When evaluating an app for kids, I look for two elements; first, can my child use the app by themselves, and second, is there a fun way my child and I play with the app together. My Little Pony: Twilight Sparkle, Teacher for a Day from Ruckus Media and Hasbro gets a big “yes” on both counts.
My Little Pony: Twilight Sparkle, Teacher for a Day is primarily a storybook with two reading modes. In the “read to me” mode, the app reads the story and highlights the words in red as the narration progresses. At certain points there are activities for your child to engage in such as tilting the device to move Twilight Sparkle to the next stage, and an activity that requires them to “find the differences” in two images. There are also brief videos to watch. In the read to me mode, my daughter was able to engage with the app all by herself and enjoyed it very much.
In the other mode, the parent can read the story. But what made this a lot of fun was you can record your voice as you read with each frame. Much of my reading was interspersed with sounds of my daughter giggling, which made her laugh out loud when we played it back. The shared element of the app was fun for both of us.
The story is what you’d expect from Hasbro and My little Pony. Twilight Sparkle has to teach a history lesson about Equestria, and the story teaches your children about the importance of getting along and the value of friendships…all good lessons.
It’s easy for us to heartily recommend this app from Macaroni Kid friend and sponsor Ruckus Media. The app is available for $0.99 via iTunes http://linktrack.info/.2amm for iPhones, iPads and the iPod touch.
