I’m traveling for the holidays with spotty internet, so a quick one this week: Números, a simple game to practice numbers in Spanish. There’s a robot!
Language Review: Números por Sinaptika
15 Tuesday Dec 2015
Posted language
in15 Tuesday Dec 2015
Posted language
inI’m traveling for the holidays with spotty internet, so a quick one this week: Números, a simple game to practice numbers in Spanish. There’s a robot!
04 Friday Dec 2015
Posted Fun Friday
inA 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.
02 Wednesday Dec 2015
Posted Uncategorized
inA 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.