Bottom line: Zcooly Time Ranch offers elementary aged kids an entertaining way to learn about telling time and to practice those skills in a game environment. Kids can earn coins to help upgrade the farm along the way.
This app is normally $5.99 but is currently on sale for $1.99 – that’s a 60% savings!
If you’d like to purchase Zcooly Time Ranch (iOS, currently $1.99 – that’s a 60% savings!), please use the handy link provided so they’ll know who sent you.
________________________________________________________________________________
No ads, No IAP, but there are external links in protected parent area
________________________________________________________________________________
Zcooly Time Ranch takes little learners off to a farm where they must help the farmer take care of the animals and complete tasks in order to upgrade the farm. Tasks are completed and coins are earned by following the farmer’s instructions on how to set the clock and taking care of the animals with tasks that are appropriate to that time. With the completion of five tasks, users move on to the next day and the difficulty of the time tasks increases.
The functionality of the app is fairly simple. With each task the farmer gives instructions about how the clock needs to be adjusted. He might ask for it to be set to a certain time or for time to be adjusted by certain increments. Users simply have to tap on the clock to bring forward a new clock face that can be set per the instructions. Not only are the directions given verbally by the farmer, but they are presented in text below the clock for reference. Once users are satisfied that the time is correct they can tap a thumbs up button; if they are right they receive coins and food for the animals (if they’re incorrect they are given another chance.) Coins can be collected to upgrade to different animals and build the farm.
With the completion of five tasks, each day is complete. There are ten weeks’ worth of tasks available, giving kids plenty of practice for their time telling skills. As users complete tasks, they can collect coins that allow them to upgrade to different animals. We found it fun (and a little bit silly) to be able to upgrade to things like ostriches (and dinosaurs!) on our farm. These rewards give kids something to work towards, keeping them engaged in learning.
Watch this app in action here:
What I liked:
- My favorite part was the emphasis on being able to tell time on an analog clock early on. I have always made sure that my kids were able to do that first; I’m old school like that. There were multiple ways to practice that skill.
- I liked that time was referenced in different ways throughout. For example, fifteen minutes after the hour was also phrased as “quarter past”. This is a very relatable way of teaching that will help kids related to time in a rea-world environment.
What I liked less:
- I would have liked to see a multi-user option so that each of my kids could have their own skill level reflected when they enter the app.
- I do wish that there was a way users could skip forward to different skills without having to work all the way through first, perhaps by choosing skill/grade levels in the settings or something. My older child lost interest at having to work his way through the much more elementary elements first. While you can pick and choose skills in the practice mode, then you lose the fun element of working to upgrade the farm.
Overall, Zcooly Time Ranch offers users a way to learn and practice the essential skill of telling time. This interactive app helps make the concept of telling time relatable and fun. Four stars.
***
Kelli sometimes sets some of the clocks in her house forward a bit in an attempt to speed her family along (FYI - it does not work.) Smart Apps for Kids was paid a fee to review this app in a priority manner.
Comments