Tino the Triangle – Peekaboo App Review
App Info
Price: Free
Overview
Children will love following Tino the Triangle on his adventures. As he travels around, Tino meets up with other shapes and finds himself a part of many different animals. Young children will learn all about triangles and the different ways they appear in the world as they read this colorful interactive picture book. As the story is read, children are also introduced to new words and gain the opportunity to build their beginning reading skills.
This interactive picture book is more than a cute, colorful story. It is a learning opportunity. Not only can children learn about triangles and other shapes, they are also introduced to animals and the idea of making predictions. As they click from page to page, they hear new animal sounds and have the opportunity to guess which triangle Tino will be a part of next.
Features include:
- Autoplay Feature
- Multiple Languages
- Interactive Images
Quality
Tino the Triangle is a high-quality app. Children will love the graphics with their bright primary colors and will have no trouble spotting the bright yellow Tino as he travels across the pages. When autoplay is turned on, pages are read the minute children turn to them and they are a read at an ideal speed for beginning readers. However, the page immediately turns when children tap on Tino, so if they click too soon, they could miss the text on a page.
Education
The story of Tino the Triangle is designed to teach children all about triangles. Each page introduces a different aspect of Tino’s shape. Children may see a triangle as part of a crocodile’s teeth, a bird’s beak or a turtle’s tail. As Tino becomes part of a new animal, children are also introduced to the sounds the animals make. In fact, children hear the animal sounds before they see the animal, giving them a chance to practice their inference skills by trying to guess which animal Tino will encounter next.
Entertainment
While the story is cute and children can see Tino encounter many different animals, the app could be a bit more entertaining. The app has some interactive elements, but on many of the pages the animals do not do much more than wiggle a little. If they walked, talked or moved across the page when children tapped on them the app would be a lot more entertaining.
Value
An initial version of the app is free, so children can read a few pages before deciding if they want to purchase the full story. The price is low enough that it makes Tino the Triangle worth adding to an interactive picture book collection. Even if a child is not interested in the first few pages, the full book may be worth purchasing because many of the more interactive pages and more entertaining elements of the app are found in the paid version of the book.
Child Friendliness
When children first open the app they are shown instructions for how to use the app. Even if they miss the instructions screen, the app is easy to navigate. It is also largely free from ads and other distractions. However, in the top right hand corner of the main page children will find a button advertising one of the app developer’s other books. Kids may be enticed to click on the picture of the king and could end up out of the app and in the iTunes store.