Highlights Hidden Pictures Puzzles
© 2012 Highlights for Children, Inc.
A quick look: http://youtu.be/Vo5Bd9TIZS4 These days there are hundreds of apps that ask you to find the hidden object on a touch screen. But for most people older than 20, the original "Hidden Picture" activity was the one that appeared each month in Highlights for Children magazine. Today, a selection of those same puzzles are on the iPad's multi-touch screen. Instead of coloring the item in, you give it a tap with your fingertip, to see it filled in with color, automatically. The more you find, the more your picture fills in, until the entire scene is complete. The app comes with 18 illustrations; 9 organized around the theme "Bedtime," and 9 for "Fall Fun." Each puzzle contains between 12 to 27 hidden objects which are presented at the top of the screen by way of a scrollable row of objects. The row of hints can be hidden if you like, to make the game more challenging. There's also a hint system that puts a circle around an item. The background music can be turned on or off from the parent menu. You can also toggle between three languages or reset the high puzzle scores, which are also saved in the cloud, using Apple's Game Center. Features include an ongoing scoreboard that remembers which puzzles a child has completed, and a parents menu includes additional puzzle packs ($0.99 each) and the ability to switch to Spanish or Chinese. Note that all the purchases are hidden away from children two layers deep and behind a sliding button task. Additional theme packs can be purchased for $.99 each from a parent menu that is locked behind a sliding puzzle.
$1.99, iPad, iPhone, iPod Touch
Teaches: logic, visual discrimination, matching; Spanish and Chinese
CTR Rating: 86%