Ladybugs is a Mac game for very young children. You will have a lot of fun with your little toddler “working” on the computer. There is much opportunity here to teach your child the basics of the keyboard and mouse and have loads of entertainment as well.

There are short instructions where you can practice reading letters and words with your child. The white letters outlined in black make it easier to clearly see and read out loud, however it would have been more age appropriate with block lettering. Very young kids are able to learn so much it’s almost unbelievable. They can learn their letters and words if given a chance, enough instruction and patience on your part.

The game has 3 modes of play and each one should be enjoyable for your child. Color Trouble is a section where you match the color of your ladybug to her house. Following the flower path, you guide the ladybug to the same color house. In the Ladybug Race you are racing the blueladybug to the houses. I think the blue ladybug is a little confused because she sometimes loses her way. This will give your child a chance to beat her. In the Tangled Maze you guide your ladybug through a maze to her like color house.

All 3 games will help your child with color recognition, coordination, direction and learning to win or lose. Even if you must control the mouse and keys for your tyke, I think a 2 year old would still appreciate the cute ladybugs and colorful scenery. All of these factors are very important in the development of young children. I think it would have been perfect if the developers added a memory game mode to the puzzles. It is incredible how much a toddler remembers.

The simple graphics, large cursor and the happy music will set the stage for a lighthearted afternoon of fun while at the same time learning new things on a cute, joyful game like Ladybugs. An extra bonus is the priceless bonding with your little one.

Features of Ladybugs:
-Fun Hands on Play
-Colorful, Cute and Simple graphics
-Happy Music
-3 Modes of Play
-Non-violent

Rating: 4 out of 5 stars

Good Mac games for young children are hard to find, but not impossible. Ladybugs and Bob the Builder are a few that are phenomenal games for kids. Lua Lua can also be added to this group with its many puzzles and fun to be discovered by young minds.

Lua Lua is a complilation of 7 different types of puzzles geared towards young kids but gets challenging enough for some older ones. La La Land is not a reference to Los Angeles, but a game where animals will sing and you must remember the sequence of animal sounds. It’s like the electronic game Simon or Bop It! Your progression is displayed at the bottom of the screen. Don’t worry if you do not remember the order, it will reset and show you again what to do. No pressure.

Thinky Thinky is a memory game where you turn over puzzle pieces to reveal the animal. You make matches of 2 identical pieces to complete. Cute characters to see and match.

Taquin or teaser is a slide puzzle game. In this game you slide tiles to make a picture of an animal. Click on the empty space to move a tile. It starts off very easy but each level becomes increasingly more difficult.

Pig Tac Dog is a tic-tac-toe where you are the winner. You are the dog playing against the pig, and it is very difficult to lose. Loads of happy times for the young ones.

Drag n Drop is where you drag and drop a picture of an animal to the outlined forms.

Soopa Koopa can be challenging with re-assembling of animal faces. In the beginning there are only 2 rows to slide until the face appears. However, this puzzle goes up to 8 slices of a face and with this many rows to align, it may take some time before the face appears.

Catch a Match is an action packed game where you click on pairs of the same animal falling from the top of the screen. It begins slowly and easy, but it will challenge some kids with many different animals floating down the screen. However, you do not get penalized and there’s no big buzzer to out you just a pleasant game to work on your cursor skills.

All these games will challenge different parts of your children’s brain in a fun and entertaining fashion. These puzzles are kid versions of adult plays. The games states it’s for kids from 3 to 7 years, but I think some 2 years old have the concentration, if not the coordination, to enjoy the game. You’ve seen 2 year olds learning the state capitals, all 50 states, names of dinosaurs, world countries, presidents, languages, etc. The list is endless. If the adult has the patience to go over things with a 2 year old, they have the ability to absorb all the information.

4 of the games are available to try out in the demo and the other 3 are locked. The larger cursor is great for little tots. Lua Lua is kid friendly with fun music and great, colorful graphics. In fact you can access free adorable dog icons. My favorite is Sharpeipei. Others are Chocolab, Pugglywuggly, Bostielu, Dogbully and Toxicodog. You can view these pictures at Lua Lua Dog Icons. Also any and all upgrades are free so you can’t go wrong with this awesome Mac game for kids.

Features of Lua Lua:
-7 Different Games in Full Version
-Great Fun for Kids
-Free Upgrades and Icons

Rating: 5 out of 5 stars