Bob the Builder is not your ordinary contractor.  Not only has Bob built entire communities but he’s now built a zoo too! Talk about a turn-key service provider!   

Bob the Builder Can-Do Zoo, like most other Bob the Builder media products, seeks not just to entertain but to also teach children. One reviewer writes, “not only will your child increase their dexterity and by utilizing the mouse to complete the games and tasks they will also build foundational skills.”

The foundational skills learned, according to one blogger, include “shape and color identification, pattern, spatial and size recognition, memory, object classification, planning and time sequencing, and problem solving and critical thinking. Can-Do Zoo teaches these skills by encouraging children to think about creative solutions.” She goes on to add the best part of this game “is that it’s engaging and fun to play, and children can play in English or Spanish.”

Some reviewers knew this game would be a big hit amongst their aspiring builders even before it was sent. One blogger writes, “I could see my computer time drifting away even as I read the email.  I knew that if I said yes, I was saying goodbye to my own screen time because my kid was going to be so excited to play. I was right.“ 

Some reviewers were a bit skeptical: “Dawson has a short attention span and gets frustrated if he doesn’t know the answer to a problem. Can-Do Zoo reinforces positive thinking, and if an incorrect answer is given, the game encourages the player to try again. After just a few moments of play, Dawson had figured out how to click a mouse, how to move the cursor across the screen, as well as learn color patterns and shape recognition.

Two bloggers mentioned the game’s portability was a big plus -thus easily feeding a fledging gamers “habbit.”

“Bob is great because the game is self-contained on one CD.  It installs quickly and easily, and then the CD is not needed - which is important if you end up at Grandma’s house without the other game CDs,” says one blogger. Another adds, “no internet connection (is) needed, so when we travel to my husband’s grandparents’ house next time, I won’t have to listen to (my child) complain about not being able to do her gaming.”

One blogger felt setting up the game was a bit of a challenge. “You’re presented with this complex but colorful menu system in which you have to decide if you’re in going into ‘Story mode’ or not. Then pick your character, choose if you want to continue a saved game or resume a new one, and finally pick your difficulty level… The whole time, the various characters talk over each other so there is a lot of confusing instructions before you even get to do anything,” said a reviewing dad. But once everything was situated? “It was a pretty cool game - in ‘easy’ mode the tasks are mostly just about learning to use the mouse, which Holden definitely needed…  Each activity was 1-2 minutes long and usually involved putting things where they belong, cleaning up and so forth.”

Another reviewer also mentioned the game’s “book mode” where Bob tells a story while integrating different games and video clips from the actual show.  She adds that, “while the book mode was very exciting to my boys who enjoyed following the story of the zoo and components needed as Bob builds special homes for the animals, my only disapointment was that the actual words for the story were not there for the child to follow along. Even though younger toddlers may not be able to read all of the words having them there would be of great benefit.” 

But yet this blogger also writes, “Bob the Builder Can Doo Zoo is a learning experience your little one will be begging to play again and again. A second blogger concurs, “It is with total confidence that I recommend Bob The Builder: Can-Do Zoo, which can be installed on both Windows and Apple platforms (another bonus!).

For system requirements information on the award-winning product, go to Beanstalk’s website. The next bloggers to review Bob The Builder’s Can Do Zoo are:

Tues 8/12 - Baggage Reviews and Mid-Campaign Post on PBN
Wed 8/13 - Mother Bumper
Thurs 8/14 - Karianna
Fri 8/15 - Lawyer Mama
Mon 8/18 - A Gaggle of Girls
Tues 8/19 - Round-Up Review on PBN