Kids Computer Games Recommendations

We received Wii Music for Christmas and have been having a ton of fun playing it. It is a wonderful game to teach children instruments (there are over 60 of them) and music. I recently heard they were thinking about using it to teach music in some schools. While this might not be the game for the hard core Guitar Hero fan – this is the perfect game for children and for whole families to play together. There are many different ways to play Wii Music and I will highlight them here. From Lessons (including Drum Lessons with the Wii Balance Board), Games, Jam Sessions and sharing videos with friends and family – there are a ton of uses for this game.

Here’s a video that highlights some of the things you can do in Wii Music:

LESSONS

There are lessons that are recommended first and here you will unlock different tunes and instruments. If you think you might get bored of playing Twinkle Twinkle 20 times – you might want to start here and at the games to unlock more songs and instruments before venturing to the Jam Sessions. There are Jam Basic Lessons which show you basic moves of performing with each instrument (with the wii remote and nunchuk), You then get Jam Mastery Lessons which give tons of good tips on mastering your own styles. A hint here is you have to get things right — it seemed when my 5 year old was playing if she missed even 2 notes the lesson would keep repeating. See Drum Mode below for Drum Lessons with the Balance Board.

GAMES

Mii Maestro

Wave the Wii remote to conduct the orchestra. Experiment to get different results. If you are playing with more than one person you have to be sure to get your rhythm in synch – something my kids and I never QUITE perfected.

Handbell Harmony

Cute game! Have different people play the different color handbells. When your color bell gets to the line of bells wave your Wii remote or nunchuk.

Pitch Perfect

Our favorite and beating level 4 on this unlocks more songs and instruments! This is very much a multi-player game. The Wii picks a person at random to answer a question. You may need to line up Miis from lowest pitch to highest pitch, pick the Mii with the highest pitch, pick 2 Miis that have the same pitch, etc. GREAT for sound recognition and fun to play as a group.

Jam Modes

Instrument Improv

Freely select and play the instruments you have unlocked in this mode. Instruments have four different types of controls and all are easy for children and adults to learn. If you forget or don’t know how to play a certain instrument there are always handy “How to Play” windows to click on. You can choose to play alone or have other characters play with you. When fully unlocked there are over 60 instruments and 50 songs to choose from.

Jam Session

Quick Jam or Custom Jam

In Quick Jam mode you have the song, stage, instruments and band parts selected for you and jump right into playing.

In Custom Jam mode you get to choose it all! Song and Stage selection are fun for mixing it up! Instrument and Part selection allow you to choose who will be playing what for melody, percussion, Base, Chord and harmony. Each has many different instruments, most are traditional but you will see the occasional one that will have your kids screaming with delight and wouldn’t be found at your average concert! (Cheerleaders, being in a dog or cat suit, singing in “mii” as well as DJ turntables, rapping and more). This is our favorite way to play and each time it is very different as we all choose different parts to play and mix up stages and song selection.

When in the “Jam” you can push the (-) button on the Wii Remote to see the notes that they suggest you play. They do allow for total improvisation but this is a good guide to have the song sounding like it usually does!

Making Videos

After performing you can keep a video. Not only do you rate how you thought the performance was, but you make a jacket cover with the Miis on it as well as a choose a background and title. If you know other families/friends that have Wii’s you can send them your videos for them to view and rate as well.

Drum Mode

Use the Wii Balance Board, set up in front of your chair and you will feel like you are at a real drum kit. This will take you through lessons to play the drums. VERY fun and you will have good feel of how to play the drums if you sit down and take these lessons.

Wii Music has so many ways to play that are fun. If you are an advanced musician this would probably seem a bit childish to you. However if you are looking to teach your child about music or want to learn yourself – this is an awesome game. I feel this would be an awesome resource for home schooling parents to teach their children music and have some fun at the same time.

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