Daniel Tiger's Stop & Go Potty
© 2016 PBS Kids
There are many potty and toilet training apps these days, but few approach the topic in such a gentle and playful way. Your mission? To help Daniel Tiger, and his friend Katerina (all cat puns should be noted) figure out when it's a good time to stop playing and take a potty break. You start in a playroom full of three simple, limited games (water routing, block stacking and ring stacking). There's also a parent with a little sister who needs a diaper change. The games are limited and you can't save your work -- but that's not the point of this app. This is about potty breaks. The water game even has realistic water sounds that did make testers think about the potty. After a minute with one of the games, one of the characters will say "I wish I didn't have to stop playing, but I need to go potty." After a verse of the potty song, you help either Daniel (a boy) or Katerina (the girl) hop up on the potty for a few seconds. You get to help, providing a sheet of toilet paper, flushing the toilet, and washing hands. Another bonus hidden in the playroom: four Daniel Tiger videos that deal with the topic of stopping to take a potty break. Need to know: The dialog in this app is pushy.... if it is unattended for over five seconds (say a child leaves the app for a potty break) the interface starts cycling through a set of verbal prompts designed to pull you back. At the very least there should be a mute option. The bottom line? As far as Potty Training apps, the topic of gender, poop and pee is handled delicately with Daniel Tiger. You never see the "evidence" and there is no discussion of difference between a #1 or #2. But the app succeeds in bringing up a general topic for a parent to discuss, if necessary.
$2.99, iPad, iPhone
Teaches: potty training, taking care of personal needs, personal hygiene
CTR Rating: 90%