NonaMomDotCom Approves! – Kids Preschool Puzzles, learning shapes & numbers Review

I always appreciate apps made for younger children. My oldest is almost 4 and has 1-2 hours per week on her iPad. I want those hours to be filled with educational materials I approve of. I’ve found some too obnoxious in terms of music, sound effects, and an abundance of ads, so the full version of this app is great. This app has four main selections: Food puzzles, Shapes, Numbers, and Regular Puzzles. I will review each part separately. Food Puzzles: I appreciated the realistic pictures of food (healthy choices of fruits and vegetables) since my daughter is still learning to identify them. The puzzle pieces were challenging enough for her to think before moving them into place, so she didn’t speed through them. She enjoyed the cheers after completing each one and even clapped along with the sound effect. The background music was soft and reminded me of the Sonic the Hedgehog game from my youth. Both the music and sound effects can be toggled off if desired. I would have liked to hear the name of the fruit at the beginning of the level or before the cheer was given to aid in learning the names of some of the fruits and vegetables. My daughter often asked what a particular food item was, so that was a missed learning opportunity if I wasn’t there to tell her. Shapes: There was a great selection of shapes and I appreciate that more advanced shapes are introduced, such as an octagon, pentagon, and trapezoid. However, like the food items, I would like to hear them called out so she can begin to recognize them. She doesn’t yet know how to count the sides, but becoming familiar with the names is half the battle. Puzzle: The picture selections were really cute and she enjoyed playing each of them. I like the option to toggle the shape outline on and off so as she gets more comfortable with puzzle pieces, she can switch it off. 6 puzzle pieces matched her skill level and challenged her, but it would be nice to increase the number of pieces as she advances through the puzzles. Numbers: This was our least favorite selection. In this mode, she had to drag the numbers to the match those on the left. In order to make this more of a learning experience, she needs to hear the number called out. Since she’s only beginning to recognize written numbers, she was merely matching the shapes. Overall this is a great app and will already replace a food puzzle app she liked that annoyed me due to too many sound effects and lack of real learning opportunities. This app makes it very easy to figure out how to select the different games and after teaching her once, she knew how to maneuver through them, including how to toggle the puzzle guidelines on and off. This one is a keeper.
Review by vasanti on Kids Preschool Puzzles, learning shapes & numbers.