Toca Tea Party

$2.99, iPad

Teaches: classification, role play

CTR Rating: 90%

CTR Review

Turn your iPad into a top-down view of a tea party complete with slurps and spills, with a real-looking set of tea cups, juice glasses, pastries and so on. Your child can choose the table cloth, plates and cups to set the table by dragging with their finger. Next they pick their three favorite cookies and cakes, and then get some toys, dolls, or parents to sit around the iPad while they serve the tea or juice. To eat, you tap on a cake to see it disappear -- each tap equals one bite. To drink, you tap on a tea cup. To refill a plate, you drag and drop things around the table until everything is gone. Content includes nine types of cakes and cookies, new colors for the tableware and fun sounds when their guests eat. Children can clean up after messy guests who spill, then clear and wash the dishes with a tilt of the screen when done and play all over again. The app features no gimmicks, advertising or in-app purchases. The experience is high in child control, and the sounds add a lot to the play.