• Editor Rating

  • Rated 5 stars
  • Best of the Best

  • Quality
    Editor: 100%
  • Education
    Editor: 100%
  • Entertainment
    Editor: 100%
  • Value
    Editor: 100%
  • Child Friendly
    Editor: 100%

Review Summary:

Word Wonderland Primary is one of the best games I’ve seen to help young children practice basic phonics skills. Children from 4 to 8 years of age will love it!

Overview

Word Wonderland will guide preschool through young elementary students through basic phonics skills using word sorting. Students can practice long and short vowels, blends, digraphs, r-controlled vowels, words ending with –le, dipthongs, word families and more with this engaging game.

Features include:

  • Three levels of difficulty
  • Over 15 skills available
  • Drill-down focus on specific sounds and letter groups
  • Practice mode and application mode
  • Wide variety of bonuses and surprises
  • Play methods tutorial videos
  • Voice over play directions
  • Engaging animations and sound effects
  • Option to control voice over, sound effects and music
  • Enabled for multiple players

Quality

Word Wonderland Primary is an outstanding collection of word sorting exercises that will help young readers practice beginning phonics skills. Word sorts are a proven strategy for phonics instruction and practice, and help students learn to apply phonics skills with fluency. The games are engaging and skills included are vital to early reading success, including learning to distinguish long and short vowels, work with blends and digraphs, and more.

Education

Word Wonderland Primary is an excellent way to help emergent readers practice important phonics skills. They will have fun helping the engaging frog character jump from lily pad to lily pad on his way to the end of each maze, and will be challenged by the ever-increasing array of bonuses and hidden challenges. The game starts off simply enough, but grows more challenging with greater playing time.

One of the nicest features of this app is that it is possible to zero in on practice with very specific letter groups or sounds. This makes it a perfect tool to help struggling readers!

Young students may need some adult guidance to set the game up to focus on skills they need to practice, or children could easily be given the opportunity for free play with all of the skills. The app offers numerous opportunities to sound out and read words that every student will need to become familiar with, such as short vowel constructions and words with silent final e.

Students enter their first name and last initial, and choose a “badge” to represent themselves on the opening screen. Multiple students can have active accounts. It would be nice if the program kept records of each student’s progress. This would make it much easier to use the system in classroom or special education settings.

Entertainment

Word Wonderland has hit the mark in terms of entertainment value. The animations, music and sound effects are pleasing but not overwhelming. The game begins very simply, and will be fun for the very young to explore, then gradually adds complexity to keep it engaging for older emergent readers.

Value

Word Wonderland Primary is an outstanding value at $1.99 in the App Store. Children will get a lot of practice as they help the little frog hop around the lily pads in the practice mode and as they explore the three worlds provided. The game should keep the kids entertained for hours, and all the while they will be practicing and gaining fluency with common words and sounds.

The makers of this app also have a free version with limited content if you’d like to try it out before purchasing.

Child Friendliness

This app is very child-friendly. There are no in-app purchases available, no advertising and no links to the internet for a young child to click on inadvertently. In addition, the Options section includes some outstanding tutorials to help players learn basic game features and movements. Each offers a guided opportunity to practice the skills that will be needed to play the game.

Word Wonderland Primary is one of the best games I’ve seen to help young children practice basic phonics skills. Children from 4 to 8 years of age will love it!

Editor rating
Rated 5 stars