I am setting forth a challenge. Try to define the word “patience” so that a preschooler can understand it. (And then try defining the word “no” in the same fashion and let me know if said preschooler can understand THAT.) Tricky, isn’t it? We grown-ups (should) know what patience is and we could easily explain it to another adult, but dealing with the younger wordsmith is a whole new ballgame.
GazziliWorld develops multi-sensory apps (check out GazziliShapes) that cover a range of topics, and the GazziliWords app tackles obscure and slightly complicated vocabulary words. Using fun graphics and clear narration, the preschool-level game helps to break down definitions so that 4-and-under crowd can have a blast while learning new and important pre-reading skills.
Included in the free download are three mini-games that center around a word – fingerprint, rainbow, and balance. Each begins with a cute poem that is narrated by a clear female voice and the rhymes come together to make an age-appropriate explanation for what the word means and how to use it. Children then play the game, which introduce even more early learning skills like color and shape recognition.
Both of my preschool-lovin’ kiddos really enjoyed playing this app. My five-year-old liked the poem more than he did the actual game; from what I observed it was a little too easy for his age group. The opposite was the case for my youngest, who is nearly three. She preferred the ease of the game to the more complicated poem, which her brother could easily understand while she found it to be a little tedious.
Unfortunately the other 9 words are available through an in-app purchase of $0.99 each. That’s almost $10 for the entire group of definitions and there is no discount for purchasing all additional words at once. We were very disappointed as we appreciated the content of the included words and found ourselves wanting a little more.
I would recommend this app only because the free content is actually executed quite well and both kids were able to play while each enjoyed different aspects. This would be a definite purchase for us if it was a package deal for one price, but as it stands I would have felt a little cheated if there was a download price.
Pros:
– Preface to games include narrated poetry to help pre-reading skills
– Word definitions are taught in a preschool-friendly way
– Visual examples help children learn otherwise complicated word definitions
Cons:
– Only three games are available to play with download; others are expensive in-app purchases
Price: FREE
Age: 2-4
Your little one will quickly build an impressive vocabulary with this wordy and wonderful app.
Please help support iPadKids by downloading the game via the App Store icon below!
