This interactive CD-ROM from Viva Media includes four main activities and a game section.
Building Blocks: What do you get if you combine a sheep's head, a beagle's middle, and a cow's rear end? A headline in the Weekly World News is not the correct answer. This mismatch of animal body parts results in a melody. Whether it's lovely or not depends on your ear, I suppose. To kids, it would probably sound like a lot of fun. In this game, the three body sections of a sheep, moose, pig, dog, cow, and cat each represent a different simple melody. By mixing and matching the blocks, the child can create new melodies.
Mix and Match: Have you ever seen one of those flip books, where you mix and match body parts to make a completely different (and sometimes ridiculous) person or animal? This game is similar, but you are mixing and matching melodies and rhythms. Melodies and rhythms are represented by pictures of the top and bottom half of children. Players may also select which instrument plays their mixed up tunes.
Making Music: "Look, Mom, I wrote my name," my five year old excitedly called out. And then he played it, so I could hear how beautiful his name sounds. In this game the child uses a paintbrush to stroke colorful lines across the page, and those lines play a melody. It's a wonderful combo of art and music. And your child can make his paintings sound like a crystal glass, a bird tweet, a steel drum, or an assortment of other sounds and instruments.
Melody and Rhythm Maker: Children compose music my clicking on birds. That's right. The birds on the telephone line are the melody. The hatching birds on the tree branch are the rhythm. As in the other activities, the child has a large array of options and tools to choose from to make a unique composition.
Games: There are four games in this section: Same or Different, Find the Same, Name that Difference, and Make Your Own Game. The titles are pretty self explanatory, and each strengthens the child's listening ability. The backdrop for the games is a sports stadium. I can't say it's as exciting as playing the latest Video Game, but it's not exactly Snoresville either.
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