New App Review for Pre-Schoolers: Jonty - The Dinosaur Who Could Not Go to Sleep
This is a very cute story about a lively young dinosaur that has trouble
getting to sleep at bedtime. The story is fully interactive so your child
can help to get Jonty to sleep, encouraging ‘invisible learning’ while having fun
at the same time.
My little one, who is 3 ½, loved that she could get involved in
the story and make the characters move and interact with other items on the
page. I can’t really count the times
that we’ve played it but the fact that she goes back to it over and over again,
finding new things to do each time is wonderful. She loves me to read it her as well as have
it read to her by the narrator. For her,
getting to interact with the characters on the page really brings the story to
life.
You can interact with the app in these four ways:
- Choose to have the story read to you by a narrator.
- Read it yourself. If your child gets stuck on reading a word you can tap on individual words to have them read out by the narrator.
- If you would prefer to not interact with the story at all then you can select the ‘Auto Play’ option.
- In the creative ‘Add To Story’ mode, you can drag and drop additional items onto the page, such as a rainbow or a robot. For each page, you can also record your own audio in this mode.
We used the app on an iPad Mini and my daughter finds it very easy to use and interact with. I like that even in the ‘read to
me’ mode, you can press on the words which are highlighted briefly and then
read back to you. This means my daughter
can say the word out aloud and learn to recognise it too.
The animated images are lovely and perfect for both goys and
girls. The interaction throughout the
story also helps your child with problem solving skills as they actively help Jonty to
get to sleep.
No
personal information is collected via the app and it contains no ads or in-app
purchases. This really appeals to me because I don’t
like the idea of my personal information being shared with 3rd
parties and in-app purchases really ruin game play. The fear in the back of my mind that she will
somehow learn my iTunes password and download apps and ring up a huge bill is
also put to rest.
I would
highly recommend this App for little ones who are just learning to read. It is especially good for children who don’t
like to read as it encourages them to interact in a very different way whilst
still learning new words and holding their attention at the same time. I really hope that there are a few more of
these to come as they are really lovely and are a great way of introducing the
skill of being able to read to a pre-schooler.
The App costs £2.99 and is available via the Apple App Store. An
eBook version, for Kindle fire and Apple devices is also available.
Ally x
Find
out more here:
Twitter:
https://twitter.com/JontyDinosaur
Pinterest: http://www.pinterest.com/jontydinosaur/
Note: We were sent the App free of charge for
my little one to put through it’s paces and give her views on. All opinions are our own.
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