Smash Your Food HD

Kids playing with their food is a natural part of childhood; one that they thankfully outgrow. Who wouldn’t have fun squashing a jelly-filled donut until the jelly comes oozing out into a gross and disgusting mess; unless you are the one having to clean it up!

Have no fear Moms and Dads! Smash Your Food provides a fun, mess-free way for kids to continue that learning process, only this time the focus is on nutrition. Winner of Michelle Obama’s Apps for Healthy Kids Contest, Smash Your Food enables kids to not only learn about nutrition, but to watch their favorite foods be squished, squashed and smashed so that it oozes all over. I’m not sure which is more disgusting, watching or hearing the food as it is smashed. Disgusting as it may be, it’s addicting; neither your kids nor you will be able to put the app down.

Smash your food is a multiuser app and allows for up to six users. Players enter their age, gender and level of activity. The app will then display what their maximum levels of consumption should be for sugar, salt and oil per meal. For example: a 32 year-old female, who is moderately active, could consume 4 sugars, 2 salts and 4 oils. One sugar cube is equal to 4 grams, one shake of salt is equal to 288 mg, and 1 teaspoon of oil is equal to 4 grams.

You can use the equivalencies to help you play the game, or you can just guess. The object of the game is to enter how much sugar, salt and oil is in each of the single foods or meal shown. The game contains five levels of single foods or meals, about 40 foods; collect stars to unlock the next level and crazy foods.

My kids have been playing with this app for a few months now and it remains a favorite of theirs. It is one app I do not dare remove from the iPad. While they do love watching the food ooze, it is obvious that they have become more aware of how unhealthy burgers and fries, donuts, milkshakes and other foods can be when not eaten in moderation or in combination with exercise. Smash Your Food helps reiterate what we have been telling them all along.

This app does not contain social media buttons, in-app purchases or ads; however, it does contain external links that you may want to warn your young users about. If kids press the buttons they will exit the app. Ideally, the developers would place these links in the “For Parents” section.

Smash Your Food is an iPad only app. A free version is available in iTunes.

Bottom line

It’s not often that you can consider watching food ooze as educational or entertainment, with Smash Your Food it is both.

The basic premise is simple… but fun and engaging for kids. Take commonly eaten foods that kids love, stick it in the virtual machine…. and SMASH it. (After first guessing how much sugar, salt and oil are in it). Adults also get a kick out of watching a soda can explode or hamburger get demolished by a massive piston. (this is not animation… each of these items were actually put into a giant smashing machine and pulverized – check out the ‘making of’ video below). The gamification of the app with stars for good guesses, advancement through levels with new food and special “Crazy Foods” to smash like a stack of five jelly donuts helps keep kids engaged and playing, while on the back end parents get customized emails with information on healthy eating tips for their children matched to their age range and activity level.

“Eat what you wish, but you are what you squish!”

Regular Price: 2.99