Ready, Jet, Go! Space Explorer
© 2016 PBS Kids
Turn your tablet into an animated, rather chatty planetarium, with a scavenger hunt style game and the ability to color in constellations. You can either freely explore a real-time sky by moving your device, or start a chase game where you try to find where Jet is hiding by listening to clues (e.g., "If you can find this constellation's belt, you've found me."). Every time you find Jet you earn a badge. Progress is saved automatically for one player. Content includes 300 planet and constellation facts and the ability to point your device to the sky and explore to see real world positions of constellations and planets. We especially liked how the real sky is represented in the app. We were less enthused about the lack of details given for each planet. You can't zoom in for a close look at the surface of the moon, for example, and there are only two trivia style questions provided for many items. In addition, the fact based hint system could be helped if there were also direction-based clues (e.g., "I'm hiding to your right"). Despite these wrinkles, the content is playful and solid and you certainly can't argue with the price. $free. This app is based on the PBS KIDS animated series Ready, Jet, Go! (produced by Wind Dancer). It was designed for PBS Kids by Two Moos. More info at http://www.pbskids.org/readyjetgo
iPad, iPhone, Android
Teaches: science, space, astronomy, Solar System, stars and constellations ,
CTR Rating: 84%