iPad App Review - The Very Itchy Bear

~ Posted on Thursday, October 4, 2012 at 10:52 AM ~

I knew I had to review this app when I saw the video trailer of it showing a bear being bitten by a flea, rolling on the ground, scratching its body trying to get rid of the flea. My first thought was my 3 years old boy is going to have fun watching this. Anyway, my review as below...

I'm a full-time mummy

* Title: The Very Itchy Bear
* Price: $5.49
* Category: Books
* Updated: Sept 11, 2012
* Version: 1.1
* Size: 70.9 MB
* Language: English
* Seller: We Are Wheelbarrow PTY LTD
* Rated: 4+
* Requirements: Compatible with iPhone 3GS, iPhone 4, iPhone 4S, iPhone 5, iPod touch (3rd generation), iPod touch (4th generation), iPod touch (5th generation) and iPad. Requires iOS 4.3 or later.

Description from the product page:

"Bear is back again and - uh oh! He's STILL cranky!
In the third book of the beloved Bear series, Flea tries to say "Hello" by biting Bear high and low...

 'Itchy Bear' is another fun & humorous book for young readers by authour/illustrator Nick Bland. This is the third app Bear stars in - Nick's books 'The Very Cranky Bear' & 'The Very Hungry Bear' have already been adapted to popular apps for the ipad,iphone and ipod touch! Even so, Bear hasn't let stardom go to his head - he is just as lovably gruff as ever. A character that is truly bought alive by voice acting from the equally loveable Australian actor, Angus Sampson."

I'm a full-time mummy

What's good?

* It is very engaging and I love that we can also touch the objects in each page on the screen and be amazed at the cute animation that appears!

* I could tell that my 3 years old boy is enjoying the animation effects where we can zoom in and out to look at the flea. I also used the opportunity here to teach my boy on sizes comparison (big and small) and what a flea does.

* I like the storyline where it tells how the Bear trying to get rid of the flea that bit its body and then realises he's all alone and what the bear did to be with the flea together in the end.

* There are some pages which got Ben's attention and reactions such as the page where the Bear swam and swam and swam to rescue the flea. I think this is partly because we have been going to our health club and Ben loves swimming in the club's swimming pool so I think he finds it cute and he can relate himself to the Bear when it swam.

Room for Improvement?

* I would prefer if the flower looks nicer. The one shown below actually creeps me out the first time (when I accidentally touched it without realising it's a flower!). The red flower looks like an alien's head!

* I noticed that the paging is a bit slow, as in when we turned to the next page, it takes a few seconds before we can go to the next page.

* I also think the price of the app at $5.49 is a bit too pricey.

I'm a full-time mummy

You can purchase the "The Very Itchy Bear" app from the iTunes App Store.

I'm a full-time mummy

I received no monetary compensation for this review, I was provided with the promo code to redeem the application for free from iTunes Store in order to facilitate my review. All opinions expressed in this post are my own. Please do your own research when purchasing products, as your opinions may differ from mine. And if you'd like to read my previous iPad Apps reviews, you can do so by reading this post of mine called "My iPad App Reviews"

I'm a full-time mummy

iPad App Review - This Is My Body (Anatomy For Kids)

~ Posted on Thursday, September 13, 2012 at 12:00 PM ~

I was really really excited to be able to review this app! My 3 years old boy is very much into skeleton stuff at the moment and I know I just had to review this app with him when I saw the review pitch of this app with the icon of half a child and half a skeleton figure! And yes, this app does not disappoint, in fact, we love it so much that I started recommending it to other friends of mine! Anyway, my review as below...

I'm a full-time mummy

This Is My Body Anatomy For Kids

* Title: This Is My Body (Anatomy For Kids)
* Price: $1.99
* Category: Education
* Released: Apr 21, 2012
* Version: 1.0
* Size: 38.5 MB
* Language: English
* Seller: urbn; pockets
* Rated: 4+
* Requirements: Compatible with iPad.Requires iOS 5.0 or later.

Description from the product page:

"Created by a team of medical doctors, educators and parents "This is my body - Anatomy for kids" features informations about all important aspects of the human body – all within in a beautifully designed and illustrated app! The main areas your child will discover and learn about:
* You are unique and yet we are all very similar to each other
* Growing - how fast do we grow and how long
* The skin - and how to protect it
* Senses - how do we see, hear, feel, taste and smell
* Digestive system - why are we hungry
* Respiratory system - your body needs oxygen constantly
* Circular system - your heart beats constantly
* Muscular system - exercise is good for you
* Nervous system - how are informations transmitted
* Skeleton - how do bones look like and why do you need joints

 This is my body - Anatomy for kids follows a playful yet working learning methodology that entertains children while learning."

I'm a full-time mummy

What's good?

* I really, really love this engaging and interactive app! To be honest, I learned new stuff when I go through this app with my 3 years old boy!

* Firstly, kudos to the app developer for putting in the options for us users to select the gender of the child as honestly, I feel that my child relates himself to the character more if it is the same gender as him, so it is no surprise that my boy chose the boy character (with the blue shirt which is his favorite color at the moment)

This Is My Body Anatomy For Kids

* Another awesome thing to note is that we can adjust the setting of the app whether to show the child figure in the app wearing underpants or not as according to the app, there are parents who are not comfortable with letting their child see the genitals of the character. I for one, am very happy to be able to turn off this setting as I do want my child to learn and be exposed to learning this. Please don't get me wrong, my opinion is I would want my child to be comfortable with his own body.

This Is My Body Anatomy For Kids

* There are about 9 topics to be covered in this app, among our favorites are the senses, heartbeat, nervous system and skeleton topics.

This Is My Body Anatomy For Kids

* There are some pages which I also used the opportunity to teach my boy about manners, such as wiping his nose when he sneezes (or when he has runny nose) 

This Is My Body Anatomy For Kids

* I was actually surprised to see my 3 years old boy nodding, listening and watching intensely as I explained to him how the food we ate and what we drink goes through our mouth, throat, body and so on. At the sight of this, I did get excited about the future plans in our learning lessons! So so so much potential and many more things to learn!

This Is My Body Anatomy For Kids

* My boy's favorite part of this app has got to be the skeleton puzzle game! I am surprised he can actually matched some of the bones structures correctly as I was only explaining to him about our skulls and bones in general prior to this!

Other Things to Note:

* It actually took me a while to figure out how to change the settings for the child figure's underpants - was looking for the setting all over the app until I remembered there is another setting on the iPad screen outside the app.

* I also have a bit difficulty reading the cursive style of text info on the pages so perhaps the developer can look into making the text easier to read?

I'm a full-time mummy

You can purchase the "This Is My Body (Anatomy For Kids)  " app from the iTunes App Store.

I'm a full-time mummy

I received no monetary compensation for this review, I was provided with the promo code to redeem the application for free from iTunes Store in order to facilitate my review. All opinions expressed in this post are my own. Please do your own research when purchasing products, as your opinions may differ from mine. And if you'd like to read my previous iPad Apps reviews, you can do so by reading this post of mine called "My iPad App Reviews"

I'm a full-time mummy

Miniature World...

~ Posted on Wednesday, September 12, 2012 at 7:15 AM ~

My 3 years old boy loves looking at miniature models. Whether it is houses, malls or other buildings, as long as they are tiny and small, he's all eyes over it! He can just stand there looking and looking and yelling out what he sees in the models.

Whenever we go to this mall near our house, he will surely tug our hands asking to be brought to the showroom unit in the mall. There are a bunch of housing and mall projects developed by the same developer that built the shopping mall we went to. So this showroom has a bunch of models of condominiums, bungalows, shopping malls etc.

I too love looking at miniature stuff like this, imagining tiny little humans living in those small little houses, cruising in the small little cars on the roads, tunnels, etc.

I remembered when I was about 12-13 years old, I got my dad to buy me this bunch of tiny fishes and I actually arranged and stacked some rocks and pebbles, put them nicely in an ice cream container that I have. I'd make bridges, paths and filled them up with water and put the fishes in. Then I'd sit there watching at the fishes swim around as if I'm the mayor of the fish city hahaha...

I guess my boy might have inherited my habit. We'll see if he ever gets to the fish part one day! It might make a pretty interesting activity / hobby!