Gamification of exercise isnotnew. I don’t have a Fitbit and until recently, I had a phone with a fairly short battery life, so my ability to use such apps were limited to workouts (Zombies Run, Skimble) or sites where you could log your exercise after the fact (EveryMove). What I didn’t have–and wanted–was something that encouraged me to be less sedentary. Moving from teaching to an office job meant that it was very, very easy to just be sedentary. The Human app gives me nudges and motivation to go another block with the dog or go the long way around the office. And, it’s super pretty.
Quick! Could you name the word for hand towel in your target language? Clothes hanger? Sabre, as in the sword? Wig?In Babadum, a mobile-friendly language website, your vocabulary range will surprise you.
Board games and toys overshadow digital gaming in our house right now. I think Goldieblox has brought the newest excitement.
Goldieblox was born from the mind of a female mechanical engineer to inspire little girls. According to their website, only 14% of the engineers today are women. Interestingly, like the Goldieblox CEO, Debbie Sterling, I also didn’t know what engineering was until I was much older and confused it with train conducting at first. Goldieblox is a way to change that, to encourage interest at a young age. The sets start at age 4 and advance in age. We have the preschool set that came complete with a free t-shirt with “More than just a princess” printed on the front in adorable lettering.
As they say on the website “Let’s get girls building”. Within a month, my daughter has begun to understand the basic blueprints of each set. The sets all tell an amazing story about Goldie. Goldie is a young girl with a huge imagination and an adventurous hound dog. Kids can build along with Goldie as they (or you) read aloud. Goldieblox has been a fantastic way for us play together.
Goldieblox and the Spinning Machine
The Spinning Machine is simple and easy to build and take apart. The original design uses a star shape and weaves a ribbon between wheels posted over axels with animals perched on top. Kids learn to do this all while reading about Goldieblox and her curiosity for ballerina movements. After completing the activity, Goldie encourages the young engineer to try ideas of their own.
We tried building the spinning machine in different shapes and talked about what shapes would work to spin all five characters. We also talked about what shapes would just get stuck. We talked about how important it is to create patterns between axles and wheels to keep the ride going. After working on this one a few times, my daughter has started experimenting on her own. Once the spinning machine becomes redundant, there are blueprints in the box to build even more contraptions.
From this set, we were able to build the spinning machine, a treadmill, a climbing wall, and a see-saw. Each design was an idea found in the book as additional projects.
Goldieblox and the Dunk Tank
I think it goes without explaining why this set is so much fun; with water and a ball, someone’s going to get wet.
We used this set to learn about blueprints. My daughter got hung up on the complexity of the seating platform, but as we built it, she began to catch on. I think she will understand more as she gets older.
There are also videos for each building set.
Goldieblox and the Parade Float
This is probably the least played with of the three sets. We still had a chance to talk about wheels, and axles, and counterweights. I expect this set will get some more time, but right now we are still spending a lot of time with the dunk tank.
In doing this research I discovered that they also have more to build an iOS app; stay tuned for the Goldieblox iOS app review.
These preschool-aged sets are great because they have very simple blocks. They are also intricate enough to keep the interest of a child for a long time. These sets have axles, blocks, a ribbon, and blocks. Each set has additional parts that are specific to the project but all are simple enough for a four-year-old to discover. Sometimes the blocks can get stuck on the axles or the axles get stuck in the peg board and it takes a little more muscle to pull them out, but it isn’t a deal breaker.
The Goldieblox company is doing something phenomenal for girls in STEM. I encourage any parent of a little girl to at least spend some time on their website you might find the next great toy.
To find out more about the company check out their website. And check out this cool video too!
I have not seen the movie The Martian nor have I read the book, so I jumped right into the game. I also played Lifeline at the same time, and it was so much fun.
Beyond being text based games about rescuing an astronaut, these two games are incredibly different. In The Martian, you are teamed up with an entire team of scientists who are helping Mark survive and remain sane. Lifeline, on the other hand, is more like a chance meeting with an awesome new friend. It doesn’t have the same support of a backstory or support team. I think my favorite difference between the games was the different length at which the creators stretch your imagination. Lifeline is more sci-fi and I gobbled it up like a brand new episode of Dr. Who. The Martian felt more like a personal challenge I couldn’t wait to accept.
Each game asks you to help the character make important decisions, and you have to be ready to do some research, especially for The Martian.
Both games ask you to do a little research, be careful, though, if you make the wrong call, it could be the last decision the astronaut makes!
It’s hard to lose your friend…
The Martian gives you a little scaffolding here and there with a whole team of scientists, but you are on your own with Taylor in Lifeline, making the Martian slightly more challenging at times. Lifeline, however, is filled with edge-of-your-seat suspense, which packs its own punch.
I found the best challenge in the Martian, wasn’t necessarily the hardest. It was trying to figure out how to talk to Mark, and be sensitive to his situation. The game is good at making sure to keep you in check by acquainting you with the team psychiatrist. I really don’t want to share too much of my favorite challenges in Lifeline, it would give away some of the best parts of the story. I will say that I am likely to play Lifeline a second or maybe third time because there are still things I want to know about in the game.
Both of these games are great, they pulled me in the way a good book does, the story writing and creativity in both games was great. I highly recommend both, and I enjoyed playing them together, but that may not be for everyone.
This week, as another installment of the immersion series, we are going to look at Lingua.ly. Previously, we have covered an interactive book, a video archive, and a way to chat. In traditional immersion like travel or an intensive language-learning program, you practice speaking, listening, reading, and writing with nearly every interaction. Of course, an app can’t emulate full immersion, but it can give you lots of practice in using the language in a natural-feeling context.
Lingua.ly collects news articles that suit your self-reported proficiency level and topic of interest. When you don’t know a word, you tap to show the definition and add it to your word bank. The app gives you a few options for practicing the vocabulary, including some that count as games.
Happy New Year! Are you looking for ways to practice your target language without, you know, actually sitting down to study? This week’s app, like Trivia Crack a few weeks ago, is a language lesson in disguise. As a bonus, you probably already have it.
A few weeks ago, I did a roundup of board games that might be good for holiday gatherings. I was looking for games that would help deflect family drama by engaging the group in something more fun than teasing your cousin about his new haircut.
The considerations: It is designed for five people or larger, though the minimum can be smaller. It is complex enough to keep people engaged rather than asking you about your post-graduation plans, but not so complex that the non-gamers panic. Games that last around 30 minutes are ideal, but there’s no hard line. My target audience is adults, but I’ll point out the ones I think elementary schoolers or middle schoolers might appreciate.
A review for this game is difficult, simply because so many reviews discussing the exemplary app already exist, and for good reason! Toca Builders taps into a world of creativity touched only by games such as Minecraft, which is suited best for older kids than preschoolers. Toca Builders takes the same sandbox gaming style and hands it to a preschooler saying “It’s your world, and there are no rules”.
For my daughter, this game was easy and fun right away. There are several characters to connect with and each character shows their own personality and capabilities right away with different controls. She immediately fell in love with Jum-Jum the Painter.
She and Jum-Jum didn’t make anything recognizable to me, but for her they were having a grand adventure, “spitting colors”.
However, Jum-Jum wasn’t the only friend she made in the game. The game is well designed so that children can build several worlds, so they can start one and return to it days later, or have a second world going at the same time. My daughter didn’t really take the path of building structures as much as she did connecting with the characters and having adventures. She built random walls and stacked pillars. For her each of these random pieces are a story of an adventure she was on with the character.
Toca Builder developers did their research, and they are completely transparent with what they know. They have a parent section where each developer has a mini-biography, as well as background information on the games. They offer articles about research they’ve done and openly make an effort to engage with parents or teachers.
This app is fantastic for building creative skills with basic geography, and understanding beginning math. As we learned in my house, it’s also a great tool for new adventures and stories just waiting to be developed.
I really don’t think I can say enough about this app. It’s fun and entertaining, a must have for every preschooler welding an ipad.
It appears to be Immersion Month for my language reviews. I’ve heard the multiple facets of language-learning described as a castle, and you have to attack all four sides. A fluent speaker doesn’t just speak the language, they also write, read, and listen to it as well.
Unfortunately, I don’t have a brilliant discovery for learning to speak (though you should check out this article on using Siri to practice pronunciation). But I do want to share my favorite reading immersion app–and you probably already play it regularly. Trivia Crack!
Turtle & Mouse 