Thank you to Super Duper Publications for providing complimentary product samples for us to base this review upon. All opinions expressed are my own.
Super Duper Publications has long been one of my favorite websites for educational children’s toys, games, and more, but now Super Duper is stepping into the technology age with their
learning apps for iOS devices. We were given three of their newest apps to try out on our iPad and we have been very pleased with them.
Webber Photo Cards 60 Story Starters is a unique app that gives kids a picture and the first sentence of a story and then lets children’s imaginations run wild with ideas. It is simple to use and really helps get creative juices flowing in just one line. Quinn, who is 6 years old, had a little difficulty at first with making up his own stories with only a picture and a line to begin with, but he quickly had fun creating his own, fun plots…complete with twists and turns.
Quinn's only complaint with this app is that it gives no “feedback” when being used. There are red and green dots to “score” the stories, but there is no response on the app for the story that is given and that irked him a bit. Of course, I just give him the feedback myself and even prompt him when his story starts to lull. All in all, he’s had a lot of fun with this and I use it in our homeschool as well for creative writing for both of my kids. This app usually retails for $1.99 on the iTunes App Store but is currently $0.99.
Super Duper StoryMaker, a winner of
The National Parenting Center Seal of Approval, is an amazingly fun app that gives kids free reign on their imaginations. This superb app gives kids the ability to use clipart, markers, text, and even pics from their camera roll to create interesting stories that they can save and even record their own voice to. This app is easy to use by touching, placing, and dragging all the elements and even pretty young children could use and have a blast with it. I cannot put into words how much Quinn loves this app. He is a creative kid anyway and this is like Photoshop that he actually can use and master. He loves creating nonsensical stories, non-fiction presentations, and even memory albums using photos on the iPad.
From the first time he opened it, Quinn has been obsessed with making stories to share with us. I love seeing him be creative and enjoy making stories with this app. This app has a free version that has limited features for trial purposes and the full version is usually $4.99 on the App Store but is currently marked down to $2.99.
Last, but certainly not least, is
WH Questions Cards Pro, another
TNPC Seal of Approval winner. This app teaches kids how to correctly ask and answer the 5 “W”s…who, what, when, where, and why. With fun games that engage and teach children, this app is a new favorite in my house and has taught Quinn so much about proper questions. This has 280 colorful illustrated picture cards with audio for non-readers along with many different play and even reveal options so it never gets boring. Quinn’s favorite is the matching game where it asks a question such as “Where do you wear your hat?” and you have to find the match (“On your head”) on the opposite side. It’s such a clever twist on traditional matching games – which Quinn loves – and it makes it all the more fun for him to play. I am really impressed with the genius of this app and am so glad it’s in our collection. Like StoryMaker, this app has a free version and the paid is $11.99 but is currently on sale for $7.99.
You can learn about all of
Super Duper Publications apps on their website,
www.superduperinc.com.
