Bobo Explores Light is a wonderful, content-rich interactive book for iPad that will educate and entertain children and adults of all ages as they learn about various light-related topics, such as the sun, lightning, or photosynthesis.

This app contains such a plethora of information that I honestly find writing this review a little daunting as there is so much worth covering.

This app starts by introducing itself with a thoughtful, extremely well-done tutorial introducing the reader’s very own robot, Bobo, and explaining how this app works – an important feature as this app has numerous topics to share as well as many added features that one can explore as well. A great table of contents is also offered here, stylized with a great use of working gears, and each page is represented by a frame of a film strip, adding to the style as well as content of this app.

With over 100 pages and 21 topics of interest, a well-crafted tutorial is imperative to fully explain all that an app such as this has to offer to insure that readers get the most from this experience, and this tutorial dos the job well, explaining about the various pull-downs one will find on many of these pages – excellent resources that may include videos and other important extras.

Bobo is as adorable as a robot can be, stylized with the body of an old incandescent bulb and a wind-up key in his back, magnet hands, and the continuous tracks reminiscent of a tank. He is friendly and loyal like a puppy as well, following your finger as you tap side to side. Details such as Bobo humming to himself songs such as “Lollipop” make me smile, and I
love the fact that on some of these pages, one can tap Bobo’s antenna to turn on Bobo’s hologram projector. These holograms are the best that I have seen, not specifically in their three-dimensionness, although to some degree offered here, but as they contain the flicker and glow that I would expect from a projected hologram that I especially appreciate. Do move the iPad around to see other angles of these images as well.

Although very thorough in the educational aspect, this app does not shy away from the details and whimsy that are added to keep this app fun and engaging, which is very important for an app with such a large amount of content to keep kids interested until the end. I love how one enters Bobo’s spaceship, and although a completely different shape, the stylized colors used here in green, red, and orange are reminiscent of “Marvin the Martian”- a palette that makes me smile.

Once the reader launches this ship into space, there is a lovely moment of space travel as one speeds to the sun, including the view of the planets – a very nice touch. I love the nuances of a noisy, turbulent journey as I am sure riding in such a ship is. Very soothing music is also included here, all combined to create a memorable experience.

After the ship has reached its destination, children will be introduced to the 21 subjects of this app, with the option of flipping through each page for a more simplistic over-view of each theme or tapping the pull-down tabs, typically found three per page on the top of the screen. These taps contain fun facts, amazing videos, and can go into great depth while keeping the
main pages more basic, great for the youngest children, making this app fit the needs of many ages. I truly appreciate how much science is really being taught here, such as the concept of shadows being places where photons can’t get to as they are unable to bend around objects like sound waves. The whimsy is not lost in this section either, as the main page is home to a very amusing caveman who dines on toasted marshmallows with Bobo, and don’t forget to tap on Bobo’s hologram projector as well for a fun surprise.

In reality there is not enough time or space to enumerate all the amazing details, both fun interactions to tap on and well as those with great educational value. There is a great moment spent with Thomas Edison, with an excellent use of Bobo’s holograms showing Edison’s various inventions as one listens to period music. A fun demonstration about the difference between a toy laser and the real thing, a terrific use of mirrors, and a fish bowl to demonstrate reflections and refraction, demonstrating the principles of geometry will be much appreciated by older children as well. A great laser light show is also included where one can move the sources from which these lights are bouncing, keeping this app very light and fun, as well as highly interactive, engaging, and highly educational.

I would also like to mention that the included video of the auroras are something I have never seen before quite like this, and the use music here truly creates a moving experience.

It is worth noting that although this app is rich with narrated video clips, sound effects and some lovely musical moments, the majority of the text with this app is not narrated – something that did take me by surprise as I expected to have the excellent narration from the tutorial be found within the body of this app as well. Because of this, this app will need to be read to children who cannot read for themselves. Good to know, but do understand that this app is a must-have science app for children of all ages in grade school, with much of the information being of interest to older student and parents as well. I see this app being a huge family favorite and a great app for older siblings to share with younger children as even high schoolers and beyond will learn a lot from this app – as will adults.

The one area of this app that I think kids may find confusing is how the RGB system of colors is touched upon, which may seem odd to children who have focused their attention on the primary colors of red, yellow and blue – not red, green and blue discussed within this app. I would love to see some mention of the differences of RGB vs. the primary colors as I am sure questions will be asked about this discrepancy.

It has been hard to write a review of this amazing app that is not simply a laundry list of favorite moments. I could not feel stronger about the educational value of this app, the quality that each page offers or the whimsy, humor and interactions that will keep kids involved until the end. With so much that this app has to offer, the replay value of this app is quite high and a must-purchase for anyone with school age children.

This app also tackles questions such as where rainbows come from or why the sky is blue in a way that is clear, thorough, and very understandable to satisfy the most curious of children in way that impressed me greatly. This app recreates the experience one may expect to find at a children’s museum of science and is well worth the money one may spend to purchase this app.

Nothing would make me happier than to see more of these apps be created by the developers at Game Collage, and do take a few minutes to read the credits included at the end, as everyone involved with this app has done a great job.

By Age Range, By App Feature, Creativity, Health, Just For Fun, Preschool, Primary School, Reviews, Science, Toddlers

Food Heroes is an application for iPad consisting of activities focused on teaching nutritious food choices with the nice use of colorful and fun illustrations.

A simple matching game is included where the player turns over cards looking for pairs – here with a healthy food theme.

A coloring page is also offered where children can fill in these drawings as well as food themes, with the tap of a color and the drag of a finger. An eraser is offered here. Players also have the ability to control the size of the line used when filling in these pages, and one can save his work as well – always nice options to have.

For me, the best section of this app is the included word puzzle. A list of eight words is included to the right of the screen, and the player must find these words within the grid of letters center screen. This is such a classic kids activity that I am surprised that I do not come across more of these types of word games in applications. The best feature of all is that as one finds these hidden words, very nice children’s narration offers fun facts about each food word discovered, making this nicely educational.

This app is a nice choice for early grade schoolers once they are able to manage the word puzzles. I really enjoy the fun facts used here, as the information offered here is interesting to adults and children alike, and it is great that different words are used each time this word puzzle is played – excellent for re-play value – but I have found a few glitches where words do not offer the fun sentence I have learned to expect here, something I hope that can be worked out in a future update.

Parents will also appreciate the fact that each activity includes music with its own fun and upbeat sound, be it a mild country theme, jazzy, or with a slight Hawaiian flair.

All-in-all, a nice experience, with the word puzzles and info offered, making this app a nice educational experience.

By Age Range, By App Feature, Health, Just For Fun, Matching, Nature, Preschool, Primary School, Puzzle, Reviews, Science

Billy Morris and the Land of the Dinosaurs is a fun and very educational app that kids will really enjoy. A terrific glossary of dinosaur information is included, as are a matching game and puzzle activity.

Meet Billy and best friend, Spud, two dinosaur-intrigued kids who decide to pass through a portal to go back in time to visit these creatures. Back into prehistoric times, they come across many varieties of dinosaurs – some harmless vegetable eaters as well as other, more threatening species.

I really enjoy this story, and my son is a huge fan as well. I like the mild science fiction added to this story, using a portal to send the boys back in time, as it is super-cute that the boys’ “special hats” that they must wear are a pot and colander they found in their kitchen, and that no real explanation is given as to where this portal comes from – something I am
happy to see as this is a story for young children, maintaining a sense of wonder that I think would have been lost with concrete answers about their space travel.

Although this is not a specifically interactive book, there is one moment where as the time turns to 12:00, one must tap the clock to send the boys on their way, this being highlighted nicely with a glowing effect. I think that this simple, single interaction is a great inclusion, bringing a very nice element to this book as the tapping propels the boys through space, landing them into the land of dinosaurs.

It is especially nice that these two characters have their own personalities as Billy is more the dino lover and risk taker, as Spud is more coming along for the ride and is more cautions in general. I like how this structure creates opportunities where Spud asks questions about various dinosaurs that Bud in turn answers, creating a story book rich with good information about these dinosaurs. It is great that this app gives lots of tidbits of information on many dinos, and there is a moment that even more of these creatures are at least named and their images shown, creating a whole dinopalooza of creatures to learn about and enjoy – more than I thought would be covered in this app or any app like it.

I am also happy to report that this app covers dinos beyond the most obvious choices like stegosaurus, triceratops, and T Rex, including thoughtfully chosen information delivered in a way that is conversational and easily digested. This story also has a nice moment of suspense – a nice of bit drama for my preschool son as it is intriguing without being overly alarming.

This app has become a quick favorite for my son, who enjoys the narrated mode that this app offers as the narration is excellent, as are the illustrations included throughout this app, complete with an interesting palette of colors, my favorite being the majestic blue used for the mountains found in this story. Reading to oneself is also an option.

At 52 pages, this book is long for many to use as a bedtime story, but I enjoy how this tale is both engaging yet relaxing for my son as he has watches intently as this story unfolds while typically holding a stuffed dino of his own as this story plays out. I often will use this tale as leverage for an extra-early bedtime story – something that I have found effective.

I am really impressed with the glossary of dinos included here as well. This section included 14 pages of dinosaurs with information such as a map showing where on the earth the prehistoric animal would have been found as well as details about height and weight.

American readers may want to note that metric units are used here, something U.S. kids would not be used to, but this app does a nice job of using real-world comparisons such as the length of a bus to the weight of an elephant that kids from all over will understand. It is cute how visually this information is also offered, comparing a dinosaur to a man and an elephant, as these dinos could be of comparable size to this elephant or greatly dwarfing both, really showing off the scale of these dinosaurs.

My favorite part of this app is how in this glossary section, one can tap to hear both the name of each of these dinosaurs, as well as the phonetic sounds of the name, something I find incredibly helpful. Since I have never mastered the pronunciation of many of these names, the reading of dinosaur-themed books or stories is a challenge that I often shy away from as struggling to read my son a story can be quite a chore of me and I hope that with the use of this app, I can read the names of these creatures with confidence. It would be good if this section of information was narrated past the dino name, so my son could enjoy this section when by himself, but I am more than happy to read these facts out loud to my son.

This app will surely please any dinosaur lover, young or old and I am happy to say that I learned a lot from this app as well.

Animals, By Age Range, By App Feature, Creativity, Just For Fun, Preschool, Primary School, Reading, Reviews, Science, Stories, Toddlers

StoryBox is a very nice digital magazine for kids based on the award winning children’s magazine of the same name and based in the UK.

My son and I have enjoyed all that this app has to offer, as this digital magazine is compiled of six sections to enjoy, including a lovely story about a cow who won’t moo, two non-fiction sections, one that explore why airplanes leave trails in the sky and a section on humpback whales. There are some nice kite-themed activities, a fun comic book section and a charming story styled with separate panels but with no text – just creative illustrations to follow, complete with lovely music to listen to.

It is nice that one can either move from story to story within this app or return home to the contents page to make the next story choice.

I do have a few favorite parts that I would like to share. My son and I especially enjoy the Story Time section – How About A Moo – about a calf who wakes up one morning without making her typical moo sounds. Everyone on the farm tries to cajole this poor animal to making this sound until the gentleness shown by her mom makes everything right again. As a mother, I really enjoy the ending of this book as it has a tender message that parents will especially appreciate. There are some nice, subtle movements throughout this story with nice effect. Adorned with beautiful illustrations and few moving details as well, no interactions are offered here, nor do I think that they are needed as this story is quite charming just the way it is.

I have enjoyed the science and animal world sections as well, about airplanes and the trails they leave, as well as all about humpback whales. The airplane is interactive, giving the readers a chance to tap speech bubbles and text found that explain this phenomenon. The illustrations used within the humpback whales article are especially impressive and great information is provided about how these creatures trap and eat sardines without being overly graphic, yet full of interesting details that will engage readers of any age.

I like that one can zoom in and out to see the details of the comic area, and that one can watch a video of SamSam on You tube as well. There are kite-themed games and activities also included, mostly well translated from the traditional paper magazine that I imagine this app is based on and it is good that one can save the drawing one has colored, as a coloring book page is also included here. However, there are no instructions as to how to figure out the activity concerned which child is flying a specific kite in one of this app’s sections. I was able to figure out how to maneuver this game after a few minutes, but I don’t know if kids would easily understand what to do, and a hint at gameplay would be a nice inclusion.

Polo is the last section of this app, interesting as this tale that is told in a series of panels much like a comic book and is expressed without words. Here, a dog falls asleep to then be awakened by a yellow, glowing object climbing into his window from a rope. Intrigued, this dog climbs out of his window on this rope which ultimately leads him into space.

The piano music accompanying this section is wonderful, sleepy and even a bit melancholy. I do have mixed emotions about the ending of this tale, however, as it is “to be continued” later. I understand that serial comics and other stories have a long tradition and not uncommon in magazines, and I would be less bothered by this if I had bought a full subscription to a traditional magazine as this would insure that my son would receive the next installment of this story. However, I am not a huge fan of needing to buy additional add-ons or apps to continue reading. I do enjoy this wordless narrative very much though, because combined with the music, it creates an experience very creative and even a little moving, I simply wanted more.

I really enjoy StoryBox as I appreciate the content offered. Other apps like this may be more interactive, but I think the balance between the classic and simple storytelling, both narrative as well as documentary style, along with interactive games, activities, and other areas is nicely done.

Animals, Art, By Age Range, By App Feature, Creativity, Just For Fun, Language, Nature, Preschool, Primary School, Reading, Reviews, Science, Social, Stories, Toddlers

Trees are Best FACT is a lovely, educational and nicely interactive storybook app for iPad. This storybook a first-person account from the mouth of eight year old Oliver T. Baker, who is a great tree enthusiast. I think that it is super cute that this book is told from Oliver’s point-of-view and opens up to the mild rantings of this child, as he is in conflict with another student who does not share his interest in trees. The rest of this book includes the varied reasons why Oliver is so taken with trees, teaching children about the wonders of nature. The look of this app is quite nice and I love the many different colors, textures and styles used throughout these pages. The images themselves are wonderfully drawn and interesting to look at, and I enjoy that some photographs and other mediums are also included within the pages of this application.

The interactions are great as well and combine many styles, creating a multi-media experience as one page consists of picture frames hanging from a tree. I enjoy tapping these frames as they become brightly colored images of trees when tapped and one of these frames takes one to a page where the reader can draw his own tree, saving it within this frame as well. I love how another frame enlarges with a touch, revealing a video of the changing leaves in fall, a very nice moment in this multi media application. Some interesting uses of fonts are also found here, and I like the basic design of this book very much.

I really appreciate how a question mark at the top left of the page can be tapped to show hints involving the interactive hot spots, very helpful in uncovering interactions that may go unnoticed without these clues. I am always happy to see some kind of help offered during interactive experiences, and I am glad that this is offered within this app.

It is also very nice that one page is dedicated to the area of tree climbing, with lots of tidbits to read and enjoy by oneself – a fun inclusion that I used when my son asked if he could climb the trees in our yard, explaining to him why our trees are not ideal. There are also added bits of whimsy relating to the benefits of “spring shoes” in aiding one’s climbing ability as well as the faint images reminiscent of architectural drawing used, which add some interesting details to these lovely illustrations. I also like the page dedicated to the “loads of cool things about trees” as this page gives some nice information about the changes that leaves go through during fall and winter as well as the different bark found on specific species of trees, explained nicely with simple interactions and included photographs.

It is darling how this book ends with Oliver acting as a tree in the school play – a really fun image that kids as well as parents will enjoy because a child playing the equivalent of a tree is certainly a universal experience.

My only note for this app is that I would like to be able to do these interactions indefinitely instead of once per page, like the blowing out of candles as the narrator explains how the age of a tree by counting its rings, without toggling back and forth between pages. Other examples exist as well, and making these interactions able to be performed more than once would add to an already fun and educational experience. Having said this, I recommend this book as it has great visual style, creative interactions with hints and fun, thoughtful content.

Art, By Age Range, By App Feature, Creativity, Just For Fun, Nature, Preschool, Primary School, Reading, Reviews, Science, Social, Stories, Toddlers

Zachy the Robot – Episode 1: The Leaning Tower of Robocity is an excellent universal interactive educational app that combines very well-done cartoon sections with interactive areas that nicely explain basic engineering concepts to children 3-7 years.

This wonderful app takes place in Robocity where boy robot, Zachy, his sister Nikki, and their friends have the task of fixing things that break in the city around them. The app expertly infuses S.T.E.M concepts (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math) into this interactive cartoon, here specifically engineering – fixing things as they break, such as a lamppost
that is tipping to one side or a building that is also leaning, giving the player choices on what supports are needed to steady these structures.

I really appreciate how varied the support choices are, such as a triangle or circular support, as well as other choices that are too small or just right. The best part about these interactive sections is that the wrong choices are able to be played out and to see how these choices would effect the structure using the appropriate gravity and physics. The wrong answers
are explained very thoughtfully in a way that kids will comprehend – a very important feature as many times a person learns more from his mistakes than from correct answers, which are also nicely explained. I am very impressed by the ability of this app to explain these engineering concepts in such an articulate fashion.

It is also good how the tasks at hand are also varied in term of problems to solve. Later, after the small job of fixing a lamp pole is complete, the gang must tackle a larger problem of a building on the verge of collapse, and photos of real landmarks like the pyramids or the Eiffel Tower are used to learn some other basic engineering concepts about building structures, like how the bottom of the structure is wider at the base than at the top. There is also a great lesson to be learned when a robot stretches himself high in order to support the building in question and he himself needs some supports as stretching makes him prone to toppling over as well.

Not only is this app educational, but the cartoon section is excellent as well, reminding me of the best programming PBS has to offer – high praise to be sure. The animation is excellent and colors used are very bright and engaging, as are the narration and music that are used. Of note is the use of five fingers per hand on these robots – something not commonly seen in animation, a detail that stands out, adding to the richness that make these robots seem utterly human and relatable.

I really like how the interactive sections and the photos used of real structures have a subtle windowpane pattern, reminiscent of grid paper used in drafting which can be faintly seen, all the better to see which end of a building is wider, or the tipping of a structure – a very nice touch.

If you ask an engineer what toys they had growing up that had encouraged an interest in science later in life, a typical answer may be erector set or a working gears toy. I think this application can be added to the list of activities that can create an invaluable appreciation in science and engineering. I am very excited to share this app with my son, and I can’t want for the other chapters of Zachy the Robot to come out as well, focusing on other S.T.E.M subjects.

By Age Range, By App Feature, Creativity, Just For Fun, Math, Preschool, Primary School, Reading, Reviews, Science, Social, Special Needs, Stories

HowDo Games is a very nice educational universal app that uses wonderful high definition photos and sound effects to explain the sequencing of various events, allowing adults to teach in further detail such things as the planting of tomatoes or how honey is made.

I can remember asking my dad, an engineer, science questions such where rainbow come from. His response typically was to pause and ask me if I wanted the short or the long answer. This app does a very nice job of explaining the short answer to many of these types of questions.

There are six sections including nature, man-made products, animals, journeys, fixes, and development, whether it be of baby steps or learning to play the piano.

The interface is very simple; there is a row of six icons at the bottom of the screen that one can tap on to be brought to the various themes. Each theme has a page of nine individual stories that can be chosen with a tap, and tapping will forward the player to the next image through the four to nine pictures used per story.

I really like how interesting and a little different these selections are, such as the nature section including where rice comes from – something many adults may not fully understand.

The man-made section stories are nice and unique as well, with choices ranging from molding chocolate to jewelry design and painting a picture. The animal section is especially well-done as the life cycles of a bird, turtle and butterfly are included, as well as many cute mammals – really showing how many different animals come to exist, my son really enjoying the frog metamorphosis.

I enjoy this app a great deal. The photos are excellent, as are the sounds used for each picture. One of the first apps we bought was a “white noise” application that was very relaxing and included some great images and sound effects that my son really enjoyed listening to and looking at. He was less than two years and could name “Amazon rainforest” or “rain on car roof” just by hearing the sounds – a game that he really enjoyed. This app reminds me of this early activity I played with my son. The sound effects used here are equally impressive, with the added educational benefit of these complete stories that do a lot to help explain some very interesting things as well as to foster a greater understanding of complex storytelling and the concept of beginning, middle, and end.

Kids will really enjoy tapping each image to see the sequencing of these events and I think that kids by themselves would enjoy the sights and sounds that this app has to offer, but will get the most benefit working with an adult who can really explain what they are looking at, since things likes raindrop prisms or how bees store nectar to later create honey are not specifically mentioned. These explanations are left to the adult who will enjoy this app very much as well.

By Age Range, By App Feature, Creativity, Just For Fun, Preschool, Primary School, Reviews, Science, Social, Sounds, Special Needs, Toddlers

PBS KIDS Videos for iPad is full of fun and a highly educational collection of segments from favorite PBS Kids television shows.

These video clips are all nicely arranged with a simple interface that I am sure kids will have no problems navigating. To the right of the screen is a vertical scroll bar containing many of kids’ and parents’ favorite PBS kids shows. Tap to select, and one can slide out a menu as well giving the child a choice of many video clips from this TV show. The bottom left hand corner contains parents’ information about the specific show and clip being watched as well as other info. The rest of the center screen is where these videos will play; tapping will fill the iPad with a larger letter-boxed version of these clips, removing the other menus.

Kids have the option of selecting many varied choices in video clips, but it also nice that they can relax and watch all the selections from a specific show as they play in order from the menu; the choice is theirs.

I am very pleased with the wonderful shows offered in this app, including our family’s favorite show, Sesame Street, as well as other shows my son is familiar with such as Martha Speaks and Super Why, plus many others new to us. I appreciate that there is something for every age of grade school child, including the health- based show Fizzy’s Lunch Lab whose target age range is 6-10, geared to children older than the preschool set whom I commonly think of when PBS kid shows come to mind, primarily, no doubt, because this is my son’s age. Having watched many of these clips, I am sure that older kids will enjoy this app as well, and it can certainly be shared between different-aged children.

There will always be people who think TV is bad for children, and I am sure that the idea of handing your child a portable television per the iPad seems like an even worse idea to some. As a parent, I find that these shows from PBS are undeniably educational, smart, age-appropriate and very socially aware, so I have no issues with my son watching small amounts of his favorite show Sesame Street, unlike unspecific cartoons from a random cable channel, something I would not allow.

This is a wonderful resource for parents, especially when traveling and wanting to keep their children distracted in places like an airport or the airplane itself is of the utmost importance. For at-home use, I do prefer my son to spend his screen time working on puzzles, playing games, creating artwork or listening to a story, much of this time being spend with a parent who is equally involved with the app at hand.

This time with our son is precious family time, but when traveling, I don’t really want to have to entertain my child with “together time” the entire length of the trip, and I think this app would honestly keep him quiet and distracted, keeping my boy happy and not bothering others with the banter that comes along with many of his favorite apps.

We have not traveled a lot as a family yet, one reason being not knowing how good a traveler my sometimes wild child would be, but I think this video player may just be the trick to keep my boy as well as the other passengers sane over a long flight or delay at the airport, as long as I don’t forget to purchase a set of kid-friendly headsets.

Having an older model iPad, I do not know how these videos play on 3G. For us, the use of this app is only in areas that offer WiFi, but I am happy to report that these video clips play effortlessly, which is nice because I do have problems loading clips from other apps that take the viewer directly to youtube.

In all honesty, this is an application that I have not asked my son to test for me, because if I did, I would never hear the end of his asking for this app and I really want his iPad experience to be as varied as possible. We went through this when we first go the “Netflix” app which I had to finally bury in a file, telling my son it stopped working. I know this app would be an even huger hit, which is wonderful in some ways and problematic in others.

I really appreciate the info provided in the parents’ section. Here, the name of the show and specific clip are listed, as well as a basic premise of the show, its goals, and age range. If you like a specific clip, you can email yourself a link or post it to Facebook or Twitter. Options for buying the video associated with specific shows as well as info and links to their PBS Kids Apps are included. I am not a fan of in app purchases, but nicely tucked away in a parent’s info section is acceptable to me, as well as something many parents may find helpful. You can “favorite’ a show, bringing them higher on the list of shows available, but it would be nice to have a section on the app of previously watched and chosen clips as well. I would also love to see all the names of celebrity guests from Sesame Street as part of the info given about these clips, as not all of them have this information. I know most of these faces but when I can’t place one, I would really like to be able to reference the clip’s info to see who it is. I also like that one can look up local listings for favorite shows as well, very helpful to those staying in hotels away from home.

In the end, it will be the parents’ decision regarding when and how much access their children will have to this app. Having said this, this free app is a simply wonderful collection of very special video clips from children’s shows. I think that this would be my son’s new favorite app, something I will keep in mind when I am looking for the ultimate distraction.

Animals, By Age Range, By App Feature, Counting, Creativity, Just For Fun, Language, Math, Music, Nature, Phonics, Preschool, Primary School, Reading, Reviews, Science, Shapes, Social, Special Needs, Spelling, Stories, Toddlers

Ansel & Clair’s Adventures in Africa is a highly impressive educational interactive with large variety of information about Africa provided.

I feel fortunate to have been given the chance to review many educational apps and after experiencing many interactive games aimed at teaching children, I must say that I am very impressed with the quality, subject matter and overall immersive experience created by Ansel & Clair’s Adventures in Africa.

Meet Ansel, a travel photographer from planet Virtoos, and Clair, the Virtoosian robot who accompanies Ansel on his journey to Africa. Help Ansel take photos of animals, plants, and other important places and objects in three different locales in Africa, specifically the Nile Valley, Sahara Desert and the Serengeti Plains, learning a vast amount of knowledge along
the way. While flying to these areas, their space ship, the Marley Peterson, loses parts needed to fly back to the home planet. Help Ansel and Clair find these parts that have fallen from Marley, looking for them as the player goes about taking photos and learning about Africa. After the photos are taken, be sure to help Ansel match these photos to the correct areas in his travel log. It is especially nice how actual photographs of these objects are incorporated, showing the player real images of what they are photographing, a very nice touch that I greatly enjoy.

I think using intergalactic travelers to teach about Africa is a wonderful choice, as the use of Ansel, a true outsider, allows the players to explore the varied objects found in Africa in very fun and educational ways and creates situations for interesting comparisons to be made involving information young players may already know, such as Ansel thinking that humans keep all cats as pets – even lions or how Ansel is mistaken when he assumes humans eat all plants, not just some. I really appreciate the use of Clair, being a robot with a plethora of information she doles out at each opportunity.

I also like the fact that this app does not shy away from dangers one may find in Africa, such as possibly getting lost in a pyramid or coming across a potentially dangerous or poisonous animal. This info can be cautionary in nature but is never scary or over the top. I appreciate this info as very refreshing as we have many apps that are pure warm and fuzzy when involving animals and it is time my three year old is aware that some animals are not always friendly, especially since we live in an area where there are wild and potentially dangerous animals are rarely found in city limits, as well as the possibility of venomous snakes, spiders, or scorpions we need to be aware of.

The details of all the objects in this app are wonderful, realistic, beautiful and highly detailed. The animals all move slightly as they breathe, the trees sway in the wind and the Nile’s currents move slightly as boats also sway back and forth. Each area of this app has a lot to explore, not only in the animal, plant and other objects to photograph and learn about, but one can also experience the Serengeti in both the dry and wet seasons, learning about migration as well as watching snow fall on Mt. Kilimanjaro. One can explore both day and night time in the Sahara and learning about nocturnal animals, something I especially enjoyed.

Five mini-games are spread throughout this app that involves the pyramids, the lifecycle of frogs, a maze involving the reunification of mom and baby animals, matching the fur or skin to the correct animal and also a clock puzzle. Each of these games has three levels of difficulty, a nice touch. There is also a interactive 3D globe used to help the space ship find Africa in the beginning of this game. Do take the time to explore this globe, tapping the other continents as well to hear their names narrated. Personally, I really enjoyed looking through Ansel’s travel lot, arranging them where they need to by matching the photo’s taken with simple drawing of these same objects.

The content this app involving geography and life science is certainly impressive. I really like how extensive the info is about Egypt, with an abundance of history information. Some objects included have additional light bulbs one can tap for “Clairvision,” learning more in depth about a certain subject, such as mummies or migration.

It is very worthwhile to check out the info section of this app as it explains in great detail how the interface works. I greatly appreciate the explanation of what each interaction in each section has to offer and how it can be found. This master key is wonderful, very helpful when looking for a specific interaction that one may have missed on his own or when looking for a specific mini-game requested by one’s child. The intro to this app is equally as helpful to a first time player, but it would be nice if one could skip this and continue on with the game if they so choose.

This is an app highly recommended for both grade school classrooms as well as home use, and I suspect older kids and adults will sneak off and to play this game themselves there is so much to offer at any age group.

I hope to see Ansel and Clair visit other continents as well. This app’s approach to learning is fantastic, creative, and very immersive. I am very excited to see such apps be developed, I wish learning tools such as this were available when I was a child.

Animals, By Age Range, By App Feature, Creativity, Geography, Just For Fun, Middle School, Nature, Preschool, Primary School, Reviews, Science

Xperica HD is a really unique, educational and interactive iPad app that includes four physics experiments, ideal for the high school student studying physics. It has been twenty years since I took physics in high school and although I have vague memories of enjoying this subject, I remember very little of what I learned. When I first opened this app, I thought I was going to have to pass on reviewing this application as the subject matter is now way over my head, and this app lacks any reference material needed if one does not have a basic understanding of what is going on.

Even though I understood very little of what I was looking at, I could tell how educational this would be for the right student with some base level of understanding of physics, so I asked my dad, a retired engineer and professor, to look at this with me and tell me his thoughts. All throughout school, I turned to my father for help with all my math and science homework, as often times my dad had a better grasp of explaining the subject matter than my teachers did, so I thought he would be the perfect person to give his insights.

The lack of a textbook type reference material within this app did not phase my dad at all, who knows this subject matter well, and he was fascinated with the educational aspect of this application. Impressed that this app was free, I asked him if he would pay the $3.99 to buy an additional pack of six experiments for me if I were in high school and his answer was a enthusiastic “yes.”

Typically, I am not a fan of add-ons, but this app delivers a lot of content that my father looked at for quite some time, making this app very worthwhile with or without the additional experiments. I wish this app were available when I was taking physics, I think it would have added a great deal to my experience, especially at home as you can do experiments not possible until now in a home setting.

Here is my father’s impressions of this app:

“This a great app. It is suitable for a high school student and even for a student taking (college) freshman physics. The app consists of four experiments: The Law of Moments, The Specific Heat of Water, Resistance of a Series Circuit, and the Oscillation of a Spring. Each experiment consists of varying parameters and seeing what happens. The amount of physics explanation is minimal, however, so reference material may be required. Alternatively, the student can try to derive the correlating equations from the experimental results. I think that this is a very valuable teaching tool, which allows a student to see how the systems described by the experiments operate and, for the more advanced student, may allow him to actually discover the physics behind them.”

I recommend this app for anyone studying high school, possibly early college physics. Also note that the website associated with this app mentions that teacher resources and other learning material will be available at some point in the future, an addition that I think would be great, especially for parents who may know less physics than their child but still want to participate in the use of this application. I think that apps such as this are brilliant new tools for learning, I hope I continue to see more educational apps such as Xperica HD in the future. iPhone users be aware that a version for iPhone is coming soon.

By Age Range, By App Feature, For Parents, High School +, Just For Fun, Reviews, Science