Those decades of experience and expertise are put to good use in the new Wii game Sesame Street: Elmo's A-to-Zoo Adventure (it's also available for the PC and Nintendo DS).
Sesame Street: Elmo's A-to-Zoo Adventure
For: Wii, PC, Nintendo DS
From: Warner Bros Interactive Entertainment Eric Goodwin
In the game, your child helps Elmo, Zoe, Zookeeper Chris and their animal friends solve word, letter, shape and colour puzzles.
Instead of passively operating a joystick, they'll get to jump, scoop and shake their way through the activities.
While the game targets preschoolers, even kindergarten-aged kids will benefit from some of the exercises, especially the word family and spelling games.
Each puzzle begins with audio instructions and an animation showing how to use the Wii-remote to complete the activity.
The directions were very clear - I was able to sit back while my 5-year-old daughter figured out everything on her own.
Elmo's A-to-Zoo Adventure features parental controls that, among other things, let you set a limit on the number of games your child plays in a sitting.
When that limit is reached, a screen pops up letting him or her know that time's up.
No need to fight over that "one last game" before bath time.
For those times when your child gets stuck during an activity, parents can "tag in" with a second Wii-remote, help out, then just as easily "tag out".
Your child retains their autonomy the whole time.
My one minor gripe with the game was with the control system.
Elmo's A-to-Z Adventure requires that you hold the Wii-remote sideways, like a handlebar.
To cycle through the selections on the screen, you have to tilt it either to the left or right.
My daughter experienced trouble when there were more than three selections on the screen to choose from, like in the Zoe Treasure Hunt activity.
Some of the selections were stacked on top of each other, and she got a little frustrated that she had to go through the choices one-at-time rather than using the Wii-remote as a pointer and picking her selection right away.
But, I understand how the system might be easier for younger players to comprehend.
My daughter enjoyed playing along with some of her favourite characters, and as a parent, I liked that the activities reinforced the lessons my daughter was learning in school, letting her experience them in a fun, new way.
Elmo's A-to-Zoo Adventure will make a great gift for your youngster this holiday season.
