The Backyard

The Backyard is a video game in the educational genre developed by Brøderbund Software, Inc. and published by Brøderbund Software, Inc. originally released in 1993. It is currently playable on DOS.

The latest in Brøderbund's superb trilogy of edutainment titles, The Backyard lives up to the high standards set by The Playroom and The Treehouse, also designed by Leslie Grimm.

Designed for children ages 3 to 6, The Backyard offers 6 main activities to teach children about animals, as well as other basic skills for young children. In Scarecrow Faces, children can make a face with different body parts. This activity teaches children to associate facial expressions with words that represent them.

In the sandbox treasure game, children are given a map, a crane, various obstacles and an X marking the location. The object is to use the arrows to move the crane and find and unearth the treasure. It's a great way to teach kids basic directions. Children can even create their own maps, making it ideal for two children to play with each other: one draws the map for the other to play with.

The third activity is the Animal Habitat Sticker Book. The goal is to place the right animal in the right habitat. In this way, children learn the different geographic locations of the world, as well as the animals that are common in each region.

The fourth game is the pumpkin game, which is very similar to the scarecrow faces game. Next comes the animal cracker game, my favorite activity. Here, children must match the missing animal body parts to the appropriate body parts presented on the screen.

The last activity in the game is the knot game, which resembles the board game Snakes and Ladders: children move around various spaces on the board to collect the body parts that will complete the body of the animal they have been assigned. The game can be played with another human player or with a computer opponent.

In addition to the 6 main games, The Backyard is packed with other smaller activities and animations that will keep kids glued to the screen. There is a tic-tac-toe game, a fence that plays music when touched, and an airplane that can be piloted with the mouse.

All the games are very well designed, with an intuitive interface, nice graphics and no time constraints. The difficulty level is almost perfect for the age group, which means that children won't feel frustrated or think that the games are too easy.

Undoubtedly one of the best edutainment titles you can find for your children aged 3 to 6, whether they are boys or girls. Highly recommended.

It is possible that we have multiple downloads available when different versions exist.