Site Philosophy
Mama Mirabelle’s savanna will feel to kids like a play date in a grassy field on a warm summer’s day.
Our animal hosts have personalities, vocabulary and issues that mirror those of real-life preschoolers.
Even though Bo, Karla and Max have hooves, fur, or trunks, kids will immediately relate to them.
Add to the mix Mama’s warmth and enthusiasm for all living things and it’s a comfortable place for
kids to learn and play.
The site reflects the goals of the television series:
Mama Mirabelle’s Home Movies mines the animal world to enrich preschoolers’ understanding
of how animals behave and live and so how they themselves behave and live. There are also opportunities to
enrich literacy skills as preschoolers learn new concepts and vocabulary. Viewed this way, ‘learning about
animals’ has the potential to be a very rich interdisciplinary experience for young children.
Mama Mirabelle’s Home Movies takes an innovative, age appropriate approach to educating
preschoolers about the wonders of the animal world. Rather than start with the animal, the series begins
with the preschool child, considering the questions and issues of concern to them like learning to do
something for the very first time. Applied to the animal world, these issues are spun into stories with
problems and resolutions that offer new insights into the needs and routines of wild creatures, but that
also mirror the preschool experience.
The site offers matching games, sorting games, observation games, language games, music, freeform
drawing fun and movie-making all wrapped up in the same warm-hearted high-spirited environment that
is the television series.
Site Usage Tips
Navigation
On the site:
Use the leaf-shaped buttons along the top of the site to browse to that section of the website.
The “Mama’s World” button takes you to the Flash savanna environment (see below). The “Games” button
takes you to a stand-alone version of the games on the site. The “Fun Stuff” button gets you to all
sorts of extra content, including character descriptions, videos, and printable activities.
In Mama’s World:
Click on Max, Bo or Karla in the Mama’s World section to start exploring the savanna.
• Use your firefly cursor to lead your character around the savanna and click on any
animals you see to find the treasures hidden there.
• The green arrow in the top-left corner lets you go back to the previous area.
In games, it brings you back to the savanna. In the savanna, it brings you back to
the character selection screen.
• You can skip instructions with the ‘skip’ button which will appear on the right.
• You can end video clips by clicking on the red X in the top right corner.
Games
Monkey Chains: The monkeys need your help collecting marula fruit for their party!
Give them a hand by collecting a monkey marula chain.
Photo Safari: You're on a safari! Take photos of animals on the move
and collect them in your own special savanna album.
Savanna Symphony: Practice makes perfect! It's your turn to be in
concert with your musical savanna friends. Listen closely and play along.
Where in the World: Mama's friends have come from all over the world
for Mama's Movie Time. Now they want to get home 'safe and sound'.
Can you help them?
Features
It’s in the Egg
• When you enter Mama’s World, Mama Mirabelle presents you with an egg.
• Observe your egg from its freshly laid stage to its hatching! Can you guess what’s
inside?
• When you enter the savanna, your egg will be placed on the same screen as your
character.
• Click on the egg at any time to see its progress.
• Playing games and exploring the savanna will help your egg to develop.
• When your egg changes, an ‘egg alert’ will appear. Click on this icon to jump
back to your
egg, or go to find it in the savanna.
• When your egg hatches, you will get a special surprise!
Live nature videos
• Live videos of animal life are scattered throughout the savanna of Mama’s World.
Explore the different areas, play games and click on animals in the savanna to
find them. Your firefly will give you a clue!
• If you want to skip the video, click the red X in the top right corner.
Firefly cursor
• Your character will follow your firefly cursor wherever it goes.
• Your firefly will glitter and glow when it hovers over something that can be clicked.
|
