Sid's Science Fair app for iPhone and iPad
Developer: PBS KIDS
First release : 17 Sep 2011
App size: 47.59 Mb
*Editors Choice Award Winner from Childrens Technology Review*
Sid’s Science Fair engages players (ages 3 to 6) in experiential learning with core science and math concepts from classification and identifying patterns to charting and sequencing. Emcee’d by Sid, from the hit series SID THE SCIENCE KID, the app presents three absolutely addictive Science Fair games specially crafted for your curious early learner(s):
GABRIELA’S “COLLECTION INSPECTION”
Use your interactive magnifying glass to discover fascinating patterns among a wide variety of objects, from butterflies and buttons to keys and coins. Gabriela has fourteen different collections to inspect—and different patterns every time—so this game offers many hours of repeat play!
MAY’S “CHART IT!”
Think statistics are boring? No, no, no. Not with May and her awesome “Chart It!” game. Players organize her miniature stuffed animals, balloon creatures, origami, silly faces, and other cool stuff on a chart by observing shared traits. These traits can include color, shape, orientation, and more. May has seven different collections, each of which has ten items and three charts.
GERALD’S “TIME MACHINE”
Get ready to travel through time! Or, rather, to make Gerald’s amazing pictures travel through time… First, choose from among his fourteen picture collections. Then order the pictures into a sequence, such as a snowman melting, candles burning down, a flower growing, or an apple being eaten. Once your sequence is in order (forwards or backwards in time both work!), you can swipe back and forth or tilt your device left or right to watch the time machine in action. But beware! Time machines can have unexpected results…
ABOUT THE APP
Sid’s Science Fair from PBS KIDS was developed by Carstens Studios in partnership with PBS and the Jim Henson Company, the producers of the groundbreaking TV series SID THE SCIENCE KID. The series, which airs weekdays on PBS KIDS, uses comedy to promote exploration, discovery and science readiness among early learners. Find all things Sid, including videos, songs, games, and activities, at http://pbskids.org/sid.
Latest reviews of Sid's Science Fair app for iPhone and iPad
Very well thought out and entertaining. Learning should be fun!! My 4 year old really enjoys this app.
Not very challenging after five minutes!
This app is fun and interactive. But, this app is not in HD which makes it a bit less clear. Also, the mini games can get very boring and repetitive. In next update it would be AWESOME if you could change its picture quality to HD, and add more options or maybe even more mini games.
Have no sound from initial install. Not happy as have tried reinstalling and hard reset. No change, wasted money
Excellent! This is the first app I have seen that encourages curious preschool kids to think like scientists. They can explore details of common objects (leaves, pasta, toys…), categorize and count things with a chart that they build themselves, and observe visually interesting changes (plants grow, volcanoes erupt, ice melts…) or laugh at them in reverse using the “time machine” (plant shrinks back into a seed). All three games pose challenges and provide feedback for correct answers (arrange photos in proper sequence to show ice melting), while also letting kids play at their own pace, and explore in their own way. The games could go further in their support of scientific thinking, for example, by guiding players to identify which chart category has "more" or "less", or to think about which changes are reversible and which are not in real life. Kids do learn some scientific terms like “compare and contrast data” but most of the value of this app is in the way that it lets them play the role of a scientist who wonders about the world and makes new discoveries. Many of the activities involve common objects that parents could find around the house to extend the activities off-screen.