PBS Parents Play & Learn App
© 2013 PBS Kids
Offering solid parenting advice but low quality interactive design, PBS Parents Play & Learn App is the first app designed for parents (according to the press release). It is designed to provide a set of math and reading games that parents can play along with their kids. Each is themed around a familiar place, like the grocery store, the bathroom or kitchen. There are 13 common places; and an activity in each with suggestions for how to interact with a child in this place. These games, as any curious child will discover, are a long way from Toca Boca quality. Each starts with a menu that requires reading; which makes it hard for children to use this app on their own. But that's the point of this app -- for parents and children to play together. Unfortunately the activities we tried were overly scripted, with instructions that talk over and interrupt a child's play. In addition, reinforcements are non-embedded, consisting of a shower of confetti that has nothing to do with the concepts. Options let you toggle between two languages (English and Spanish). The app is free and runs on iOS and Android, including the Kindle Fire HD 7 and Kindle Fire HD 8.9.
iPad, iPhone, Android, Kindle
Teaches: A resource for parents, math, reading, counting, measuring, letter recognition, rhyming
CTR Rating: 40%