Playhouse Disney's Stanley: Wild for Sharks!

Wow, were we ever pleasantly surprised. "Stanley: Wild for Sharks" borders on amazing. It's truly fun, yet truly loaded with educational opportunities. The creative team behind the software has done a commendable job of injecting a "scaffolding" approach to teaching young ones, and they've seemed to maximize the opportunities for challenging the three to six year-old set while minimizing the avenues that might lead to frustration as proficiency with the program increases.

I've lately tried to avoid giving a product five stars simply because I like it, but this one deserves six.


Very Enjoyable on many levels   November 24, 2002
15 out of 15 found this review helpful

My son's new interest in aquatic life, particularly sharks, is what led us to this software program. He's four years old and very used to working on the computer so we have quite a collection of software. Well, this has become one of his favorite programs for many reasons but mainly because it is FUN. The key character, Stanley, is very likable, smart, and determined to get his school project finished. His British/Australian (?) sounding fish friend sounds nice to listen to and is a good "thinking" companion to Stanley throughout the program. The graphics and music are also very colorful and upbeat. Apart from just playing, I see that my son is also learning bits of information on ocean animals by referencing the "Great Big Book of Everything" during the game. The only frustration is that he wants to start every game from the beginning and if you click on a previously entered name the game picks up where you left off. Other software programs let you choose to start a new game each time. Nonetheless, we both like this program so much that I'm going to explore other Stanley software. By the way, we don't watch the TV program so it's not necessary to know the characters in advance of playing. Just have fun!