Tell the Time with Bubbimals

 

 

Bottom line: A super-cute app that does a great job testing a child's ability to tell time in a way that is both thorough and fun.

This app is probably the most adorable one I have ever reviewed. Don't worry though, your intrepid reviewer has not been distracted by the cute hamsters and seriously sweet child narrator to the extent that I can't review the app on an impartial basis!

There are four modes which a parent or teacher can use to test a child's ability to tell the time.

• In Play with Mr. Clock, the child can move the hands around a clock face and be told what time it is. Good for those who are just starting to learn to tell time.
• What's the Time? - here the child has to move the clock hands to correspond to the time they are given.
• In Choose the Time there are four multiple choice clock faces and the child has to pick the one that corresponds to the time given.
• In Match the Time, a time is shown on an analog clock face and the child has to choose the correct time from four different digital options.

Settings include music on or off and the ability to select either American or British time (not that we tell time differently, but we often use different expressions; the British setting includes phrases like 'quarter to' the hour). In all of the modes except for Play with Mr. Clock, ten questions are asked and a score is given once the quiz is complete.

 One of five settings is chosen by the teacher or parent and this setting applies to all four modes until another one is chosen. The simplest stage is "hours only" and the stages get progressively more detailed until time is expressed using hours and individual minutes.

 There are lots of things I like about this app: 

• Everything about the look and feel of it is adorable. The colors are mostly pastels - bright but not distracting. The music is upbeat without being annoying. The voice of the boy who narrates really makes me smile and the graphics are teeth-achingly cute, with hamsters, pink bunnies and a smiling, anthropomorphic analog clock. All in all, it's a fun and engaging app, without being too busy or over stimulating.
• I liked the five settings very much - this app tests all the stages a child goes through when learning to tell the time.
• The hour and minute hands are not just different in length, they are different colors which is great for visual learners.
• Instructions are given in both audio and written format and there is a button that looks like a mouth which, when tapped, will repeat the audio instructions. When a child correctly answers a question, immediate positive reinforcement is provided in the form of a congratulation like "brilliant!' which is both seen on screen and spoken by the narrator, and the clock face joins in by waving his hands excitedly.
• Times are shown in both digital and analog format so the child not only learns both but can easily understand how they correspond.
• Did I mention it's adorable?

I do have recommendations for the developer to consider however:

• The app isn't cheap by app standards ($2.99) so I would have expected a teaching mode to be included. Play with Mr. Clock is  great for practice but nowhere does the app outline the basics - introducing the different elements of a clock, how the hands move in order to reflect the passing of time, etc. The parent or teacher is going to have to ensure that all this is explained and understood beforehand, as the app simply tests what the child knows when it comes to telling time.
• There are no hints provided, the child has to guess the correct answer if they do not know it and the quiz will not proceed until the correct answer is provided, which could be very frustrating for some.
• There is no setting enabling the teacher or parent to set the length of the quiz. A child who is just starting to learn may not have the staying power to complete 10 questions and, similarly, once a child is comfortable with the concept of telling time, more than 10 questions may be warranted as a way of reinforcing those concepts as much as possible.
• The completion of a quiz is something of an anti-climax. I would love to see a reward system implemented - exchanging points earned for stickers or maybe feeding or playing with the hamsters and bunnies. Something that would encourage the child to continue working with the app - in different modes or harder settings.
• There's no data reporting or ability to track scores for more than one user.

I like this app - it has some great features, but at a $2.99 price point I would expect it to be more comprehensive in order for it to qualify as a Top Pick.

 

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If you would like to purchase Tell the Time with Bubbimals please use the links provided. The cost is the same, but Smart Apps receives a small percentage. Thanks for your support!

iPad ($2.99):     U.S.     Canada     U.K.     Australia

 

 

 

 This review was written by Deanne Shoyer who would like to take this opportunity to remind everyone that time is free but it's also priceless. Have you cuddled your kids today?