A Lucas Learning press release:

Lucas Learning Ltd. Releases a Festival of Fun for Children Age Four to Six in Star Wars Early Learning Activity Center

SAN RAFAEL, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Aug. 15, 2000--

Children Develop Early Learning Skills in Reading, Math and the Arts with their Favorite Star Wars Characters

A celebration is taking place honoring the new-found friendship between the Gungans and the people of Naboo, and everyone is invited in Star Wars(R) Early Learning Activity Center(TM).

Children join in the celebration through exploring six different engaging and entertaining activities, designed to help develop early learning skills in reading, math and the arts. Available immediately for PC and Macintosh, the game has an estimated street price of $29.95. Star Wars Early Learning joins the library of Lucas Learning award-winning titles, focused on providing children learning opportunities through exploration and discovery.

With Star Wars Early Learning, players join a variety of their favorite Star Wars: Episode I characters such as Anakin and Queen Amidala, and choose from three open-ended and three directed activities. Open-ended activities allow children to explore and create their own music, dances and puppet shows while the three directed activities provide practice in sorting, pattern recognition and spatial and directional concepts. In the Gungan Treasure Hunt for example, children gain experience with spatial and directional concepts as they guide Obi-Wan through an underwater world, discovering hidden caves and uncovering treasures. All directed activities automatically increase in complexity and difficulty, and are based on the basic activities found in a developmental preschool or kindergarten.

"In keeping with the Lucas Learning vision, Star Wars Early Learning provides a 'learning through play' experience through both open-ended and directed activities," says Andrea Futter, project leader for Lucas Learning. "The activities were designed to nurture both creativity and critical thinking, while developing many of the concepts and skills that are age appropriate for 4-6 year olds including pre-reading and language development, early math, music, and dance."

"Our main goal with Star Wars Math was to create an engaging game for kids, that still has all the components parents are looking for: recognizable math content, high replayability, and an overarching goal with lots of rewards and encouragement," says Collette Michaud, project leader for Lucas Learning. "We wanted to go beyond the standard math drill and practice software game and excite kids about math in a new and fun way that was well integrated with the Star Wars universe."