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By Courtney Schley This post was done in partnership with Wirecutter, reviews for the real world. When readers choose to buy Wirecutter's independently chosen editorial picks, it may earn affiliate commissions that support its work. Read the full article here. We spent over 25 hours researching and testing more than 35 educational and learning apps recommended by educators, experts, parents, and kids. We also studied research from child developmental psychologists and the American Academy of Pediatrics about children's app use and the pedagogical principles for creating learning apps. If your family has a tablet and you want it to be more than a game-playing and video-watching device, or if you're trying to find apps for your smartphone that will do more than keep your kids occupied in a pinch, we have some great suggestions.
Toca Builders for iPad is a charming, delightful game
I had my 8-year-old help me test Toca Builders for iPad (US$0.99, universal), the latest iOS toy from powerhouse Toca Boca. He nearly exploded with glee. So did I. Toca Builders is an utterly charming take on the world-builder theme that's become so popular thanks to hits like Minecraft and Eden. The artwork, sound and play mechanics are stellar, and each of the six "characters" whose unique skills you must manipulate to construct your fantasy world, brick by brick, are so well executed you'll wish they were scooting, rolling and building all over your desk. Looks The play area is a large grid that's floating on a pixel-y sea. Navigating to the edge reveals that the whole thing is floating thanks to a layer of cork just below the surface. The characters are also wooden, and their hinged joints move exactly as you'd expect from a hand-crafted wooden toy. It short, it looks lovely. Game play I hesitate to call Toca Builders a game because it's really a toy. There's no goal other than to have fun building a world of you own. There's no end game state either, as you can keep building and re-building as much as you like. My kids were even inventing pretend play scenarios for the little characters and their surroundings. It was "adorbs" as the kids say. You start with a blank, flat world (most of the time) and six "builders." Each has a unique skill. For example, one can change a block's color. Another can quickly build a row. Another stacks blocks, there's one that breaks blocks and yet another to stack blocks and reach those that are high off of the ground. My favorite little guy is balancing on a large ball, circus-style. As he rolls, the ball deposits paint on the floor. You quickly realize that you must use the various characters to accomplish a certain task. For example, the boy and I wanted to build a tree. That meant using the stacking builder to produce the trunk. He couldn't reach the level of the leaves, so he had to place a few blocks on the ground for the "crane" builder to manipulate. Finally, the "painter" builder had to spray her paint all over the tree to get the right colors in place. Planning and thought are required. Like I said, you don't always get a "blank slate." While creating new worlds, I suddenly got one that was populated with trees and spare bricks. Later, my son got one with several ships and later still, huge representations of the builders themselves. We eventually figured out that every fifth world started is populated with goodies. Toca Boca is also a shining example of something this company does very well: explaining how to do everything without words. I imagine this was done to keep localization costs and effort to a minimum, and it's become a constraint that's elicited some fine creativity. Within five minutes of launching the app for the first time, my son had mastered each builder's unique function and quirks. I could go on, but suffice to say this is a great digital toy. Paint splatters and splashes, "wooden" hinges creak and the imagination is fully engaged in creativity, planning and play. Toca Boca has done it again.
Daily Update for March 6, 2013
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