Postman Pat: Package of Fun

Postman Pat: Package of Fun is a package of four mini games aimed at the three to six year old age range, each game addresses an element of the National Curriculum. It is a very simple game which loads to a picture of Postman Pat in Mrs Goggins' post office. By moving the cursor around the screen the player can find the four large hotspots each of which triggers a separate activity.* Jess the cat triggers an activity in which the player monitors Jess' thirst and hunger, as shown in two progress bars. Feeding Jess and attending to the cat's needs satisfies two elements of Science Key Stage 1, namely that humans and animals need food and water to stay alive and how to treat animals with care and sensitivity. This activity lasts for six minutes after which the player is shown a progress report.

• Clicking on Postman Pat triggers a memory game. There are three levels to this game which is of the Simon Says variety. In level one the player sees two characters each of whom has a characteristic movement and sound. The player has to remember the sequence of movements and reproduce it by clicking on the characters. Levels two and three are the same as level one but with three and four characters respectively. This activity helps develop memory skills and encourages the use of mental calculation which are required for Mathematics Key Stage 1.

• The Postcards in Pat's hand trigger a matching game. This is a one or two player game which is a variant of a Concentration game with three levels and three different sets of pictures. In level one there are six pairs to match up, level two has nine pairs and level three has twelve pairs. Level three also has a timer. The pictures also affect the difficulty of the game. The easier set shows characters from the TV programme, the second set shows different people but the pairs are matched on the hat they are wearing. The final set is called 'Dance Moves' and is a series of pictures of Postman Pat in different positions. This activity also develops memory skills needed in Mathematics Key Stage 1.

• The final mini game is 'Making Parcels' and it is triggered by clicking on Mrs. Goggins. This is single player three level mini game where the player has to make parcels that match those already on the shelves. To do this they are presented with a machine, by clicking on the correct sequence of buttons they are able to load a parcel into the machine. Once loaded they are able to click on more buttons to change its colour and still more buttons to load the parcel onto the right shelf. Level one has the player match two parcels by colour, level two introduces another machine into the process, there is now one to change the pattern and another to change the colour, and again two parcels must be matched. Level three is the same as level two but there are three parcels to be matched.
  This addresses elements of Design and Technology Key Stage 1

The games are played entirely with the mouse. There are sound effects and, of course, the Postman Pat song.