Bouncy Bee Learns Words

Bouncy Bee Learns Words is an educational game released by IBM in 1985. It is designed to help children ages 5 - 10 learn word recognition and improve reading skills through several activities and games featuring an animated bee. The game optionally supports the IBM PCjr Speech Attachment allowing the program to read words aloud.

Bouncy Bee Learns Words features two modes of gameplay:

1. Let's Learn our Words: This mode guides users through all of the activities included. It also keeps records of the progress children are making and allows reporting on progress. Up to 10 groups of 1-15 children each can be maintained by the program.
2. Direct Select: This mode allows users to directly skip to any included activity and choose any available word list. In this mode progress is not maintained for users.

In either mode of play, a series of activities is included which are designed to improve reading skills. The activities included are:

1. Shopping for Words: This activity uses a store window to display pictures and words. The activity is designed to help children read and pronounce different words and also includes an option to help typing and spelling.
2. Grandfather's Beehive: This activity is designed to help children practice left to right eye movement by using moving words on the screen. A target word is provided, and children need to press the spacebar when they see a matching word.
3. Filling the Honeycomb: Filling the Honeycomb is a word matching, hand-eye coordination game. The goal of the game is to fill in empty spaces in a honeycomb by matching words to a target word. Various words appear in the empty spaces and the space can only be filled in when the correct word flashes in the space; as the game progresses the honeycomb becomes larger and has more empty spaces to fill.
4. Antagram Word Game: Antagrams is a word recognition game. At the start of each round, marching ants are scattered randomly in a field; when the game begins they slowly move into formation spelling a word. The faster children can recognize the word before it's fully completed, the more points are earned.

In addition to the game program, the package includes an instruction manual with additional activities and stories for parents to read to or help their children.