| iDev2.com (all apps) |
| Animal Farm (Age 2+) | |||||||||||
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| Animal Farm LITE (Age 2+) | |||||||||||
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I was looking for applications that had pictures of animals and the sounds they made, and found this application — Animal Farm. (See also “I Hear Ewe”.) I started with the Lite version (10 animals) then purchased the full version (42 animals).
Personally I am happy to buy apps once I can see they are of decent quality, especially given how cheap most such applications are. I find lite applications that don’t show off the full functionality are much less useful. In the case of Animal Farm, having 10 animals did show of the functionality well, making me happy to upgrade to the full version with more animals.
It was also interesting that I think big-T (almost 3) found it easier starting with the lite version as he could memorize and master the application well, then have a second level of challenge with the upgraded version with more images.
The Application
Shows photos of animals (10 in lite version, 42 in full version). In quiz mode given a sound clip you have to guess the animal. In guide mode you can pick an animal by name then play the sound.
The Good
- Pretty nice, intuitive interface. Sensible animations.
- After 10 correct answers in a row a little trophy came up.
- The sound clips don’t require English skills. Success plays a clapping or cheers sound (as well as showing a green tick), while wrong answers play a “game show” like failure sound (as well as showing a red cross).
- Having the upgrade path to 42 images after mastering the first 10 helped learning the application. Having stages of progression (keeping it easy to start with, making it more complex once skills had been gained) help make the game more enjoyable for big-T.
The Bad
- The home page to pick between quiz and guide mode could be cleaned up a bit. Big-T did not understand the language choices (but quickly learned to ignore them), and also did not understand the quiz versus guide buttons from the images (but learned to remember which was which).
- In the lite version, the “guide” mode shows a list of names in a “contacts list” like view. You have to be able to read to pick the animal. The full version on the other hand shows a thumbnail image as well as the name, which is much more useful for little ones who cannot read well yet.
Educational Value
Shows realistic pictures of animals (10 in lite version, 42 in full version). In quiz mode given a sound clip you have to guess the animal. In guide mode you can pick the animal then play the sound. Also shows the spelling on the animal. So real educational value.
My Score
4 stars. The only reason I did not give it a score of 4.5 was the home page images and the list of animal names. This might be a bit harsh. Big-T likes the game and it soon became apparent that the 10 images in the lite version ran out of challenge pretty quickly — so having the full version then available was great and an easy buy.
Another animal sounds app is “I Hear Ewe” which I have also reviewed. I Hear Ewe has cartoon images and does not have a quiz mode as such. The added complexity of “Animal Farm” has its benefits, but does leave it open for more criticism as well.
Get it in iTunes
More information, screen shots, and user reviews can be found in the iTunes store.
Other Suggestions
- Animals: Elephant Song, I Hear Ewe – Animal Sounds for Toddlers, Peekaboo Barn, Preschool Adventure, I See Ewe – Animal Sounds for Toddlers, Clara
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