GETTING WITH THE PROGRAMS

KIDS ARE MAKING `EDUTAINMENT' ONE OF THE FASTEST-GROWING SEGMENTS OF SOFTWARE INDUSTRY.

Published: Thursday, January 5, 1995
Section: BUSINESS
Page: 1D

By L.A. LOREK Business Writer

Meet Jamie Schwarz, graphic artist, age 4.

Instead of painting on a canvas, Jaime signs on to her parent's personal computer to create masterpieces with Picture Wizard software.

"It's great for her self-esteem," said Lois Schwarz, Jamie's mother.

Computer-literate youngsters such as Jamie have helped make children's software the fastest-growing niche in the $6.8 billion software industry.

What sets children's software apart from adult stuff is that it combines both education and entertainment programs into a new category called "edutainment."The programs, which generally cost between $20 and $100, often employ cartoon characters such as Mickey Mouse and the Super Mario Brothers to teach language, math and typing skills.

The Software Publishers Association says sales of home educational software soared to $81.6 million, up 121 percent during the first half of 1994. Sales of entertainment software climbed to $82 million, up 38 percent, according to the Washington, D.C.-based trade group.

Children's software is not just child's play.

A lot of start-up software companies have emerged to grab a piece of the edutainment market. And it has long been the focus of California companies such as Davidson & Associates and Broderbund Software which make the Math Blaster series and Where in the World is Carmen San Diego? series, respectively.

The increasing clout of computer-capable kids even has industry leaders such as Microsoft Corp. catering to them.

Microsoft launched a consumer line a year ago pitched to parents and children. In September, it teamed with Scholastic Inc., a children's education materials provider, to create software based on Scholastic's The Magic School Bus Explores public television series.

In the programs, kids learn about the human body and the solar system as they follow the adventures of the fictional Ms. Frizzle and her elementary school science class.

"Educators tell us that children who learn early that science is fun will continue to be interested in science into adulthood," said Patty Stonesifer, vice president of Microsoft's consumer division.

Some of the software aimed at kids also has parents playing along, said Miki Ball, the owner of FutureKids, a computer learning center for kids based in Boca Raton. The children's software programs are fun and easy to use, she said.

"We have come so far in what we are able to see and do with a computer," Ball said. "It excites their imagination."

Computers also help kids enhance fundamental skills such as reading, writing and arithmetic, said Howard Fellman, co-owner of PC Professor. Computers help kids develop eye and hand coordination, analytical problem solving and reasoning skills, he said.

"There are programs out there that take games kids like and combine them with real-life situations," Fellman said. "Instead of just shooting aliens, the goal is educational."

Six-year-old Jennifer Long of Boca Raton mastered the Math Blaster software program on her home computer. The program teaches basic and advanced math skills such as fractions and number patterns.

The advent of multimedia, combining graphics, video, sounds and pictures, also helped ignite children's interest in computers. Computers equipped with CD-ROM drives, playback video and full-color graphics, making the PC more like the TV.

A drop in the price of a personal computer to less than $1,000 today has helped fuel the sales. One in every three households has a computer, and home PC sales are expected to rise 21 percent a year, according to San Jose-based Dataquest, a research firm.

Aside from software companies, other businesses have grown hip to the money to be made in the kid's computer craze. Books, clubs, magazines and mail-order catalogs have all been designed to appeal to children.

All of that stuff is being pitched to children such as 12-year-old Julie Biederman of Coral Springs. With Davidson & Associates' Zoo Keeper software program, Julie has learned about more than 50 different animals from aardvarks to baboons to whales and zebras.

"I want to be a veterinarian," Julie said. "Right now I'm head zoo keeper."

Copyright 1995, SUN-SENTINEL