Game review: Keys to Manhattan

A couple of days ago, my daughter asked if we could play a hidden object game together. Since I love spending time with her, I agreed. She chose Keys to Manhattan. In the game, you are Emily, an artist trying to save her childhood home. Her uncle, who she lived with after her parents died, has gone missing as well. As Emily, you have to track down the items needed to restore the house, as well as try to find her uncle.

After playing so many extremely difficult hidden object games, I was hoping that this one would be easy enough for my daughter to play. Many times you can't tell the difference between a 'family' hidden object game (where the puzzles are easy enough for the kids to play with their family members) and an 'adult' hidden object game (where you pretty much have to have ESP in order to find some of the items). Luckily, Keys to Manhattan came through for us. Not only were the hidden object puzzles adequately suited to a multi-player game, there were also parts of the house that needed to be aligned with their outlines in the house. We both had tons of fun playing and I hope to see more games like this in the future.

Let's help the animals!

I don't do this sort of thing very often. But I would really like to help more than I actually can on this case. The Berks County Animal Rescue League (which is where we got Yumi) helped rescue 15 horses, 2 dogs, and 2 goats from a local farm. All of animals are extremely emaciated. When the officers raided the farm, there was no grain nor hay on the property and the barn was filled with manure. I can't put into words how much this angers me.

So my mother, my daughter, and I are going to the local feed supply store to pick up as much feed/hay/whatever as we can to help these poor animals. I would like to give more than I can. Please feel free to re-post or link this entry!

This is where you come in ^_^

Any money you toss into my PayPal account between now and the morning of Saturday, October 10 (say, like, 10AM Eastern), will go directly to buy stuff for these starving animals. If you have a specific type of animal you'd like your money to go to, make a note and I'll get something for that species.

Click away!

Parenting: Fun For The Kids

pleasetouch Over the weekend, I took my daughter and one of her friends to the Please Touch Museum in Philadelphia. While it is mostly geared toward the younger crowd (around 4 to 6), the older kids (7 to 10) will have some fun as well.

There are a number of areas to explore. The first floor has a carousel (which I didn't count as 'exploring'), a water-themed play area, a transportation area, and a sky-themed area. The water area has smocks for little ones so they don't get soaked. A river, which is arm-height for children, moseys around the area. The kids use various buttons and levers to move rubber ducks and boats through the waterways. The sky area has things like a two-seated bicycle that moves flat 'umbrellas' when you pedal. There is also an area where you can build an airplane out of foam pieces, send it up to the ceiling, and see how it floats back to the ground. In between the water and the sky is the transportation themed area. There are cars to build, a SEPTA bus to 'ride,' an SUV to fix up at the service station, and some construction vehicles to pick up balls.

Heading downstairs, the second floor (yes, I think it's weird that the bottom floor is the second) has an Alice in Wonderland themed area, a centennial area, and a...I'm not sure how to explain it other than a play area. The Alice exhibit is wonderful. There is a huge maze that the kids run around in to see various pieces from the story, as well as various characters. This was the biggest hit with our crew. Next to that is the centennial area. To be honest, this was the most boring of all the exhibits. There was little for the children to do and all of the historical stuff bored them. However, next up was an area filled with "dress up" areas. There was a construction set, a McDonalds set, a hospital set, a grocery store set, a shoe store set...and probably more that I forgot! In each set, there were costumes for the kids and various items for them to use to play pretend. However, it was quite crowded.

Amid each section, there were separate areas for children under 3 to play. However, we didn't have any children that young with us so we weren't allowed in those areas. There was also a very good puppet show that engaged the kids and their imaginations. I have to admit that I thought the kids would be bored there. I was under the impression that the museum was geared toward the 5-year old are group. While that is true, there are still plenty of things to keep the older kids occupied. It was a really nice way to spend a couple of hours.