Frogs and Fireflies

“Frogs and Fireflies” is a clever new app that teaches the concepts of color theory and color mixing. The goal of the game is to combine fireflies of different colors to create fireflies that match the color of the frogs (frogs eat fireflies that match their color). To illustrate, you can join a yellow and blue firefly to make a green firefly; the green frog eats the green firefly, then hops away to make space on the lily pad for a new frog. The lily pads are continually repopulated as the timer ticks away. As you feed each hungry frog, you’re awarded with points and extra time. “Frogs and Fireflies” is a well-made app that is nicely-illustrated and formatted, and has great sound effects. What’s especially unique about this game is that it teaches children that by mixing primary colors (yellow, red, blue) you can make secondary colors (green, purple, orange). I’d love to see future versions of this app include an explanation of the color wheel to provide more foundation for the lessons taught in the game. Keep in mind, the game concept might be too complex for very young children, but kids age 5 and older will likely hold your iPhone hostage playing it.