:: CODING MADE INTERESTINGShapes & Puzzles by Pirate Trio is a very nice universal tangram app which allows children to create pictures of objects or animals by dragging and dropping classic geometric shapes that together make up these images.
With 180 puzzles for iPhone and more than 200 for the iPad, this app is very content-rich, and it is nice that subjects are included which may be of interest to boys who may need extra help with mini-motor skills or cognitive learning, such as big construction machines like a crane or cement mixer or fork lift, as well as helicopter, robot or dinosaur, among others.
A nice selection of animals is also available, such as turtle, peacock or penguin.
Children will enjoy having the name of the puzzles they have created narrated as well - important as some of these images are abstract and although fun, it can be hard to tell what is being created.
Typical of tangram apps such as this, the puzzle to complete is offered center screen, showing the empty spaces that need to be filled by the colorful corresponding shapes found right of the screen in a column one can scroll through. Drag and drop these colorful shapes with basic wood grain details in their correct holes, slowly filling in this image.
The number of shapes needed to complete some of the more complex puzzles is impressive, and I enjoy how one of the four main sections to choose from is dedicated to puzzles that have extra details included, such as scales on a fish or feather details that are found within the bird choices. These added elements really bring to life the objects or animals created within and are unique to this specific app - a very nice touches indeed, as is the toddler section dedicated to the teaching of these shapes, asking players to choose the correct color and shape one is being asked about.
I do not understand the organization of the other two puzzle sections available, however, as the differences between the puzzles included within each are unclear.
Personally, I would have liked to see these puzzles arranged by the number of pieces, as these puzzles can be at times impressively involved. Players or adults may want to search for simpler puzzles as well, and arranging by the number of pieces would simplify this search.
Another nice area of this app is a list of puzzles that gets checked off when completed. I enjoy perusing this list, but it would be nice if a "tap" on a favorite word would bring players straight to their choice.
This is a good application for those looking for a tangram puzzle, especially with the addition of the creative details that bring some of these puzzles to life. With 180 to 200+ puzzles depending on the device being used, this app will keep kids entertained for a long time.
Love to Count by Pirate Trio is a really cute and super-fun universal math app that my son really enjoys.
Love to Count by Pirate Trio has a fun pirate theme that grabbed my son's attention right off the bat as he found this app himself, looking within my folder of apps to be reviewed. Seeing the image of a boy wearing a pirate hat had him asking to play this game with great enthusiasm.
This app boasts 700 math tasks, and I really appreciate how addictive this app is to my son, as he answers these questions and goes on to the next page again and again, engrossed in play, but also realizing that he is practicing mathematics. It is also nice that more than one child can use this app without altering one's data, as parents can keep tabs on children's progress here if they so wish. A reward system is also included where kids can ultimately chose a virtual prize for their hard work and correct answers.
The look of this app is very cute indeed, with bright colors and settings such as a pirate ship, beach front, and ocean, all keeping within this pirate theme. This app is very interactive, asking children to do anything from basic counting and subtracting, to the concepts of fractions by having the player choose food stuff like an orange or watermelon that can be shared among a specific number of children, or by evening out a scale with the correct use of weights.
Many math games allow the player to just tap the correct answer from multiple choices at the bottom of the screen, and some of these questions involving basic addition work this way as well, but this app also allows for a more immersive experience that keeps my son coming back for more. Be it dragging stars onto a fish's back, adding weights to a scale in the interest of balancing, or sequencing dominos correctly, there is a lot of interactivity that is not seem in many apps such as this.
I think it is nice that although my boy can answer many of these questions correctly on his own, he needs some help with others as some of these concepts are new to him, such as "second-from-the-right," as he is looking for a specific child or object to tap, and we have begun to work on the correct placement of the numbers missing from an analogue clock as well.
It is a good choice that for more sophisticated questions, children must tap a “done” button, giving them time to work out the correct answer without worry that the first answer they may touch is used as the final answer, i.e., such as working to even out a scale with the use of weights. I like that players can try again at their own speed to find the correct answer, but a hint button may also be nice for when kids are stuck on a section more involved that a multiple choice question that could be answered by the process of elimination.
As of now, these mini-games are random within this app, which I think my son finds exciting, but I think that it would be nice to select a specific section like addition or subtraction, or by skill level as this app ranges from basic number sequencing to more challenging concepts like fractions, and I can see some kids wanting to focus on the more advanced questions - or not - depending on math ability.
So far, my son has shown an early affinity for math, and I do give credit to the early use of educational apps such as this. If one is looking for a really cute and fun app to teach about mathematics, or simply have a child who loves pirates, this would be a very nice choice.
