

Kidspiration 2 - Inspiration Software

Thanks to the audio and visual tools in Kidspiration 2, teaching kids to read and write is a lot easier. Kidspiration 2 is a graphic organ- izer for children in grades K-5. It boasts dozens of kid-friendly tools to help developing readers make connections between words, pictures, letters and symbols ... read more at macHOME

MacAstronomica 2.0.2 - EasySoft Creations

Need a map to the stars? MacAstronomica 2.0.2 is a simple but powerful tool that can turn any iBook or PowerBook into a portable guide to the nighttime sky ... read more at Macworld

TimeLiner 5.0 - Tom Snyder

"Teacher's Pet - TimeLiner 5.0 provides teachers with an effective tool for teaching across the curriculum, putting any chronological or numerical information on screen for students to see " ... read more at Macworld

Read, Write & Type - Talking Fingers

"Read, Write & Type aims to teach six- to nine-year-olds proper keyboarding skills as they learn how to read and write. It's a complete kit that includes an activity guide" ... read more at Macworld

Dora the Explorer: Backpack Adventure - Infogrames Entertainment

"Irrepressible and exuberant, Dora the Explorer: Backpack Adventure offers preschoolers friendly encouragement as they learn shapes, numbers, and basic reasoning skills. " ... read more at Macworld

Zoombinis Island Odyssey - The Learning Company

"This new game also introduces kids to scientific concepts and ecology" ... read more at Macworld

Chemicus - Tivola Publishing

"Mix one part Myst, one part high school chemistry textbook and three ounces of obscure chemistry facts over a Bunsen burner and you'll get Chemicus, Tivola's atypical "edutainment" game." ... read more at macHOME

The Powerpuff Girls Mojo Jojo’s Clone Zone - The Learning Company

"In this new game, our three tiny flying superheroes are faced with a daunting challenge. Townsville is under attack by the diabolical villain Mojo Jojo (a nutty megalomaniac monkey)!" ... read more at macHOME

Rescue Heros Tremor Trouble - Knowledge Adventure

"With multiple difficulty levels, Rescue Heroes Tremor Trouble offers some replay value, but the limited number of activities won't keep active players busy for too long. What's more, the game runs only in OS X's Classic mode and OS 9" ... read more at Macworld

groBoto 1.5 - Braid Media Arts

"Primarily designed as a KidPix-like painting program for kids, groBoto is a uniquely eccentric 3D toolbox, capable of generating some of the wildest multidimensional images ever to emerge from a Mac" ... read more at MacAddict

Little People Discovery Airport - Knowledge Adventure

"The game features animated Little People who populate a make-believe airport full of fun activities for youngsters ... the publisher's claim of OS X support is misleading" ... read more at Macworld

Ollo in the Sunny Valley Fair - Plaid Banana Entertainment

"Geared toward kids aged three and up, Ollo in The Sunny Valley Fair tells the story of an affable blue clay ball who helps his friends through adversities in the land of Sunny Valley" ... read more at macHOME

Curious George Downtown Adventure - Knowledge Adventure

"The game revolves around helping George learn the skills he'll need in order to assist the construction crew set the gold ball atop the building. George acquires these skills by visiting three separate spots and completing "curious" tasks." ... read more at macHOME

Moop & Dreadly in The Treasure on Bing Bong Island - Plaid Banana Entertainment

"Like Humongous's Junior Adventure series, Hulabee's Moop & Dreadly game emphasizes game play over learning. While kids might hone their problem-solving skills, the game is really just an escapist romp that puts them in the midst of a fun, well-crafted story." ... read more at Macworld

Peanuts: Where's the Blanket Charlie Brown? - Tivola

"The game is very colorful and faithful to the aesthetics of the strip, with the characters' personalities loyally adhering to the subtle persnickitiness established by Peanuts' creator Charles M. Schulz.". ... read more at macHOME

UltraKey - Bytes of Learning

"The graphics in this typing program are very colorful and appropriate for what the program is teaching. It is teaching you to type, and once you learn to do that, it teaches you how to type better and even faster". ... read more at macHOME

Freddi Fish and the Case of the Creature of Coral Cove - Humongous Entertainment

Number five in a series of adventures, Freddi Fish and The Case of the Creature of Coral Cove continues to delight her young audiences with her cheerful demeanor and plucky way of sticking with problems until she gets them solved. ... read more at macHOME

Zoombinis Logical Journey, Mountain Rescue - The Learning Co.

The Zoombinis keep getting into predicaments that they have to escape! And we're the ones who have to help them. In the Logical Journey, the Diabolical Bloats have taken over the Zoombini island. You have to help to collect or rescue as many Zoombinis as you can ... read more at macHOME

Vet Emergency - Legacy Interactive

Who doesn't want to help chinchillas that won't eat and dogs that get hit by cars? We don't. Suffering thorough Vet Emergency's clunky interface, cryptic medical tools, and condescending Vet staff makes the game seem more like work than educational fun ... read more at MacAddict

Deep Space Explorer - Space.com Software

Deep Space Explorer, Space.com Software's latest astronomy program, puts you on an intergalactic starship cruising the ether ... read more at MacAddict

Backyard Basketball - Humongous Entertainment

Backyard Basketball has all of the makings of a good kids game - it's action-packed, it offers a lot of customization options, it promotes diversity and sportsmanship, and it's based on a sport that many kids love. But at the end of the day ... read more at MacAddict

Monsters, Inc. Scream Team Training - Disney Interactive

If, like us, you adored the movie Monsters, Inc., you might feel a bit let down when you play Scream Team Training. The movie set a high bar with its beautiful graphics and engaging story line, and this kiddie game for the five-and-up crowd just ... read more at MacAddict

Oregon Trail, 5th Edition - The Learning Company

The program has some exciting game playing that forces you to make real-life decisions for the characters, like buying supplies, arranging travel dates, routes, pace, and more. ... read more at macHOME

Digital Field Trip to the Rainforest - Digital Frog

This program is a great way to learn about the rainforest. We think we'd really like to visit one! The object of the game was to learn about trees and all about the forest and the animals that live there. ... read more at macHOME

Spy Masters, Unmask the Prankster - Knowledge Adventure

In this game there is a prankster who is making strange things happen in the world: food is turning green and robots are running around all over the place out of control. Our job was to stop the robots by aiming at them and making them blow up and make all the evil machines stop working ... read more at macHOME

Where in the World is Carmen Sandiego? Treasures of Knowledge - The Learning Co.

Carmen and her band of robbers are at it again - stealing treasures from all over the world, particularly the book of Marco Polo. And, two top ACME agents Jules and Shadow have to stop her in her tracks and need some help doing so ... read more at macHOME

The Magic School Bus Volcano Adventure - Scholastic

The twirly-haired, crackly-voiced Ms. Frizzle is back, along with her magic school bus and class of overachieving kids. This time, they're exploring volcanoes. The Magic School Bus Volcano Adventure offers a wide and healthy range of education and entertainment ... read more at MacAddict

Zoog Genius: Math, Science & Technology - Disney Interactive

MTV goes to school with Disney's new quiz show games, based on Zoog Disney, a Disney Channel program with characters from the cartoons and movies. Contestants chase pop culture-themed questions through the high-speed Zether, the nebulous world that lies between the computer and the television, ... read more at macHOME

Zoog Genius II: Language Arts, History & Geograhpy - Disney Interactive

MTV goes to school with Disney's new quiz show games, based on Zoog Disney, a Disney Channel program with characters from the cartoons and movies. Contestants chase pop culture-themed questions through the high-speed Zether, the nebulous world that lies between the computer and the television, ... read more at macHOME

Cluefinders: Incredible Toy Store Adventure - The Learning Company

The ClueFinders series chronicles the adventures of four smart, hip, young detectives. The Learning Company spares no expense on production values, making this one of the best-looking series in the market. But beauty is sometimes ... read more at macHOME

JumpStart Explorers - Knowledge Adventure

History comes to life in JumpStart Explorers, which gives kids a first-class ticket to explore the world and experience the thrill of history as they travel back in time ... read more at macHOME

JumpStart Languages - Knowledge Adventure

It builds a foundation for language development by introducing children to the sights, sounds, words, and phrases of Spanish, French, Japanese and English ... read more at macHOME

Math Advantage 2002 - Encore Software

What do you get when you squeeze years of math into one package? With Encore's Math Advantage, a mixed bag ... read more at macHOME

Lexia Early Reading - Lexia Learning Systems

Kids can get through Lexia Early Reading without any knowledge of the alphabet. Surprising? Not once you understand the program's premise: to learn to read, children must develop "phonological awareness." ... read more at macHOME

Alphabet - School Zone

The world of Alphabet is one of encouragement and "tell and show" instruction. Directions are accompanied by animations that show exactly what to do. Kids will practice alphabetical order, letter-sound correspondences and word recognition ... read more at macHOME

Math Blaster Cross Terrain Challenge - Knowledge Adventure

Math Blaster Cross Terrain Challenge is all about giving kids what Knowledge Adventure thinks they crave, so playing this is like watching MTV, right down to the snide host and "pure energy" soundtrack ... read more at macHOME

Millie Meter and Her Adventures in the Oak Tree - Tivola

Join young Millie Meter, scientist and explorer, as she investigates the insides of a tree in Millie Meter and Her Adventures in the Oak Tree and the insides of a human digestive system in Millie Meter's Nutrition Adventure ... read more at macHOME

Millie Meter's Nutrition Adventure - Tivola

Join young Millie Meter, scientist and explorer, as she investigates the insides of a tree in Millie Meter and Her Adventures in the Oak Tree and the insides of a human digestive system in Millie Meter's Nutrition Adventure ... read more at macHOME

SPY Fox: Operation Ozone - Humongous Entertainment

As the mascara-wielding master criminal Poodles Galore deploys a giant hairspray space station to rain down stinky spray clouds on the planet below, the ozone layer begins to fade. Crispy citizens will have no choice but to buy Poodles Galore's special suntan lotion and soon Poodles will control the world. Unless you stop her ... read more at macHOME

I Love Phonics - DK Interactive

I Love Phonics is a learning game that seeks to teach young kids valuable reading lessons. The game takes place in a cartoon "funhouse" that children explore by clicking on various items and areas ... read more at macHOME

Kaplan Essentials: Biology & Chemistry - Encore Software

What do you call a program that drills students on photosynthesis, glucose degradation, and electron behavior? Boring? Not if you're talking about Kaplan Essentials: Biology & Chemistry ... read more at macHOME

Brain Buster Quiz - DK Interactive

Hosted by Seemore Skinless (a smart-cracking, lounge-lizard style emcee whose entrails are visible under his naked ribcage), the player selects a difficulty level, then chooses from categories like science, pop culture and reading comprehension ... read more at macHOME

Physicus - Tivola

If you've ever wanted to impress your friends in a pedantic, hoity-toity, starched collar sort of way, play Physicus. After they are informed that the game is a point-and-click adventure (think Myst) that relies on real-world scientific principles (don't think Myst), they will be thoroughly impressed. And by the end of Physicus, you will be impressed with your mastery of ... read more at macHOME

Kid Pix Deluxe 3 - Broderbund

Trust that you've got a mini Michelangelo on your hands if your child can't get enough of KidPix Deluxe 3. The center of the main screen is a blank canvas upon which to splash pictures, cartoons, explosions you name it ... read more at macHOME