Vol. 5 No. 5 Sept/Oct 1997	Previous Issues Subscribe to AT Messenger Download PDF Viewer
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Children’s Computer Software Resource

Patty Hove, ATRC Assistant Coordinator

Like music? Like painting? Drawing? Then Thinkin Things 2 is the program for you! Oranga Banga the orangutan plays with his band, but is just waiting for you to listen to his song, change the instruments or create a song by using original sounds, wacky sounds, or recorded sounds. Learn about rhythm, enhance auditory discrimination, or work on observation skills. Through colorful graphics and rewarding sounds, Thinkin Things 2 makes learning fun. If a three-piece band is not your “gig,” visit Toony and his xylophone. Toony plays a song for you, or plays part of the song until you learn the entire song. Toony provides an exciting way to build auditory memory skills, to remember and repeat patterns, and to learn about parts of a song that combine to make a whole song.

Thinkin Things 2 also brings out the artistic side in an individual with its 2-3D Blox and Snake Blox activities. Visual creativity is encouraged through experimenting with placing two-dimensional pictures onto three-dimensional images. Through tools, you can paint objects with different colors in various textures and shapes. If you’re not afraid of “snakes,” use a masking tool to separate prepared pictures into foreground and background layers in the activity Snake Blox and create artful animations.

The school version has instructions in how to customize the software for students, and how to adapt the program for students with special needs.