Denis’s Adventures-Animals Puzzle

[appimg 767454750]

App Info

Price: [app 767454750] {price}

AppStore User Rating: {stars}[/app]

Overview

Denis’s Adventures-Animals Puzzle offers 8 simple jigsaw puzzles for the very young in the first level, with additional puzzle sets available for purchase.  Users can choose puzzles and play each on three different levels.  Once an animal puzzle is completed, there is a narrated information page that offers facts about the animal.

Features include:

• Eight farm animal puzzles in the first level
• Complexity range from four to sixteen pieces
• Three levels of difficulty
• Encouraging sound effects and correction prompts
• Achievement wall

Quality

Denis’ Adventures-Animals Puzzle is a fun app that young puzzle fans will undoubtedly enjoy.  The narrated facts pages that follow each puzzle are a nice touch to satisfy a young child’s quest for knowledge.  The app is easy to use, so children will have no trouble sliding pieces into place and adults will have no problems with finding the options and level controls.

Education

The puzzles are nicely designed, with large, easy-to-manipulate pieces that are different for different pictures.  The pieces snap into place when their position is approximated, which will be highly encouraging for the very young.  It’s also very nice to be able to control the complexity of the puzzles.  Four piece puzzles work well for beginners, but older preschoolers will appreciate the challenge of eight or sixteen pieces.  This feature also means the app can grow with your child, which is always a plus.  Your child will truly benefit from the eye-hand coordination and visual closure skills that are the focus of the app.

While the concept of a narrated facts page is outstanding, this feature could use a bit of work.  “Some of the vocabulary used is well beyond the preschool level, such as words like “habitat” and “herbaceous”.  These words are great to teach to youngsters, but they should be more clearly explained in the text, or the test should be structured so that it begins at a preschool level, then becomes more complex.  The voiced narration does not always match the printed words.  Furthermore, there are grammar errors in the printed selections.  While this might not seem too relevant for preschoolers, it really can disrupt the formation of correspondence that helps children understand the connection between spoken and printed words.  Even the youngest children are forming foundations for later reading skills, and some have progressed to the point that they recognize words well before kindergarten.  For this reason, it would be worthwhile for the app developers to consider making the text and voice over more accurate.

Another concern is that the explanation for pigs is applicable to wild hogs more so than their more familiar farm animal brethren.  Most young children, at least in the United States, will not realize that wild hogs are different creatures than the farm animal that goes “oink.”  It seems very strange that the rest of the farm animal collection is on target with the selected facts, but that this animal is so far from the norms.

Entertainment

This app is quite entertaining for the target age group of ages one to six.  Little children will adore the cartoon animal drawings and will have a lot of fun honing their fine motor skills as they slide pieces into place.  As noted before, the app will grow as the child does, and extra puzzles are available for purchase (three other themes with eight animals each).  A fun touch on the home screen is that users can throw snowballs at the animals and the character by touching them.  I wish the app had a few more animations of this nature; that would really extend its entertainment value.

One drawback to the app, however, is the background music.  The music repeats several bars and then starts again, but it cuts off mid-measure to begin its next cycle, which could drive most musicians crazy.  It can be turned off if need be, and only plays while the opening screen is displayed.

Value

Denis’s Adventures-Animals Puzzle is a great value for young children.  It offers wonderful eye-hand coordination practice and visual closure skills (the ability to see part of an object and figure out how it fits into the whole).  It also will satisfy most children’s continual thirst for knowledge with the fact sheets that follow each puzzle.

Child Friendliness

This app is mostly child friendly.  Young children can access the options screen, which contains a “restore purchase” button that requires sign in to the App Store.  This should perhaps be a little harder to get to.  The main Parents’ Section is well-protected by a requirement to read and follow directions to touch random shapes for two seconds.  Inside the Parents’ Section, there are connections to the internet, social media and the App Store.