Tag Archives: edutainment

App Review: TableTots

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Spinlight Studios has created some of the best educational apps for iOS. AlphaTots and TallyTots let kids work by themselves, but TableTots brings parents more into the mix. This extraordinarily versatile app lets parents put together hundreds, if not thousands, of lessons in everything from letter and number recognition to spelling and math. The only real hiccup is there’s no tutorial for putting those lessons together, which generally means some hunting and pecking before you know what to do. There are some good pre-set lessons, which are good starters, but some parents may get frustrated before finding them. There’s also no way to save scenarios you’ve created — a minor annoyance, but something that’s worth correcting.

The app won’t know when a child gets an answer right or wrong, either, but there’s no getting around that — and it encourages parents to be actively involved with their children as they learn, something that’s hard to complain about.

Read more at Common Sense Media

App Review: AlphaTots

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Spinlight Studios, the developers of the wonderful number-learning TallyTots, turn their attention to the alphabet in this creative and educational app. Learning isn’t something that’s viewed as a burden, but rather transformed into a game, which makes young kids want to use this app again and again. All letters are always on screen, letting kids explore where they want — and accessing the familiar A-B-C song is just as easy. The interactive elements, which kick in after pronunciation on the letters is made clear, are very clever and engaging. Navigating alphabetically is a snap, but if the user wants to jump from, say “A” to “Z,” they’ll have to press that letter for 3-4 seconds, which might be beyond the attention span of the target audience.

Read more at Common Sense Media

App review: ABBY MONKEY – Animal Games For Kids HD

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The name’s a mouthful, but ABBY MONKEY – Animal Games For Kids HD by 22learn is a good collection of educational games for children with a good variety of settings so parents can gradually ramp up the difficulty to keep kids challenged. For example, the number of cards in the Animatch game (essentially the classic card game of concentration) can range from 8 to 18. And the reading of words can be toggled off and on for kids who know the words. The cartoon critters you’ll encounter are charming, and the game greatly encourages children as they get answers right. The promotional links at the start of the app are a bit too much, but it’s not enough to detract from the quality of the games. By the time they tire of this app, kids can learn up to 80 different animals.

Read more at Common Sense Media

Analysis: Consoles And Kids – The Generation Gap

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[In this analysis, Gamasutra editor-at-large Chris Morris discusses the potential resurgence of ‘edutainment’ games, talking to Southpeak and examining Warner Bros’ moves into the relatively neglected category.]

There is, I will admit up front, absolutely nothing sexy about edutainment titles. Hell, even the name is dull – and sounds like it belongs in a boardroom, alongside words like ”synergy” and “paradigm”.

Core gamers won’t look at ‘em. Kids like ‘em fine until someone spills the beans about them being educational. And, since so many are targeted at toddlers and young kids (a very niche audience), they’re not exactly barnburners when it comes to a publisher’s bottom line.

Read more at Gamasutra