Art Stories World Food App Review
App Info
Price: $0.99
Overview
MUBApp is the first in a series of planned offerings from the Children’s Museum of Milan that invite users to play and learn experientially in much the same manner as they are encouraged to in the Museum’s on-site exhibits. It includes a section about foods around the world and one on the history of the building that houses the Museum.
Features include:
- Includes cuisine and table service from 8 countries
- Includes a “create your own” meal option
- Includes three time periods from the Rotunda’s history
- Engaging animations and sound effects
- Opportunities for creative and imaginative play
Quality
MUBApp is a high-quality app that is easy to use and intuitive. It is designed for free play and exploration in an effort to mimic exhibits at the Children’s Museum of Milan. The app is responsive and easy to explore. It is also very open-ended, providing endless opportunities for play and story-telling.
Education
MUBApp has two distinct sections. The first shows users the history of the site of the Children’s Museum of Milan. Each scene represents one of three time periods and has illustrations, animations and sound effects to match. During one period, the area was a cemetery and in another, a stable. Users will enjoy the interactions hidden around the scenes.
The second section is much larger and is designed to help users learn about foods from around the world. Eight different countries are represented. Play begins by having the user drag a picture of a typical food to the correct country and flag. Incorrect matches snap back into the menu of choices. Once a correct match is made, the screen opens to a table from that culture. An array of foods from many countries is displayed at the bottom of the screen and users are challenged to choose the foods from the country and “set the table” with the proper utensils. The app includes a recipe or two from each cuisine, though these are in metric units and might prove a bit challenging for American families.
The foods section of the app also includes a “my table” selection, where players can mix and match foods from many countries. The activities included are great opportunities to elicit language and story-telling. There is a bit of a missed opportunity when the developers did not include an audio version of each food’s name, however. As it stands, children are likely to place foods randomly until one “sticks,” but they will not have a chance to learn about many of the dishes’ names.
Entertainment
MUBApp encourages young children to learn through exploration. Simply experimenting with the various illustrations will allow users to find new and intriguing animations and sound effects, and there are a LOT of things to find, especially in the Rotunda section of the app.
The Foods section might get a bit frustrating if children are not already familiar with at least some foreign dishes. There are a lot of foods to try placing on the table at random before finding the ones that match with the chosen country. The activity is also a bit repetitive for sheer fun. I believe many children will tire of the process long before they’ve tried to set the table for all eight countries.
Value
MUBApp is a good value for the money. It costs $2.99 in the App Store, and could be a great introduction to some aspects of other cultures. It would make a nice supplement to a geography or social studies unit about people in other countries, and also would be a good resource for children researching about far-away places.
Child Friendliness
This app is extremely child-friendly. It contains no outside links or other connections to the internet.
- Parent area (contains no external links)
- NO social media
- NO in-app purchase
- NO 3rd party ads
