Bubble Guppies is a popular Nick Jr. show about a group of mermaid kids who attend an underwater school taught by Mr. Grouper. Now your preschoolers can learn with the fishes with Bubble Guppies on Nintendo DS. One of the Bubble Guppies (sorry I can’t remember all their names), sees a race car while swimming to school. So when she arrives, Mr. Grouper has a surprise for all them. They’ll be taking a field trip to the farm and the city to pick up cones to put on the race track, and they’ll be able to participate in the race, too!

In adventure mode, kids will play all the learning games in sequence. They’ll practice pattern recognition while planting vegetables, learn what animals eat and sound like, and more. Then in the city they’ll practice matching, shapes on the subway, among other things. Once they complete all the activities, it’s off to the races where they’ll build their car, paint their helmet, and drive to the finish line!

Kids can also play each of the learning games separately that they’ve completed in adventure mode. And they can race on three tracks in the race mode. Controls are entirely stylus and touch screen driven, and sometimes kids will even need to shout or blow into the microphone. Or they can push a button if they need to play quietly. The game is designed so that preschoolers can play on their own without any help from an older gamer.

Kid Factor:

Reading skill isn’t needed, as everyone dictates instructions with spoken voice. Only problem is that while kids will want to play the game over and over again, the adventure is still pretty short. Not only does the game and TV show teach a lot of preschool learning concepts, it also shows kids what kinds of things they’ll do in school, like lining up for recess and lunch. Bubble Guppies is rated EC for Early Childhood.

Tags: Game Reviews, Television