Bottom Line: While it's labeled as a story book, this app helps preschoolers learn about woodland creatures while using problem-solving skills, and includes early concepts such as counting, sorting and matching.
To download Funny Forest Family--Interactive Storybook for Children ($1.99, iPhone/iPad) use the link below to support Smart Apps for Kids:
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This app contains no ads or in-app purchases--external links are present under a protected parent section.
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It's time to take a hike in the woods with some furry woodland friends. Your preschooler can interact with four furry families (say that three times fast!), crows, nightingales, raccoons and frogs, in this app from developer Ingame OOO.
The title of the app is a little misleading--the app itself is not a story, however it's presented in a four mini-game layout. Each animal clan has their own activities that they do in the wild, and it's your tot's job to guide each family through their adventures. Activities include helping Mrs. Raccoon and her babies wash apples to eat, matching colors for the nightingale clan in order for them to sing their sweet song, guiding the frog family safe to shore and helping mother crow build a nest for her tiny bird children. Each animal family has a handful of activities to be completed, which creates a good amount of content, espeically for the $1.99 price tag.
Each of the activities your child can complete is geared for a preschooler to complete, and the controls are simple to manipulate. Some of the concepts presented are right on target for the preschool population and include receptively identifying colors, counting and following simple spoken directions. The illustrations in the app are true to life in an animated kind of way and don't distract from the app. The main menu of the app allows for the music to be toggled on/off, which is a non-negotiable in my book when it comes to preschool apps. Other options include changing the language to English/German/Russian, toggling narration on/off or selecting an auto-play option. The only difference I found between "play" and "autoplay" is that autoplay skips a quick introduction to the app, which is handy for when your child returns to play the app again and already is familiar with the underlying theme.
One of the biggest things I would like to see in a future update is better navigation through the app. As I mentioned, each animal family has a variety of activities that can be completed. However as the app stands the activities must be performed sequentially--for example, you always help the raccoon find food before you help clean the apples, no matter if your tot has fed the raccoon previously. I'd love to see a way for users to be able to select any activity within the animal set at will, or move from activity to activity at their choosing, not in a forced order. This allows for a little more freedom within the app, and can prevent kiddos becoming bored of a certain activity. I mean, how many times can a crow build the same nest?! I'd also really like to see the label of "storybook" removed from the title, as it is somewhat misleading.
All in all, the app is geared towards the right population and presents a good variety of activities for the price. There are hoards of apps that target preschool concepts in the app store, and I think additional content is needed to make this app truly stand out. I would love to see this app a few updates from now--it has good starting material. Woodland creature-loving tot's will have a great amount of play time in this app, and it has the makings of a great "play with me" parent and child bonding time.
Rachel J. has 2 cats, which is basically like living in the wild.
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