Monkey Preschool Lunchbox

A fun, educational counting, matching, and puzzle game for the iPhone and iPod touch.

Verdict: 4/5 | Suitable for Age : 2-5 | Price: $0.99 

Monkey Preschool Lunchbox lets you introduce your toddlers to colors and letters from home well before preschool. Young children will think this is a game – but moms and dads will feel good in knowing it’s completely educational too. Tricky, eh?

In each individual game a monkey asks you to complete short tasks like counting fruit, touching the corresponding word that the monkey asks for and matching cards with fruit on them. The goal is to finish these and fill the monkey’s lunch box. When you complete a game the monkey flips and squeals, then sends you on to the next game.

What’s Hot:
The sounds and music on Monkey Preschool Lunchbox are terrific. My 11-month old came crawling across the room to see what it was when I turned it on. Although she was too young to actually play with it, she was fine to hold it, listen to the sounds, touch the colors and loved it when the monkey did back flips.

The game is very interactive, but you are asked to do enough different tasks that it doesn’t seem as repetitive as other apps. Making the monkey happy is the best part of this app but if you make a mistake the monkey will say “oooh, oooh, oooh.” Don’t worry moms, it’s not so harsh that a kid would feel bad, it’s more of a note to keep trying. As far as I know you get endless attempts to finish a game.

What’s Not:

Monkey Preschool Lunchbox is a continuous loop of games. If you have a favorite one in the series, you can’t repeat it or jump to it ahead of the rest. Instead you have to play through the cycle until you get back to the one you like. It’d be great if you could select the games one-by-one from the menu page.

The Bottom Line:
This is one of the first apps I’d get for a toddler. It teaches them counting, colors and works with a few letters too. The way the monkey flips and squeals “eee, eee, eee!”, tells the user “great job,” and gives them a sticker after completing a game will keep the kids engaged.

    

"Love @ First Touch! "

My little girl is turning 4 this weekend.Like every child,she is pestering for her birthday wish to be granted.Guess what is her on birthday wish list? iPhone apps..yes,I am not kidding...Amiellie is fascinated with iPhone apps.If you ask her who is her best friend,she would say it is the iPhone. Yikes,it can be scary judging from the response,but i totally understand from where she is coming from.She is just a child and literal answers like that often pops out from the mouth of babes.As long as I don't observe alarming signals that she is having obsessive compulsion with the iPhone,I am fine with her seemingly passionate affiliation with the iPhone.

Amiellie's fascination with the iPhone is not uncommon.In fact,many children who have been exposed or introduced to the iPhone,often are hooked at the first instance.I call it "Love at first touch!"

Well,there is logical explanation based on early childhood theories on why toddlers or preschoolers can easily fall in love with any of these touch-enabled devices such as the iPhone or the iPads.

Children learn best from experience.They learn by doing, using their senses, and of course by exploring their environment.This is especially true in the preschool years.The iPhone provides all that sensorial stimulation a child needs to fuel his/her drive to explore.The interactive nature of these smart touch enabled devices is the key element that anchor these children to the devices.

As a professional in the early childhood industry,i am pro iPhone usage for children in general.

Why ?

Well,from experience I observe that children do not learn as effectively when they are passive. Active engagement with ideas or concepts promotes mental activity that helps children retain new learning and integrate it with what they already know. Iphone apps can be this interactive platform for a fun ,engaging learning.

But of course ,it is up to the discretion of parents to decide what apps your children will play.If you are just a "give in to your child whims" type of parent,then iphone apps can be a dangerous tool of self destruction in children's healthy learning habits. Your role as a parent is crucial in deciding what kind of apps is most beneficial for your child. The act of  researching the learning values  and careful selection of these available apps goes to show  that you an involved participant in your child's learning.

There are hundreds of thousands of apps available at Itunes. How  do we select the best apps for preschoolers in terms of its fun or educational values? This is where I would like to help...

I would like to put more than a decade of my experience as an early childhood professional by evaluating and giving you unbiased reviews of preschool kids apps available in Itunes to help you decide on their educational values and entertainment level.