Children's Discovery System

The Mattel Children's Discovery System was an early electronic educational toy product released by Mattel in 1981. The Children's Discovery System was targeted toward children aged 6 to 11^[1] and mimicked the look of a contemporary consumer-grade computer.

Specifications

The Children's Discovery System used a 16-by-48 matrix LCD screen^[2] and was powered by six size AA alkaline batteries.^[3] The screen was much wider than it was tall, therefore only a grid of 8-by-2 text was possible, allowing for a maximum of 16 characters on-screen at any given moment.

The unit came preprogrammed with three modes: Art mode, Music mode and Type mode. The Discovery System came with a specially laid-out membrane keyboard to better accommodate the built-in modes and also made use of keyboard overlays for use with expansion modules. Also included with the unit was a large activity book with over 100 suggested learning activities specially-tailored for the Discovery System.^[4]

Expansion module cartridges

• Arcade I
• Arcade II
• Art
• Computer Programming
• Foods
• Fractions I
• Fractions II
• Geography I
• Math Quiz/Calculator
• Memory Logic
• Music
• Nutrition
• Presidents
• Science I
• Spelling Fun
• US Cities
• Words I
• Words II

References

1. "Handheld Game Museum - Children's Discovery System (Mattel 1981 catalog)".
2. "The Great Game Database - Mattel Children's Discovery System".
3. "Computer History Museum - The Children's Discovery System computerized learning system".
4. "Handheld Game Museum - Children's Discovery System (Mattel 1981 catalog)".

External links

• The Great Game Database - Mattel Children's Discovery System
• Digital Press - Game Listings: Mattel