Review of Ipad Apps: games

Friday, July 11, 2014

Multi-Tasking and Prioritizing Challenges

Multi-tasking apps, as I call them, are those that require you to control a variety of items or events at the same time. For students, each app helps them understand that they need to prioritize tasks in order to successfully complete each challenge. My daughter who is 6 also learned a valuable lesson as she said, "Mom, now I know what you mean. It's just like diner dash. I can't help all of the people at the same time." This lesson for her has been very helpful for me. "Remember when you play the waitress game? I can only help one of you at a time." :) I will say that younger kids don't always do well in this game because they so they don't care if the cars crash or if the people get mad. This is a good time to talk to kids about how they react when their mom or dad isn't able to help them right away. It is a test in patience and the life skill of serving others.

Airport Madness Challenge (AMC): As the person who has to direct planes in and out of the airport, things can get stressful making sure planes don't crash.

Traffic Rush: When the app first came out, it ranked high in the app store. Today it is still a favorite as 2,190 people have ranked the game for an average rating of 4.5 stars. Your challenge is to direct the traffic by changing the speed of the cars traveling through the intersection so they don't crash into one another. An addition to the original game is Railway. Same concept except that you get to direct trains. Railway also allows you to get extra points by tapping on the bushes and catching the gophers.

Dinner Dash is one of many games require you to "dash" in order to get all tasks done in time. As mentioned above, I like these apps because it gives kids some idea of what the real work world is like. In this game, you are a waitress trying to sit your customers, take their orders, bring out the food, and clean the tables all while working to keep the customers happy. Other apps like this one include: wedding dash, spongebob diner dash, cooking dash, and hotel dash. A younger version of this is Dr. Panda as you need to serve animals that come into the hospital

Thursday, July 10, 2014

Challenge Apps Kids Love

One Touch Draw: Try to draw the shape without lifting your finger and by only tracing each line once. Kids find each puzzle a fun challenge and rewarding as they continue to move up levels. This app is always a favorite and not one many have tried before.

Smash Hit

Smash Hit: This has indeed been a hit for many of my students this year. The objective of the game is to throw use balls with a flick of your finger in a 3D world to smash objects. From those who have spent many hours playing the app, I hear you can run out of marbles and there are different ways to score points. This has been a popular game this season but I don't think I would consider it to require much thought. While there is some strategy, I find the app to be mostly a fun game in your spare time.