I’m not a gamer. Never have been really. I was moderately interested in good old Mario Bros. for a time and could rock Galaga like there was no tomorrow in my early teen years. The only console I own is a Wii and that’s just because I won it. I did have a brief stint playing Starcraft but that’s pretty much it. Games haven’t been of much interest to me.
Lately we’ve been introducing Ava, the four year old, to computer games. We started with the basics, Reader Rabbit, Living books (Stellaluna is a favorite) and the like. Most of these games were given to us by family members which is great. Ava wiled away lots of time with these games. Eventually though she became bored with them.
Way back in February, otherwise known as the bowels of Michigan winter, I was looking for quality kids games that were affordable. I happened upon a contest PG was hosting and ended up winning that one too. Trust me, I’m not near as lucky as this post would lead you to believe. The prize in this contest was a copy of ItzaBitza.
ItzaBitza is fabulous software. It took Ava a few months to really get the hang of it. We would let her play for a bit at her own pace and for short amounts of time. Within the last several weeks she has really wrapped her head around how the game works and is having an absolute blast.
I’m not even crazy about calling it a game. It’s so much more than that. The interaction is unlike anything I’ve seen in a program for a child. Ava can move the mouse over the words in a sentence or instruction and the game reads them to her. This is helping her learn to read as well as improving her accuracy with the mouse. The game tasks her with drawing different things which often place the character into action. She can’t be lazy about it either. The game seems pretty good at detecting a scribble, and discarding it, when it was expecting a house or tree instead. The fun doesn’t end with drawing things either. The items that are drawn can be put into motion much of the time. Imagine a plane your child draws in the game flying across the sky with a simple shake of the mouse. Really excellent.
There have been plenty of reviews written for ItzaBitza so don’t feel like you need to take my word for anything. The software only costs $20 and there’s also a trial version available. Go ahead, kick the tires.
Hey Chuck,
Thank you VERY MUCH for reviewing ItzaBitza. As a mom of two, I’m excited that Ava is enjoying the game. You nailed what we have done – a game that is the quality of any video game for XBox and PlayStation. We want ItzaBitza to be able to compete with TV, These shows have very creative professionals doing the design and artwork. So do we. AND we are passionate that our children feel the self-esteem that comes with learning to read and creative problem solving. We spent 4 years researching how children learn and what is fun for kids this age with a renowned learning science team led by Dr. John Bransford (UW). The Let’s Read! Section of our web site is written by our reading specialist, Dr. Diana Sharp. There are alot of great tips there on engaging a child in reading.
Again, thank you. I’m pretty active on twitter so you can contact me at twitter.com/itzabitza
Best,
Margaret (CEO – Sabi, Inc. and mom of two)
Margaret Johnson´s last blog ..The ItzaBitza Gallery
Glad it’s getting some play there Chuck!
It’s still in solid rotation here from all the kids! Even my 11 year old will fiddle with it on occasion!
PG´s last blog ..“P” Is For Post Office (163/365 v2.0)
Chuck – this looks great. I’m going to snag a copy for Michael, I bet he’d absolutely love it! He’s just at the right age for this. Thanks!
Tom´s last blog ..Parenting in the Real World
Chuck, I wish I had little kids around so I could have an excuse to order this. It looks fantastic. I can see why a child would be entertained for hours.
(Bowels of a Michigan winter? I laughed at the phrasing, but I can so relate!)
SurprisedMom´s last blog ..Being up late
Hey SurprisedMom – isn’t there a niece, nephew, someone? Not that I’m trying to schlep ItzaBitza…um…wait a minute…I’ve become a schlepper! And here we are out to change our kids screen time for the good.
Margaret´s last blog ..ItzaBitza – A New Type of Learning Program That Inspires Children To Want To Read
Looks cool. I have a 4 year old nephew and I am going to show this to his dad. The video was a big help. My skill is limited to Mario Cart! lol
Barry´s last blog ..My Divorce Attorney Made Me Do it
My kiddos are older, but this is very cool!