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{{Short description|1996 video game}}
{{speedy deletion-previously deleted|Wikipedia:Articles for deletion/JumpStart Toddlers}}
{{Infobox video game
| released = Spring 1996<ref name=":2">{{Cite web|date=March 1997|title=Barnard|url=https://archive.org/details/barnard862barn/|page=52|publisher=Barnard College}}</ref>
| series = [[JumpStart]]
| genre = Edutainment
|image = Jumpstart Toddlers cover.jpg
|caption =
|alt =
|publisher = Knowledge Adventure
|developer = Knowledge Adventure
⚫
}}'''''JumpStart Toddlers''''' is a 1996 educational video game, the fourth within the [[JumpStart]] franchise. An enhanced version was released in 2000.


While the game itself received generally positive reviews, much of the commentary surrounding this title was as a key example of a burgeoning controversial lap-ware video gaming market, targeting children aged 5 and under.
⚫
'''''JumpStart Toddlers''''' is a 1996 educational video game, the fourth within the [[JumpStart]] franchise. An enhanced version was released in 2000.


== Development and release ==
The game was created in conjuction with parents, teachers, child development psychologists and pediatricians, and "designed with a toddler's developmental capabilities in mind".<ref name=":0">"KNOWLEDGE ADVENTURE ANNOUNCES JUMPSTART TODDLERS, A MAGICAL INTRODUCTION TO COMPUTER LEARNING FOR TODDLERS." ''PR Newswire'', 11 Mar. 1996, p. 311LAM019. ''Gale Academic OneFile'', link.gale.com/apps/doc/A18078045/AONE?u=wikipedia&sid=ebsco&xid=54a7a785. Accessed 20 Jan. 2022.</ref>
The game was designed by Nicole Hardt Wrubel, who spent four years as a lead designer at Knowledge Adventure.<ref name=":2"/> ''JumpStart Toddlers'' was inspired by her then two-and-a-half year old son, for whom she could not find age-appropriate software.<ref name=":2"/>


In order to introduce young players to the concept of interacting with hotspots, players immediately meet Giggles the Gopher, who welcomes them and points out seven hotspots around the screen which lead to activity areas.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Matthew|first=James|url=https://archive.org/details/usingyourpc00jame/|title=Using your PC|publisher=[[Barnes & Noble]]|year=2003|location=New York, NY|pages=178|isbn=9780760740149}}</ref> The game was designed to be part of a full curriculum of games for children to graduate into as they aged; ''Discover educational toys for children'' noted that Knowledge Adventure was "one of the few companies that offer a title for toddlers ages 18 months to 3 years".<ref>{{Cite book|last=Werdel|first=Hilary|url=https://archive.org/details/discovereducatio00werd/|title=Discover educational toys for children|publisher=Scholar Books|year=1998|pages=131|isbn=9780965532914}}</ref>
''JumpStart Toddlers'' included age-appropriate songs written and sung by children's musician Bethie.<ref name=":0">"KNOWLEDGE ADVENTURE ANNOUNCES JUMPSTART TODDLERS, A MAGICAL INTRODUCTION TO COMPUTER LEARNING FOR TODDLERS." ''PR Newswire'', 11 Mar. 1996, p. 311LAM019. ''Gale Academic OneFile'', link.gale.com/apps/doc/A18078045/AONE?u=wikipedia&sid=ebsco&xid=54a7a785. Accessed 20 Jan. 2022.</ref>


An enhanced version was released in 2000, published by [[Havas]] after a series of mergers and acquisitions involving Knowledge Adventure.<ref>{{Cite web|title=JumpStart Toddlers 2000, Bear in the Big Blue House: Bear's Sense of Adventure, Teletubbies 2: Favorite Games|url=http://www.cyber-reviews.com/jan00.html|access-date=2022-02-03|website=www.cyber-reviews.com}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|author=I. G. N. Staff|date=1998-11-21|title=French Group Buys Sierra and Blizzard|url=https://www.ign.com/articles/1998/11/21/french-group-buys-sierra-and-blizzard|access-date=2022-02-03|website=IGN|language=en}}</ref>
The title was released in mid-March 1996 through computer software stores, mass merchants, computer superstores, book stores and computer specialty stores.<ref name=":0">"KNOWLEDGE ADVENTURE ANNOUNCES JUMPSTART TODDLERS, A MAGICAL INTRODUCTION TO COMPUTER LEARNING FOR TODDLERS." ''PR Newswire'', 11 Mar. 1996, p. 311LAM019. ''Gale Academic OneFile'', link.gale.com/apps/doc/A18078045/AONE?u=wikipedia&sid=ebsco&xid=54a7a785. Accessed 20 Jan. 2022.</ref>


== Critical reception ==
In 1998, PC Magazine's Terri Robinson commented that "software developers are keen to the burgeoning ‘baby skills’ market" to "capture the imaginations of your 1- and 2-year olds and provide them with solid educational building blocks".<ref>Robinson, Teri (1998) ‘Wonder years’. PC Magazine, 17(3), 10 February: 333. Quoted in: Nadesan, Majia Holmer. 2002. “Engineering the Entrepreneurial Infant: Brain Science, Infant Development Toys, and Governmentality.” ''Cultural Studies'' 16 (3): 401–32. doi:10.1080/09502380210128315.</ref> By this time, just two years after the game's release, ''JumpStart Toddlers'' was competing in the market with ''[[Davidson & Associates]]''<nowiki/>' ''[[Fisher-Price Ready for Learning: Toddler]]'' and ''[[The Learning Company]]''<nowiki/>'s ''[[Reader Rabbit Toddler]]'' (1997)''.''<ref>“Toddlers Need Blocks, Not Mousing Skills.” ''U.S. News & World Report'' 123, no. 20 (November 24, 1997): 106. <nowiki>https://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=a9h&AN=9711152494&lang=en-gb&site=eds-live&scope=site</nowiki>.</ref>
Referring to this title, ''U.S. News & World Report''<nowiki/>'s article False Promise commented, "parents have been told that it's their responsibility to prepare children for a multi-tasking, technology-driven future, so they "JumpStart" their babies".<ref>{{Cite journal|last1=Kelly|first1=Katy|last2=Lord|first2=Mary|last3=Marcus|first3=David L.|date=September 25, 2000|title=False Promise|journal=[[U.S. News & World Report]]|volume=129|issue=12|pages=48|via=[[EBSCOhost]]}}</ref> ''eMERGing Literacy and Technology'' wrote the title was "appealing to the very young child or a child with limited motor control".<ref>{{Cite web|date=1998|title=ERIC ED433670: eMERGing Literacy and Technology: Working Together.|url=https://archive.org/details/ERIC_ED433670/|page=28}}</ref> ''Young kids and computers'' saw it as an example of a software program specifically designed to teach mouse skills, along with [[Broderbund]]'s ''[[My Very First Software]].''<ref>{{Cite book|last1=Buckleitner|first1=Warren|url=https://archive.org/details/youngkidscompute00elle/|title=Young kids and computers: a parent's survival guide|last2=Orr|first2=Ann C|last3=Wolock|first3=Ellen|publisher=Children's Software Revue|year=1998|isbn=9781891983009|location=Flemington, N.J.|pages=70}}</ref> ''MacUser'' gave the title 4 out of 5 stars, though noted it had the fewest activities in the series.<ref name=":1">{{Cite book|last1=Myslewski|first1=Rik|url=https://archive.org/details/MacUser9607July1996/|title=The Two Dads|last2=Shatz-akin|first2=Jim|publisher=[[MacUser]]|date=July 1996|pages=116}}</ref>


Speaking of the game's suitability for those who may not have the precision required to click narrow targets, ''Fine motor skills in children with Down syndrome''<nowiki/>'s Maryanne Bruni cites ''JumpStart Toddlers'' and ''[[Reader Rabbit Toddler]]'' as preschool programs that reward any mouse movement of keyboard press with an audiovisual cue.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Bruni|first=Maryanne|url=https://archive.org/details/finemotorskillsi00brun/|title=Fine motor skills in children with Down syndrome|publisher=Woodbine House|year=1998|pages=126|isbn=9781890627034}}</ref> ''[[Newsweek]]'' praised the game (and ''[[JumpStart 2nd Grade]])'' as superior to previous entries in the series, noting they "successfully balance letting youngsters explore" and "using animated hosts to spur them on", adding that they "both understand the concept of reward".<ref>{{Cite journal|date=April 8, 1996|title=Getting a head start|url=https://archive.org/details/sim_newsweek_1996-04-08_127_15/|journal=Newsweek|volume=127|issue=15|pages=4}}</ref>
Parenting magazine deemed the 2000 version of the "best software of the year", noting that the title had been "overhauled, with splendid results".<ref>Reeks A. PARENTING’S software magic awards. ''Parenting''. 2000;14(8):83. Accessed January 20, 2022. <nowiki>https://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=f6h&AN=3635295&lang=en-gb&site=eds-live&scope=site</nowiki></ref> The magazine gave the title a B+.<ref>Reeks, Anne. 2000. “Software.” ''Parenting'' 14 (2): 69. <nowiki>https://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=f6h&AN=2827150&lang=en-gb&site=eds-live&scope=site</nowiki>.</ref>


Citing ''JumpStart Toddlers'' as a key example, ''Macs for teachers'' praised the title for its "neat activities...accessible from a classroom setting" and "activities that teach essential early learning skills".<ref>{{Cite book|last=Robinette|first=Michelle|url=https://archive.org/details/macsforteachers00robi_0/|title=Macs for teachers|publisher=IDG Books Worldwide|year=1996|pages=92|isbn=9780764500541}}</ref> A 2000 ''Wired'' reviewer noted that after their daughter experienced the game's music, she "walks away from Barney tapes in the VCR and demands Toddlers".<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://archive.org/details/wired-2000_03/|title=Broadband Gamespot|publisher=Wired|date=March 2003}}</ref> ''SuperKids'' wrote the game was an "excellent starter program for very young computer novices".<ref>{{Cite web|title=SuperKids Software Review of JumpStart Toddlers.|url=http://www.superkids.com/aweb/pages/reviews/early1/toddlers/merge.shtml|access-date=2022-02-03|website=www.superkids.com}}</ref>
Referring to this title, U.S. News & World Report's article False Promise commented, "parents have been told that it's their responsibility to prepare children for a multi-tasking, technology-driven future, so they "JumpStart" their babies".<ref>Kelly, Katy, Mary Lord, and David L. Marcus. “False Promise.” ''U.S. News & World Report'' 129, no. 12 (September 25, 2000): 48. <nowiki>https://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=a9h&AN=3555191&lang=en-gb&site=eds-live&scope=site</nowiki>.</ref>


''[[Parenting (magazine)|Parenting]]'' magazine deemed the 2000 version among the "best software of the year", noting that the title had been "overhauled, with splendid results".<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Reeks|first=Anne|date=October 2000|title=PARENTING'S software magic awards|journal=[[Parenting]]|volume=14|issue=8|pages=83|via=[[EBSCOhost]]}}</ref> The magazine gave the title a B+.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Reeks|first=Anne|date=April 2000|title=Software|journal=Parenting|volume=14|issue=2|pages=69|via=[[EBSCOhost]]}}</ref> ''The Discovery School'' site (quoted in ''Cyber Rules'') recommended ''JumpStart Toddlers 2000, "b''est for older toddlers (or those who have graduated from their baby and other toddler software titles)", and gave it a rating of 4-and-a-half out of 5 stars.<ref>{{Cite book|last1=Gillispie|first1=Joanie Farley|url=https://archive.org/details/cyberruleswhatyo00gill/|title=Cyber rules: what you really need to know about the Internet|last2=Gackenbach|first2=Jayne|publisher=W.W. Norton & Co|year=2007|location=New York|pages=80|isbn=9780393704846}}</ref>
According to PC Data, JumpStart First Grade, JumpStart Preschool, JumpStart Kindergarten and JumpStart Toddlers were ranked among the top ten selling educational software titles during the month of July 1996.<ref>"Knowledge Adventure Announces JumpStart Pre-K." ''PR Newswire'', 3 Sept. 1996, p. 903NYTU075. ''Gale Academic OneFile'', link.gale.com/apps/doc/A18636660/AONE?u=wikipedia&sid=ebsco&xid=a2f933fa. Accessed 20 Jan. 2022.</ref>

''Early childhood education today'' notes, "although the graphics in JumpStart Toddlers can be moved for an activity, they cannot be controlled or manipulated into any other form."<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://archive.org/details/earlychildhooded0011morr/|title=Early childhood education today|publisher=Merrill/Pearson|year=2009|location=Upper Saddle River, N.J.|pages=380}}</ref>

== Commercial performance and awards ==
The game consistently placed on the PC Data's Best Education Software for MS-DOS/Windows list throughout 1996 and 1997 alongside other Jumpstart titles peaking at #8.<ref>{{Cite web|title=SuperKids -- PC Data Bestsellers: Last month's bestselling children's educational software|url=http://www.superkids.com/aweb/pages/bestsell/archive/1996/0796.shtml|access-date=2022-02-03|website=www.superkids.com}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|title=Top-Selling Software March 1997|url=https://kidscreen.com/1997/06/01/15952-19970601/|access-date=2022-02-03}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|title=KidScreen Retail: Top-Selling Software July 1997|url=https://kidscreen.com/1997/10/01/19258-19971001/|access-date=2022-02-03}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|title=SuperKids -- PC Data Bestsellers: Bestselling children's educational software - August 1997|url=http://www.superkids.com/aweb/pages/bestsell/archive/1997/0897.shtml|access-date=2022-02-03|website=www.superkids.com}}</ref> Throughout 1997, ''JumpStart Toddlers'' took in somewhere between $4 million<ref name="auto">{{Cite news |date=December 14, 1997 |title=Touching home |work=[[Chicago Sun-Times]] |url=https://www.highbeam.com/doc/1P2-4414771.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180612162055/https://www.highbeam.com/doc/1P2-4414771.html |archive-date=12 June 2018 |url-status=dead}}</ref><ref name=":4">{{Cite web|title=The Journal News from White Plains, New York on December 10, 1997 · Page 25|url=http://www.newspapers.com/newspage/163434775/|access-date=2022-02-03|website=Newspapers.com|date=10 December 1997 |language=en}}</ref> and $5.16 million.<ref name=":0" /> It became one of many preschool titles to join the best-seller list, alongside ''Sesame Street Elmo's Preschool'' (1996), ''[[Ready to Read with Pooh|Ready to Read With Pooh]]'' (1997), and ''[[JumpStart Preschool|Jumpstart Preschool]]'' (1995)''.<ref name=":3">{{Cite news|last=Lohr|first=Steve|date=April 3, 1998|title=Toddlers Are Next Hope of Software Industry|work=[[The New York Times]]|url=https://archive.nytimes.com/www.nytimes.com/library/tech/98/04/biztech/articles/03tots.html}}</ref>''

The game won numerous awards, including a 1996 Parent's Choice Gold Medal for best new children's software.<ref name=":2"/>

Jumpstart Toddlers 2000 would also reach at least 7th on the PC Data best-selling chart.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Top Orlando News, Weather, Sports, Entertainment|url=https://www.orlandosentinel.com/|access-date=2022-02-03|website=orlandosentinel.com}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|title=Web briefing|url=https://www.newsday.com/business/web-briefing-1.710070|access-date=2022-02-03|website=Newsday|language=en}}</ref>

== Legacy ==
According to the ''[[Chicago Sun-Times]]'', Knowledge Adventure "started the baby trend when it introduced JumpStart Toddlers in 1996".<ref name="auto"/> Knowledge Adventure's Jennifer Johnson created the term lap-ware to describe software "intended to be used with the child on the parent's lap...So parents are encouraged to play a really active role in their child's first computer experience".<ref>{{Cite web|title=Old Enough to Crawl, Old Enough to Click|url=https://www.cbsnews.com/news/old-enough-to-crawl-old-enough-to-click/|access-date=2022-02-03|website=www.cbsnews.com|date=18 May 1998 |language=en-US}}</ref> The term was picked up by ''MacUser'' that July to describe the new software category Jumpstart had helped create.<ref name=":1" /> The New York Times later asserted that Knowledge Adventure was the "vanguard of a trend of introducing younger and younger children -- some as young as 6 months old -- to computers".<ref>{{Cite news|last=Slatalla|first=Michelle|date=1999-06-03|title=Does Baby Want a Browser?|language=en-US|work=The New York Times|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1999/06/03/technology/does-baby-want-a-browser.html|access-date=2022-02-03|issn=0362-4331}}</ref>

While children's software had previously been dominated by titles for older children like ''[[Mavis Beacon Teaches Typing]]'' and ''[[Carmen Sandiego (video game series)|Where in the World Is Carmen Sandiego?]]'', by 1997 sales of software for children under 5 had risen from 179,000 units two years prior to 1.5 million.''<ref name=":3">{{Cite news|last=Lohr|first=Steve|date=April 3, 1998|title=Toddlers Are Next Hope of Software Industry|work=[[The New York Times]]|url=https://archive.nytimes.com/www.nytimes.com/library/tech/98/04/biztech/articles/03tots.html}}</ref>'' By September 1997, toddler and pre-school titles dominated PC Data's top-10 selling education list.<ref name=":4">{{Cite web|title=The Journal News from White Plains, New York on December 10, 1997 · Page 25|url=http://www.newspapers.com/newspage/163434775/|access-date=2022-02-03|website=Newspapers.com|date=10 December 1997 |language=en}}</ref> That November, ''U.S. News & World Report'' noted that ''JumpStart Toddlers,'' ''[[Davidson & Associates]]''<nowiki/>' ''[[Fisher-Price Ready for Learning: Toddler]]'' (1997) and ''[[The Learning Company]]'''s ''[[Reader Rabbit Toddler]]'' (1997) were all vying for the lucrative 18-month-and-under demographic over the holiday season.<ref>{{Cite journal|date=November 24, 1997|title=Toddlers need blocks, not mousing skills|url=https://archive.org/details/sim_u-s-news-weekly-special-issues_1997-11-24_123_20/|journal=U.S. News & World Report|volume=123|issue=20|pages=106}}</ref>

In 1998, ''[[Wired (magazine)|Wired]]''<nowiki/>'s Susan Kuchinskas similarly applied the neologism to categorise ''JumpStart Toddlers,'' ''JumpStart Baby'', and ''BowWow House''<nowiki/>'s ''[[BabyWow!]]'' as contemporaries in a burgeoning "lapware" market, which catered to overworked parents who wish to give their new-borns a competitive edge through technology.<ref name=":0">{{Cite magazine|last=Kuchinskas|first=Susan|date=July 22, 1998|title=Techno Toddlers|magazine=Wired|url=https://www.wired.com/1998/07/techno-toddlers/}}</ref> That year, ''PC Magazine''<nowiki/>'s Terri Robinson (quoted in 2002 paper ''Engineering The Entrepreneurial Infant'') commented that, "software developers are keen to the burgeoning ‘baby skills’ market" to "capture the imaginations of your 1- and 2-year olds and provide them with solid educational building blocks".<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Nadesan|first=Majia Holmer|date=May 2002|title=Engineering The Entrepreneurial Infant: Brain Science, Infant Development Toys, And Governmentality|journal=Cultural Studies|volume=16|issue=3|pages=401–432|doi=10.1080/09502380210128315|s2cid=144516308}}</ref> Stanford University professor Clifford Nass found this trend "disturbing", commenting "the social context and the tactile experience [of real objects] are crucial to early development.<ref name=":3">{{Cite news|last=Lohr|first=Steve|date=April 3, 1998|title=Toddlers Are Next Hope of Software Industry|work=[[The New York Times]]|url=https://archive.nytimes.com/www.nytimes.com/library/tech/98/04/biztech/articles/03tots.html}}</ref> Similarly, pediatrician T. Berry Brazelton considered lapware like ''JumpStart Toddlers'' "an assault on a young child's developing mind".<ref>{{Cite news|last=Owens|first=Darryl E.|date=2001-07-26|title=Pros &|language=en-US|newspaper=Washington Post|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/lifestyle/2001/07/26/pros-38/a17d3ead-3764-4487-a606-9be4b5130cb0/|access-date=2022-02-03|issn=0190-8286}}</ref>

By this time, just two years after the game's release, ''JumpStart Toddlers'' was competing in a crowded lapware market with contemporaries in the edutainment industry''.''<ref>{{Cite journal|date=November 24, 1997|title=Toddlers Need Blocks, Not Mousing Skills|journal=[[U.S. News & World Report]]|volume=123|issue=20|via=[[EBSCOhost]]}}</ref> In 2000, a ''U.S. News & World Report'' article featured a 13-month old who was already familiar with several games designed for players under two-years old, including ''JumpStart Toddlers''.<ref>{{Cite journal|date=September 25, 2000|title=False Promise|url=https://archive.org/details/sim_u-s-news-weekly-special-issues_2000-09-25_129_12/|journal=[[U.S. News & World Report]]|volume=129|issue=12|pages=59}}</ref>


== References ==
== References ==
{{Reflist}}{{Video game stub}}
{{Reflist}}

{{JumpStart}}

[[Category:1996 video games]]
[[Category:Children's educational video games]]
[[Category:Classic Mac OS games]]
[[Category:JumpStart]]
[[Category:Video games developed in the United States]]
[[Category:Windows games]]

Latest revision as of 23:26, 1 November 2024

JumpStart Toddlers
Developer(s)Knowledge Adventure
Publisher(s)Knowledge Adventure
SeriesJumpStart
Platform(s)
ReleaseSpring 1996[1]
Genre(s)Edutainment

JumpStart Toddlers is a 1996 educational video game, the fourth within the JumpStart franchise. An enhanced version was released in 2000.

While the game itself received generally positive reviews, much of the commentary surrounding this title was as a key example of a burgeoning controversial lap-ware video gaming market, targeting children aged 5 and under.

Development and release

[edit]

The game was designed by Nicole Hardt Wrubel, who spent four years as a lead designer at Knowledge Adventure.[1] JumpStart Toddlers was inspired by her then two-and-a-half year old son, for whom she could not find age-appropriate software.[1]

In order to introduce young players to the concept of interacting with hotspots, players immediately meet Giggles the Gopher, who welcomes them and points out seven hotspots around the screen which lead to activity areas.[2] The game was designed to be part of a full curriculum of games for children to graduate into as they aged; Discover educational toys for children noted that Knowledge Adventure was "one of the few companies that offer a title for toddlers ages 18 months to 3 years".[3]

An enhanced version was released in 2000, published by Havas after a series of mergers and acquisitions involving Knowledge Adventure.[4][5]

Critical reception

[edit]

Referring to this title, U.S. News & World Report's article False Promise commented, "parents have been told that it's their responsibility to prepare children for a multi-tasking, technology-driven future, so they "JumpStart" their babies".[6] eMERGing Literacy and Technology wrote the title was "appealing to the very young child or a child with limited motor control".[7] Young kids and computers saw it as an example of a software program specifically designed to teach mouse skills, along with Broderbund's My Very First Software.[8] MacUser gave the title 4 out of 5 stars, though noted it had the fewest activities in the series.[9]

Speaking of the game's suitability for those who may not have the precision required to click narrow targets, Fine motor skills in children with Down syndrome's Maryanne Bruni cites JumpStart Toddlers and Reader Rabbit Toddler as preschool programs that reward any mouse movement of keyboard press with an audiovisual cue.[10] Newsweek praised the game (and JumpStart 2nd Grade) as superior to previous entries in the series, noting they "successfully balance letting youngsters explore" and "using animated hosts to spur them on", adding that they "both understand the concept of reward".[11]

Citing JumpStart Toddlers as a key example, Macs for teachers praised the title for its "neat activities...accessible from a classroom setting" and "activities that teach essential early learning skills".[12] A 2000 Wired reviewer noted that after their daughter experienced the game's music, she "walks away from Barney tapes in the VCR and demands Toddlers".[13] SuperKids wrote the game was an "excellent starter program for very young computer novices".[14]

Parenting magazine deemed the 2000 version among the "best software of the year", noting that the title had been "overhauled, with splendid results".[15] The magazine gave the title a B+.[16] The Discovery School site (quoted in Cyber Rules) recommended JumpStart Toddlers 2000, "best for older toddlers (or those who have graduated from their baby and other toddler software titles)", and gave it a rating of 4-and-a-half out of 5 stars.[17]

Early childhood education today notes, "although the graphics in JumpStart Toddlers can be moved for an activity, they cannot be controlled or manipulated into any other form."[18]

Commercial performance and awards

[edit]

The game consistently placed on the PC Data's Best Education Software for MS-DOS/Windows list throughout 1996 and 1997 alongside other Jumpstart titles peaking at #8.[19][20][21][22] Throughout 1997, JumpStart Toddlers took in somewhere between $4 million[23][24] and $5.16 million.[25] It became one of many preschool titles to join the best-seller list, alongside Sesame Street Elmo's Preschool (1996), Ready to Read With Pooh (1997), and Jumpstart Preschool (1995).[26]

The game won numerous awards, including a 1996 Parent's Choice Gold Medal for best new children's software.[1]

Jumpstart Toddlers 2000 would also reach at least 7th on the PC Data best-selling chart.[27][28]

Legacy

[edit]

According to the Chicago Sun-Times, Knowledge Adventure "started the baby trend when it introduced JumpStart Toddlers in 1996".[23] Knowledge Adventure's Jennifer Johnson created the term lap-ware to describe software "intended to be used with the child on the parent's lap...So parents are encouraged to play a really active role in their child's first computer experience".[29] The term was picked up by MacUser that July to describe the new software category Jumpstart had helped create.[9] The New York Times later asserted that Knowledge Adventure was the "vanguard of a trend of introducing younger and younger children -- some as young as 6 months old -- to computers".[30]

While children's software had previously been dominated by titles for older children like Mavis Beacon Teaches Typing and Where in the World Is Carmen Sandiego?, by 1997 sales of software for children under 5 had risen from 179,000 units two years prior to 1.5 million.[26] By September 1997, toddler and pre-school titles dominated PC Data's top-10 selling education list.[24] That November, U.S. News & World Report noted that JumpStart Toddlers, Davidson & Associates' Fisher-Price Ready for Learning: Toddler (1997) and The Learning Company's Reader Rabbit Toddler (1997) were all vying for the lucrative 18-month-and-under demographic over the holiday season.[31]

In 1998, Wired's Susan Kuchinskas similarly applied the neologism to categorise JumpStart Toddlers, JumpStart Baby, and BowWow House's BabyWow! as contemporaries in a burgeoning "lapware" market, which catered to overworked parents who wish to give their new-borns a competitive edge through technology.[25] That year, PC Magazine's Terri Robinson (quoted in 2002 paper Engineering The Entrepreneurial Infant) commented that, "software developers are keen to the burgeoning ‘baby skills’ market" to "capture the imaginations of your 1- and 2-year olds and provide them with solid educational building blocks".[32] Stanford University professor Clifford Nass found this trend "disturbing", commenting "the social context and the tactile experience [of real objects] are crucial to early development.[26] Similarly, pediatrician T. Berry Brazelton considered lapware like JumpStart Toddlers "an assault on a young child's developing mind".[33]

By this time, just two years after the game's release, JumpStart Toddlers was competing in a crowded lapware market with contemporaries in the edutainment industry.[34] In 2000, a U.S. News & World Report article featured a 13-month old who was already familiar with several games designed for players under two-years old, including JumpStart Toddlers.[35]

References

[edit]
  1. ^ a b c d "Barnard". Barnard College. March 1997. p. 52.
  2. ^ Matthew, James (2003). Using your PC. New York, NY: Barnes & Noble. p. 178. ISBN 9780760740149.
  3. ^ Werdel, Hilary (1998). Discover educational toys for children. Scholar Books. p. 131. ISBN 9780965532914.
  4. ^ "JumpStart Toddlers 2000, Bear in the Big Blue House: Bear's Sense of Adventure, Teletubbies 2: Favorite Games". www.cyber-reviews.com. Retrieved 2022-02-03.
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