– Discovery game makes on-line connection

In support of the Connections3 television series, which premieres May 4 on The Learning Channel, Discovery Channel Online is introducing a game that links science buffs to the show’s creator and host, James Burke. Visitors to the Web site (http://tlc.discovery.com) can challenge Burke in the Mystery Connections multiple-choice match. The event incorporates real-time video and tours of selected Web sites.

-Ringling teams up with wildlife organization

Ringling Multimedia is working with The Jane Goodall Institute, dedicated to wildlife research and animal conservation, to develop a line of children’s CD-ROMs. The interactive titles will expand on the Institute’s Roots and Shoots program, which encourages kids to care for the environment, animals and people in their community. Children in 25 U.S. states, Canada, Mexico and more than 20 other countries currently participate in the Roots and Shoots effort. The first of three products to be created will be Jubilee’s Journey, named after a toy chimpanzee that was the favorite childhood toy of Dr. Goodall, and scheduled for release in October.

-Sony Wonder creates Wonderland

Sony Wonder is looking to draw young children and their parents on-line with the launch of its Wonderland Web site (www.station. sony.com/wonderland). Located within Sony’s popular The Station@sony.com site, this area is intended to be a place where preschool and early elementary kids, with the help of their parents, can play and become familiar with using a computer. Activities include The Wading Pool, which teaches basic computer skills; Sing-A-Long Songbox, where kids can croon to tunes from Elmo’s Favorite Sing-Alongs and other children’s albums from Sony Wonder; The Sandbox, full of educational games; and WebTime Stories, with three narrated and illustrated stories from the company’s Enchanted Tales series. Advertising targeted at parents will support the site.

-OmniMedia acquires FlagTower library

OmniMedia is boosting its presence in the kids interactive arena with the purchase of FlagTower Multimedia’s library of children’s and reference CD-ROMs. The U.K.-based software publisher gains the kids products Timmy and the Magic Pictures, Timmy and the Dream Hunter, In Search of Lost Worlds and Stringalongs, as well as seven reference titles. OmniMedia is looking to leverage the newly acquired titles and its own products by bundling FlagTower releases with OmniMedia offerings.