Michael Robin | APPS | 09.14.2012 @ 1:00 pm
(Anden is six years old and growing up in a world where mobile apps are omnipresent. In this column, we explore apps that are up his alley.)
Recently PEEP launched 6 free games for the iPad: Trash Stash, House Hunt, Paint Splat, Sounds Fun, Hide & Peep and Apples. If you don’t know what PEEP is, that’s okay — we didn’t know either until we were searching for new apps to play with! We quickly learned about the Big Wide World of PEEP.
The background: PEEP and the Big Wide World is an animated series that teaches science to preschoolers in a very distinctive and charming way. The show caters to children from three to five years old. It is set in and around a pond, bush and a tin can and follows the main character, PEEP and his friends on their daily adventures.
Along with their TV show, they’ve invested in board games to help kids learn more about science and exploration. And with their recent release of 6 games on the iPad, they’ve made it easier for parents on-the-go to enhance the learning experience with their children.
Without a doubt, Anden enjoyed every game from PEEP and gave them two thumbs up! Each game was explained enough that I could watch him play with a hands off approach. This is part one of our App Review for the set of 6 games.
Trash Stash: This game highlights the characters: Chirp and Raccoon. Raccoon has a pile of trash and Chirp is trying to categorize it. In this app, Chirp encourages kids to sort objects by a specific criteria like color, shape or function. Each time the game starts, Raccoon throws a new assortment of garbage to the grass which prompts Chirp to give a category for sorting. As you succeed in the earlier levels, the categories get more difficult. Anden had fun with this one, categorizing things that were made out of metal or things that are round and not red.
Sounds Like Fun: This game uses all the characters form the show with a goal to encourage kids to explore music and the properties of sound. It’s pretty fun to mix and match sounds as each character is tapped on or off. Sadly, they can only play one song as a collective group, but it was fun to watch Anden pair some characters to make duets together.
Hide and Peep: Hide and Peep is just like playing hide & seek with the different characters from PEEP and the Big Wide World. In addition, it is a good way to play a memory game too! The characters hide behind different objects in the tool shed and peek out from their respective hididng spots. The narrator calls out their names and prompts you to tap the screen where you think each character is hiding. Each level adds new characters based on the success of finding your friends from PEEP and the Big Wide World.
We’ll be reveiwing House Hunt, Paint Splat and Apples on the next edition of Anden’s App Review. See you next time!