What fits into a Christmas stocking, is both fun and educational, and might just take the edge off school holiday boredom?

This month, we review five popular software games for all interests and age groups. From Star Wars to Fairies, the key is to find something that will challenge and interest your child while they learn and develop their skills.

Where in the world is Carmen Sandiego?

Our Rating
  4 stars

Age group: 8-12 years

Publisher: Scholastic Australia
Where in the World Is Carmen Sandiego is available in Issue 8, Click! Interactive Learning Club from Scholastic Book Clubs this November.

Acme agent Carmen Sandiego has defected – your job is to track her down and solve the mystery. There are eight missions to choose from, each taking players around the world with fellow Acme agents Jules and Hawkins, gathering clues and unlocking the mystery.

Easy peasy?
Our resident seven-year old found it a bit too tricky; he clocked up about a zillion airmiles looking for clues around the world, and quickly got frustrated. So we passed it onto his pals who are eight and 10. They loved it and found it quite intuitive. The only downside? You can’t save where you’re up to, so each time you restart you have to gather the clues again. And that can get repetitive.

Fun factor:
Using the Acme gadgets was great fun, a little like being James Bond without the martinis. Travelling to all the different countries and playing games to gather clues, such as with a Japanese cards master, also added a global twist to the challenge.

Learn anything?
Lots of interesting facts about countries, their geography and history, and basic language skills.

The wow factor:
The thought that you were getting closer to Carmen was definitely a hook to keep on playing. Which can be challenging if you want to limit screen-time, as it takes a while!

Star Wars Maths: Jabba’s Game Galaxy

Our Rating
  5 stars

Age group: 6-9 years

Publisher: Scholastic Australia
Star Wars Maths: Jabba’s Game Galaxy is available in Issue 8, Click! Interactive Learning Club from Scholastic Book Clubs this November.

A fresh look at classic maths games and puzzles takes you to Luke’s home planet of Tatooine. You need to fix up your spaceship, but Watto’s parts are expensive. Your only choice is to play for credit at Jabba’s casino-style games complex, where you can take on various Star Wars villains in a wide range of math and geometry games.

Easy peasy?
Dylan (aged seven) loves maths, he loves Star Wars, and he especially loves computer games where he can ‘make money’ and then ‘spend’ it. So this was a game-come-true for him, and he had the persistence and interest to get to grips with it fast. Some games are easier than others – he quickly saw that the fastest way to get credits was with board-game style Ratt’s Race, where you need to answer math and geometry questions to proceed. Holochex, a checkers style game with Jabba the Hutt, where your pieces are moving monster-aliens, was far more difficult to win.

Fun factor:
Most children will recognise the characters, and the terrific graphics, sound and music keep it fun and exciting. It’s highly interactive, and the ultimate goal of fixing your spaceship to collect space junk is also a great game in itself.

Learn anything?
Perfect for developing maths and strategic skills.

The wow factor:
There are plenty of different games to choose from. Because many are quite random, no matter how ‘good’ you get at them it is still challenging and no guarantee of winning – which means kids don’t get tired of it quickly. For Dylan, the accumulation of credit and ability to spend it on parts and design his own salvage-ship was the main driver.

The Fairies - Fairy Magic

Our Rating
  3 stars

Age group: 3+

Publisher: Dataworks (see here for stockists)

Join Harmony, Rhapsody and their enchanting friends, with six early learning activities for young children. Play tic tac toe, paint and colour in, find your way through a maze, or solve simple puzzles.

Easy peasy?
The games were really very basic, even though multiple difficulty levels are available. Ella (aged four) needed a lot of help with fine-motor tasks like navigating the maze or painting with Elf, and Zoe (aged five) quickly became bored.

Fun factor:
Fairy fans will love this simply because it’s The Fairies, but once they’ve mastered the puzzles there’s not much else to keep them challenged.

Learn anything?
It’s ideal for children who are just learning to get to grips with a mouse. There are some math or strategic learning elements in the puzzle, tic tac toe and the maze, but it’s more of an entertainment program.

The wow factor:
It’s fun to paint with Elf (although that took a while to download) and solve puzzles with Rhapsody and Harmony. However, the age group it really targets probably don’t have the skills needed to play all the activities so it needs a lot of parent supervision.

Phonics Alive 2 - The Sound Blender

Our Rating
  3 stars

Age group: 6-11 years

Publisher: Dataworks (see here for stockists)

With a choice of a wide range of spelling activities and sound recognition, these games are ideal for kids who need some extra help with reading, or who are learning English as a Second Language.

Easy peasy?
Instructions by voice mean you don’t have to be able to read fluently to follow the games. It’s intuitive for kids, with video and remote tools to operate. In fact, it may be a little too easy for the older age group it targets.

Fun factor:
Charlie (aged seven) found it too easy to be challenging for any length of time. His favourite game was a Space Invaders styled spelling test, where he needed to spell a word quickly before firing.

Learn anything?
Spelling words within a fast timeframe helped develop spelling bee abilities.

The wow factor:
This is more educational than engaging and the graphics lacked excitement and sophistication. But if your child needs some extra reading confidence over the holidays, it could be a clear winner.

Rocco’s Zoo Adventure

Our Rating
  5 stars

Age group: 3+

Publisher: Dataworks (see here for stockists)

Rocco needs your help collecting turtle eggs around the zoo. Complete puzzles, sort shapes, name animals and you’ll find them all!

Easy peasy?
Fairly easy for younger children, with characters talking through the instructions for non-readers. Simple click-icons (play, skip, back) and demonstrations of each activity also helped.

Fun factor:
Will (aged three) loved it. Lots of colour and interesting zoo characters kept his attention, and he was very pleased with himself when all his eggs were collected.

Learn anything?
An excellent first game for pre-schoolers, as it helps them learn to listen to instructions, watch a demonstration and then complete a task using a mouse to click and drag. As a bonus, there’s plenty of interesting information about animals, and good education puzzles such as shape and colour sorting.

The wow factor:
Young minds are easily distracted, but the need to collect turtle eggs at the end of each activity kept Will’s interest going. He wanted to play it again and again! Plus, as a parent it was great to hear some Australian accents on a game.