Dr. Panda Plus Home Designer
© 2017 Dr. Panda Limited
This $40 augmented reality (AR) kit combines flash cards, dry erase markers and a free app for your tablet or phone. The mix of a quiz, a spelling game and an open-ended home designer (with smart objects that can be moved from room to room) has a high novelty effect, but the parts could be better integrated. The kit includes 12 erasable markers, 51 flashcards, and a code to activate the free-to-download app. The app runs on all just about all platforms and devices with a camera, available on Apple's App Store, Google Play, and Amazon Appstore. Need to know: The scavenger hunt is fun at first, but grows repetitive. The drag-and-drop spelling challenges could be more responsive (e.g., the letters don't do much or "snap" into place enough) and our testers ended up just skipping this part. The best part is being able to design and color the flashcards using the markers, to see them inside your home. We would've liked it if the items you design were larger and easier to see. You can turn off the background sounds in the parent options.
$40, iPad, iPhone, Android, Kindle
Teaches: creativity, spatial relations, art, spelling, reading
CTR Rating: 80%