Here at GeekDad we have been getting a lot of correspondence asking us to review iPhone Applications aimed at children. This has sparked some interesting discussion about whether young children should be allowed access to an expensive adult toy like an iPhone. But, invariably, some of us do let our children play with our toys. So, in the interests of organization and GTD we will be running a fortnightly (bi-weekly) iPhone Apps for Kids review section, where we will review 3-5 iPhone Apps for Kids and hopefully help you find some ways to engage with your kids through that device that has become an integral part of your life.
This week we present three applications, a mixed variety: Wheels on the Bus , Mix n' Match and Moosentration
All applications are available in iTunes App Store. The reviews are over the fold.____
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Wheels on the Bus
A well-produced musical app that will engage
1 – 4 years
$2.99
Duck Duck Moose Design calls “Wheels on the Bus” an interactive story book. This doesn’t do this excellent application justice. This app is based on the familiar childhood song “Wheels on the Bus”. It delivers colorful and simple interactive animations that take us through the song from the wheels going round, the driver saying “move on back” through to wipers going swish, swish.
The opening screen also acts as a tutorial so children can get a sense of what they are required to do. Using either tapping or touching children can make the bus roll, pop bubbles, activate extra sound effects and help monkeys steal cupcakes. There are often 3 or 4
interactive animations per screen, so even young children will accidentally stumble on some.
As with any child’s song, the music is repetitive and bound to drive parents a little crazy. But, it is that repetition that developing brains need. Despite that, the audio on this app is very high quality and the options are large. You can listen to the song sung by a male or female voice, in five different languages, or simply played by everything from a cello to a kazoo. A real selling point for me though, was the “Record Yourself” option. Thus appealed to my two boys who are
5 and 7, the app is best for a younger age, but the fact you can sing the song yourself, record it and then play it over the animations really appeals to young children. They love hearing their own voice.
This app isn’t made by people interested in promoting the latest cartoon, they obviously are interested in engaging children in story and song. They do it well. The app will probably be best for children around 3 years of age, once they get into the final months of pre-school most children will find this app easy to master and not as engaging as younger kids.
This is an app well worth having for GeekDads whose children are out of that baby stage and looking to them for playtime and entertainment.
Wired: All the color, lights and sounds that will engage young children
Tired: Yep, eventually that song will find its way into you head and you won’t be able to get rid of it.
Mix n’ Match
Geeks R Us
A face matching game that offers a basic template others can improve on.
3-4 years
Free
This simple mix n’ match game takes three poorly drawn faces, splits them into three and lets you change the facial expressions by mixing and matching the eyes, hair and mouth.
It has the concept. It doesn’t deliver.
There isn’t enough variety, no colour and not enough here to engage a child. It is like a simple programming demo to illustrate what is possible with the iPhone. These sorts of apps are fun to explore for 10
seconds, but I imagine they will increasingly become obsolete as more and more high quality apps make their way into the AppStore on iTunes.
Wired: It gets the basic idea of a mix n’ match
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Tired: __Graphics don’t engage, not enough
Moosentration
Blue Ox
A matching pairs game with the options, but could do with some design work
3 – 6 years
Lite version: Free; Full version: $1.
This is a good matching pairs game, whose name is derived from the traditional name for matching pairs - concentration. Moosentration offers a diverse range of options, even in the Lite version, including
Moose, Shapes and Zoo Animals.
It also offers a range of different tile layouts. I found some like The
Hourglass and Pipeline engaged the kids more than the standard Classic layouts. The nighttime background and fonts don't really grab younger children's attention and there is some delay between when you turn two cards over which can distract kids.
It isn't the best, most engaging matching pairs game going around on the iPhone, but for free, the Lite version is a handy addition to any kids game suite on your iPhone.
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Wired:__ Great options in the Lite version
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Tired: __Graphics and colors don't feel
