Henry’s Spooky Headlamp Review

Henry’s Spooky Headlamp is a nice universal interactive game for toddlers where players drag their finger around a darkened screen, as this movement will move a spotlight around the page as if coming from main character Henry’s flashlight. Use this light to search the page for the items seen at the top right of the screen.

Suspenseful music also included, effective in creating a mood appropriate for Halloween, but it is nice that the items one is looking for, such as a candle, scarecrow or jack-o-lantern are not scary, keeping this app appropriate for the toddlers and early preschoolers who will enjoy this app.

I also appreciate the muscle control this app strengthens, as I can remember my son having a difficult time with apps such as this until coming into his own in terms of fine motor skills.

Henry’s Spooky Headlamp can be used to test memory skills as players may have remembered seeing a hidden object they are not looking for, allowing parents to encourage children to remember where instead of blindly searching the page.

Nine player icons are available to choose from, as working as the same icon will bring users to the same page to choose jack-o-lantern details they as they can use to decorate a pumpkin, one element each time the game is successfully complete. Children can also save their jack-o-lantern to their camera roll.

I do like the chance to separate players' work, but I would prefer to see this page hidden for parents to choose the levels and defaulting on to a single player, as children may have a hard time remembering their icon and because of this, the decorative pieces they have earned will not be waiting for them on the Jack-o-lantern page. I also think that these icons, such as “carrot,” “fish,” or “spaceship” can lead players to believe that these are different themes instead of icons to label a player's section.

Having said this, Henry’s Spooky Headlamp is a cute app for toddlers or older children still learning this skill in terms of the dexterity needed to drag their finger around the screen, especially as they need to keep their finger on an object for a long pause for the items to register.

Henry’s Spooky Headlamp is part of a series of Henry Headlamp apps. If interested, please look for them in iTunes.