When I was at the Battroborg Settle the Score event in New York I met Rich, Rich works with companies that produce kids games for iOS. He sent me a loaner iPad 2 loaded up with a couple of games for me to try out and review. Opinions of the games are 100% my own.
The first game that I tried out was Monkey Preschool Fix-It. This is a good app for kids who are old enough to know how to use the iPad. If they know how to drag items across the screen and press and keep their fingers pressed to the screen then they will enjoy playing this game and learning how to identify shapes, letters and how to match puzzles. My son is nearly two and he does not use our iPad that often so I had to hold his finger to the screen to get him to move things around. He was delighted by the monkey and his antics but he’s just too young to get any real benefit from the game at this time. Eva is older and she already knows how to identify everything that comes up in the app so she moved on quickly. Although, she did say that the monkey was cute. Continue reading App Alert: Thup Games launches Monkey Preschool Fix-It→
I was given a copy of Ruckus Media’s latest iPad App, Chuck and Friends: Friends for the Long Haul. The app is an interactive storybook about Chuck the plucky little dump truck and his friends. The app is very colorful and has over 70 pages of story. But it isn’t just a story that you read, your child can interact with the story by doing simple motions like swiping their finger to reveal a character as well as letters to spell out the character name or maybe the name of something needed in the story. This makes the story more engaging for the child than being a passive listener. Spelling simple words and recognizing letters are also part of the overall app and storyline.
As for the storyline here is a synopsis from the app description.
“Chuck and his friends are playing their favorite game (chasing bad guys) when they encounter Flip, a new vehicle in the scrap yard. Chuck is not so sure about Flip and challenges him to a stunt contest. In the process, the two realize they can work together and become fast friends.“
This simple story introduces you to Chuck and his friends, Chuck’s mom and also to Chuck’s newest friend Flip. Each of the little trucks has a distinct personality and your child can learn more about each one. The little trucks lean more and more about honesty, teamwork and most of all friendship.
There are many nice features to this app including:
Features
An original story of more than 70 “pages”
Narrative-driven matching, touch and reveal and spelling activities progress the adventure and teach letter recognition, picture/word association and basic problem solving
Read along, play along and record your voice: Users can read the story, have it read to them, or even record their own voice for a personalized reading experience.
Words illuminate as Chuck tells the story, enhancing basic reading comprehension
Randomized activities provide multiple learning adventures
Here is a video about the Chuck and Friends app.
When Eva and I used this app together she was very excited by the game. I observed her playing the memory sections of the game and was impressed that she was able to find the missing pieces using good reasoning. Eva enjoyed playing this game with me. We listened to the whole story and got a bunch of words to use in the mad libs style story at the end. She giggled at the silly story that we created together. Then she and I played with a few other Ruckus Media apps including Pecos Bill and Goldilocks and the Three Bears. (Those are on sale for $0.99 each in the apps store till Labor Day.)
I have five copies of Chuck and Friends: Friends for the Long Haul to give away to lucky readers. You can enter to win yours below.
Ways to Enter (Leave 1 SEPARATE Comment for EACH Entry).
1 Entry – Mandatory to Enter – To enter the contest visit the iTunes App Store for the Ruckus Media Group apps page. (You might notice that the apps are all $0.99 right now, this is a great sale on some awesome apps) Come back and tell me the Ruckus Media Group app you’d most like to try. Then come back here and tell me which app that is. Leave this as your FIRST comment. (If this is not done your entry will not count)
1 Entry – Follow BenSpark on Twitter (Leave a Comment with your Twitter name)
1 entry – Like the Ruckus Media Group Facebook Page. Let Ruckus Media Group know that I sent you there. Tag me in the post: type “@Andrew Bennett”. Friend me first so I can see your tag. (Comment here after you’ve done this.)
1 Entry – Tweet about this Chuck and Friends iPad app Giveaway… something like Win a copy of the Chuck and Friends iPad app from @RuckusMedia and @BenSpark http://bit.ly/pfoWTk (Leave a comment with a link to your tweet. Here is how to get that link to your tweet)
I will not respond to any comments so that I can run the Random.org numbers correctly. Any trackbacks are unapproved while I select the random winner and then re-approved after. Only legitimate entries are counted. You have until 5:00pm EST on September 4, 2011 to enter. Once 5:00pm EST rolls around (or as early the next morning as possible) I will close the comments. The winner will be notified via e-mail and will have 48 hours to reply with a US Mailing address so that we can send the winner their prize. Contest is open to US residents Only. Please do not use multiple names to enter. Make it fair for everyone and don’t stack the deck.
Disclosure: I was given a copy of the Chuck and Friends App. The opinions of it are 100% mine.
About Ruckus Media: At Ruckus Media we create apps for mobile devices that entertain toddlers to teens from their fingers to their minds, at home or on the road—and invite their imaginations to grow.
More apps for the iPad, iPhone and iPod touch including classic stories told by family-favorite performers from Ruckus Media:
• Spot the Dot by pop-up legend David A. Carter
• Rainforest Survival Challenge
• A Present for Milo, About.com Readers’ Choice and Parent’s Choice award winners
• Andrew Answers, “Best Apps Ever Award” Finalist (from 148apps.com)
• Goldilocks, told by Meg Ryan
• The Three Little Pig, told by Holly Hunter
• John Henry, told by Denzel Washington
• Pecos Bill, told by Robin Williams
• The Velveteen Rabbit, told by Meryl Streep, “Best Apps Ever Award” Finalist (from 148apps.com)
• Tom Thumb and the Knights of the Round Table, told by John Cleese
