Fun School facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Fun School
Fun School Logo
Genres	Edutainment
Developers	Database Publications (1984) Database Educational Software (1989) Europress Software (1992)
Publishers	Database Publications (1984) Database Educational Software (1989) Europress Software (1992)
Creators	Derek Meakin Meash Meakin Peter Davidson
Platforms	1989-1994: Acorn Electron, BBC Micro, ZX Spectrum, Commodore 64, Amstrad CPC, Atari ST, Amiga, DOS 1995-1998: Windows
First release	Fun School 1 1984
Latest release	Fun School 7 1998

Fun School is a popular series of computer games made to help kids learn. These games were created and released in the United Kingdom. They were first made by a company called Database Educational Software, which later became Europress Software.

The first Fun School games were mainly sold through ads in magazines. Later, the creators decided to make them look more professional. This way, they could be sold in computer stores across the UK. Each Fun School game usually came in three different versions. Each version was designed for a specific age group of children.

Fun School 1: The Start of Learning Games

Fun School 1 was the very first set of these learning games. It came out in 1984. Database Educational Software made it for early computers like the Acorn Electron and BBC Micro.

There were three different games in this set. Each one was for a specific age group: under 6 years, between 6 and 8 years, and over 8 years. The games also included five classic children's Nursery Rhymes. Teachers tested these products in classrooms. They were approved as good for education.

Fun School 2: Expanding to More Computers

Fun School 2 was the second set of educational games. It was released in 1989 by Database Educational Software. This version was available on many more computers than the first. These included the ZX Spectrum, Commodore 64, Amstrad CPC, Atari ST, Amiga, and MS-DOS.

Just like the first set, Fun School 2 had three games. They were for children under 6, between 6 and 8, and over 8 years old.

The Fun School 2 games were created using a programming language called STOS. This helped make the games run smoothly.

Many people loved Fun School 2. One reviewer called it "The number one choice for our school." It even ranked 3rd in a popular software sales chart. In 1993, Commodore Force magazine listed some Fun School 2 games among the top 100 Commodore 64 games.

However, some educators had concerns about Fun School 2. They worried about the games having a "competition" part. This discussion even reached a British politician, Kenneth Baker.

Fun School 3: Matching School Lessons

Fun School 3 was the third set of learning games. It came out in 1990. These games were made for many different computers. These included the ZX Spectrum, Commodore 64, Amstrad CPC, Amiga, and MS-DOS.

The three games in Fun School 3 were for different age groups: under 5, between 5 and 7, and over 7 years. A special feature of these games was that they followed the National Curriculum. This meant the games taught subjects that kids were learning in school at the time.

The Fun School 3 games were also made using the STOS programming language. The version for the Amiga computer was changed to use a different language called AMOS.

The Amstrad PCW version of Fun School 3 won an award. It was named "Best Home Education Package" in Europe.

Fun School 4: New Ideas and Contests

Fun School 4 was the fourth set of educational games. It was released in 1992 by Europress Software. This company used to be called Database Educational Software. The games were available on computers like the ZX Spectrum, Amstrad CPC, Commodore 64, Atari ST, Amiga, and MS-DOS.

Fun School 4: Ages 7-11
Review scores Publication Score CPC Attack! 90% (Amstrad CPC) CU Amiga (Amiga) ST Format 82% (Atari ST) Commodore Format 70% (C64)

The three games were for children under 5, between 5 and 7, and between 7 and 11 years old. The games in Fun School 4 also followed the National Curriculum. This made sure they taught what kids were learning in schools in England and Wales.

During the creation of Fun School 4, a special competition was held. The best ideas from this competition were included in the game. This made the games even more exciting.

Fun School Specials: Deep Dives into Subjects

Fun School Specials was a set of four different educational games. Europress Software created them in 1993. These games were made to focus deeply on specific school subjects. They covered spelling, maths, creativity, and science. They also fully followed the National Curriculum.

Paint and Create: Artistic Fun

Paint and Create was released for Commodore 64, Amiga, and MS-DOS computers. It had an easy-to-use design with six activities. These activities were for younger kids to make their own digital art.

Paint and Create received great reviews. Commodore Format gave it 91%, and CU Amiga magazine gave it 94%. It also won an award called the Screenstar.

Spelling Fair: Improve Your Words

Spelling Fair was released on Commodore 64, Amiga, and MS-DOS computers. It focused on helping children improve their spelling skills.

Merlin's Maths: Magical Numbers

Merlin's Maths was available for Amiga and MS-DOS computers. This game taught math topics like counting, decimals, fractions, and volumes. It had six different activities to make learning math fun.

Young Scientist: Explore Science

Young Scientist was created in 1995. It was released on CD for Windows and Macintosh computers. This game was designed to teach science in a detailed way. It featured a main character named Ozzie Otter. Kids could try out up to forty different science experiments in the game.

Fun School 5: New Characters and Challenges

Fun School 5 was the fifth set of educational games. Europress Software released it in 1995 for Windows computers. These games were originally planned for an earlier release. However, they were delayed because of the Fun School Specials games.

The games had some early technical issues with video. Europress had to fix these problems before releasing new versions. The three games were for ages 4-7, 6-9, and 8-11. Each game had its own theme and a goal for players to complete.

Fun School 5 introduced new characters: two children named Suki and Rik, and their purple pet dinosaur, Gloopy. Players had to help Gloopy and the children solve various challenges.

Fun School 6: Gloopy Returns

Fun School 6 was the sixth set of educational games. Europress Software created it in 1996 for Windows. The three games were for children aged 4-7, 6-9, and 8-11.

Each game had a unique theme, like Fairyland or Futureland. However, the five main learning topics (Maths, English, Science, Art, Music) stayed the same. They just had different activities based on the age level. Gloopy, the dinosaur from Fun School 5, returned in this series, but this time as a pink dinosaur!

Fun School 7: The Final Adventure

Fun School 7 was the seventh and last set of educational games in the series. It was created in 1998 by CBL Technology and released for Windows.

Like the earlier games, it had three versions for different age groups: 4-7, 6-9, and 8-11 years. A cool new feature in Fun School 7 was its use of 3D graphics. This made the games look more modern and exciting.

Fun School: A Huge Success Story

The Fun School games were incredibly popular. Before 1989, the market for educational games was not very big. But when Fun School 2 came out, it was a massive hit!

By February 1989, over 60,000 copies of the games had been sold. By April, this number jumped to over 100,000 copies. By August 1990, more than 150,000 copies were sold. This included 30,000 copies for the Amstrad CPC computer alone.

As Fun School 3 was being made, the total sales reached 250,000 copies. Before the BBC Micro and PC versions of Fun School 3 were even released, 45,000 copies of other versions had already been sold.

By the time Fun School 4 was in development, Europress had sold 300,000 Fun School products. This number grew to 400,000 by April of that year.

By 1992, over 500,000 copies of the Fun School products were sold. By 1993, this number increased to over 650,000 packages. When Fun School 5 was released, more than 800,000 Fun School packages had been sold. This made the series an international bestseller!

During the release of Fun School 6, an amazing 1,500,000 copies of the Fun School range were sold. Finally, when Fun School 7 came out, the total sales for the entire Fun School series reached an incredible 2 million copies. This shows just how much kids and parents loved these educational games!