Tricycle Game

The Tricycle Game is an activity appearing in JumpStart Kindergarten (1998). It is designed to teach phonics, letter recognition, and counting. Hopsalot frequently refers to it as the "Kindergarten Speedway" in-game.

It is accessed by clicking on the tricycle in the classroom backyard. It is an obstacle course in which the player (in the role of a kindergarten girl) must go through the correct paths in accordance with Hopsalot's instruction.

It is one of the few activities in the 1998 version that is completely absent from its 1994 counterpart.

Characters

 * Hopsalot
 * Kids

Description
The obstacle course takes place on a road with four individual lanes. Each lane has an obstacle (either a cardboard box, a mud puddle, a water puddle, a colorful tube, or a bunch of colorful balls) in it that is marked with either a letter, a number, or a picture (depending on the subject). Hopsalot will give the user instruction on which obstacle to go into depending on a certain criterion. If the girl goes through the correct obstacle, she will go through without a problem; if she goes through an incorrect one, she will veer off-course and that individual round must be completed again.

After four individual rounds are completed, a star is won.

Controls
The tricycle can be moved with the up and down arrow keys, or by clicking on the up and down buttons on-screen.

Letter Recognition
The entire alphabet is located at the bottom of the screen. A certain number of letters will be darkened. Hopsalot will ask the player to go through the obstacle labeled with each of those letters in order.

Phonics
Hopsalot will give a certain letter sound. The player must go through the obstacles labeled with objects beginning with that same sound.

Counting
A sequence of numbers is located at the bottom of the screen. A certain number of numbers will be darkened. Hopsalot will ask the player to go through the obstacle labeled with each of those numbers in order.

All Subjects

 * Level one: Each individual round is completed after going through four to six obstacles (i.e. answering four to six questions).
 * Level two: Each individual round is completed after going through eight obstacles.
 * Level three: Each individual round is completed after going through eleven obstacles.

Letter Recognition

 * Level one: All letters are uppercase.
 * Level two: All letters are lowercase.
 * Level three: Both uppercase and lowercase letters appear.

Numbers

 * Level one: All numbers are between 1 and 12.
 * Level two: All numbers are between 16 and 24.
 * Level three: Skip-counting is now an option. In counting by ones, numbers go up to 30. In counting by twos, numbers go up to 20. In counting by fives, numbers go up to 60. In counting by tens, numbers go up to 100.

Speed Level

 * Level one: The tricycle moves slowly.
 * Level two: The tricycle moves more quickly.
 * Level three: The tricycle moves even more quickly..

Object
The race is on! There's a whole tricycle obstacle course outside the classroom. When the race starts, you've got to keep moving to stay in the correct lane and win the race!


 * Listen carefully to the letter sound. You've got to pass through the obstacles that have this letter or letter sound on it.
 * Use the arrow keys on the keyboard or click the arrow buttons on the screen to move to the lane with the gate that has the correct answer.
 * For number and letter sequences, listen carefully for the name of the next letter or number.
 * For letter sounds, watch for the icon that starts with the letter sound that Hopsalot says.
 * Win a star after three successful rounds!

Levels

 * Letters: In the lowest level of the alphabet game the player chooses from capital letters only. At level two the player chooses from small letters only.  At the third level the player can choose from both small and capital letters.


 * Numbers: In the counting game level one involves counting in a sequence of numbers somewhere from 1 to 12. At the second level this sequence can be anywhere between 6 and 24 and there are more numbers in the sequence.  At the third level we can count by 1s up to 30, or count by 2s to 20, 5s to 60 or 10s to 100.

Educational Benefits
Your child will practice phonics, letter recognition, and counting skills.

Trivia

 * The digital manual description incorrectly states that a star is won after three rounds are completed, when in reality four rounds are needed.