Bottom Line: A good start to an app that has a lot of potential, but needs some more updates to earn a higher star rating. The content is good, if a bit light, but the app lacks interaction. However, for little history lovers and inventors, it might be worth a look.
Inspire a young inventor and download this brand new app for just $1.99 (iPad/iPhone). Support Smart Apps For Kids and use our download button:
__________________________________________________________________________________________
External link to App Store in protected area with math-problem lock.
__________________________________________________________________________________________
The Great Inventors is a brand new app developed by Dream Made to teach kids about many inventors and inventions throughout history. The inventions are divided into three time periods, a feature I really like. My favorite feature about this app is how the screen transitions between these three time periods. A whimsical time machine drops down and spins madly, both forward or backward, depending on the current scene.
After the spin, the scene changes to reflect the current time period, but with similar characteristics as the previous one, helping to show how things change through time. In all three scenes, the user learns about inventions by first tapping the question mark at the top right of the screen, then tapping the question mark over the invention of interest.
The illustrations in this app are very nice, though a little different —they feature cartoonish inventors but inventions that look realistic. After tapping each question mark, a chalkboard screen pops up with the inventor’s head next to it. The board shows the inventor’s name and a paragraph of information.
This text is automatically read aloud, but the narration can be turned off right next to the pop-up board. Thankfully, so can the music. I do really like the music in this app, but in an app that I use educationally, it’s really nice to be able to turn it off sometimes.
When the question mark is not selected, the inventors and inventions move around on the screen. Tapping the various inventions brings about additional movements or results — Antonio Meucci’s telephone rings, the Lumière Brothers’ cinema plays a short film. Still, it doesn’t feel exactly interactive, even with these cause-and-effect happenings. I can’t stop the train once it starts, or cause the plane to fly backwards.
There are three advertised mini games, but I didn’t find any of them worth playing. The first is a matching memory game, to match each inventor’s cartoon image. In the second game, match the inventor with the invention — thankfully not in memory form!
The third game involves completing a pattern, like cinema-Lumière- cinema-Lumière. This was not a very interesting game, and I don’t see that it adds anything to the app in the target population.
Overall, I really liked the illustrations and music, as well as the overall concept of this app. There is also a lot of content, with 25 different inventions divided over the three time periods. There were several areas I’d like to see improved, however.
- The year of invention is not included in any of the information.
- The time period on each instance of time travel is also not listed. There are no years or time periods listed in the app at all.
- The invention isn’t pictured on the information screen, just the inventor.
- The music can be turned off while exploring inventions, but not during the games.
- The games are not very fun or interesting.
It would be great to see better games that would help check learning after exploring each time period. A general comprehension piece would be a good addition, as well, especially if the questions included inference, problem solving and prediction questions.
I would also enjoy a puzzle of putting together the inventions in some way. The early car and bicycle, for example, look drastically different than today's models, but it's hard to really tell. A puzzle to explore the different parts of the invention would make the app more memorable and help kids to better understand some inventions.
This isn’t a bad app — it really has good potential. The music and illustrations are already solid, along with a potentially fun concept. But the app needs better interactions and a few tweaks in order increase the star rating.
***
Heather H wishes someone would invent a chocolate delivery system that did not impart calories. SmartAppsForKids.com was paid a priority review fee to complete this review in an expedited manner.
Comments