Peek-a-Zoo
© 2011 Duck Duck Moose Inc.
Here's another solid Duck Duck Moose app that is fun, for a while. The idea is to present younger children with a no-fail language experience, by presenting them with a narrated question such as "who is upside down?." They then try to find the correct answer, from eight possible choices. There's a nice variety of questions and the names of different animals are used (e.g., alligator, cat, chicken, cow, dog, elephant, giraffe, hippo, lion, monkey, mouse, panda, penguin, pig, seal, skunk, walrus, and zebra, as well as an imaginary “squirgle”). Children are also introduced to emotions such as smiling, surprised, crying, angry, and sad; actions such winking, waving, yawning, eating, wagging his tail, and sleeping; positions of backwards and upside down; activities of listening or having a party; sounds such as meow and woof; and attire including wearing a hat, sunglasses, or bowtie. As children play, they can listen to jazz versions of nursery tales. Compared to previous Duck Duck Moose apps, this one looses it's joy after 20 or so screens. While the content is there and the animals are fun, there's not enough surprise in the presentation. Still, this is a solid language experience, and a wonderful informal exploration of printed language. It would be good for preschool use.
iPad, iPhone
Teaches: language, logic, classification, language, vocabulary
CTR Rating: 82%