Review by Debbie Gorrell, Common Sense Education | Updated October 2014

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Awesome Eats

Name: Awesome Eats
Item: Awesome Eats
Rating: 3
Author: Debbie Gorrell

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Pop-up tips, fun game give solid info about healthy foods and eating

Subjects & skills

Grades This grade range is a recommendation by Common Sense Education and not the developer/publisher.

K–5

Common Sense says (See details)

Teachers say (1 Review)

Take a look inside

4 images

On-screen directions help kids with new levels.

Helpful tips and information is provided after each level.

Kids drag to sort and stack healthy foods into bins.

Pros: Kids are exposed to a range of healthy foods and tips for a well-balanced diet.

Cons: The game does not directly teach kids about healthy eating, and the tips are not narrated.

Bottom Line: An amusing way for kids to explore healthy eating habits; it would work even better if pop-up tips were better integrated into gameplay.

How Can I Teach with This Tool?

The game could work well as an introduction to a unit about health or nutrition. Have kids play the game in pairs, challenging them to finish as many levels as possible in a given amount of time. Then discuss which foods they worked with and make a class list, categorizing each food as a fruit, vegetable, or grain. Allow kids to continue playing the game throughout the unit as time allows.

What Is It?

Awesome Eats is a game that introduces kids to healthy foods and eating habits. Kids learn to sort and pack foods that move down the screen on conveyor belts. They have to swipe the screen to move fruits, vegetables, and grains to the correct belt. The foods will then drop into a bin, and kids earn points for sorting the items correctly. As the game progresses, kids encounter obstacles such as dishes that block foods from being placed on the belts and birds that peck away at the foods. Kids are also challenged to stack and plate foods and to recycle items after meals. Healthy eating tips appear on the screen in between levels, which is how most of the content is presented.

Is It Good for Learning?

Most kids will have great fun sorting and packing the foods as they quickly move down the conveyor belts. Dragging fruits, vegetables, and whole grains into bins undoubtedly exposes kids to healthy foods, which is always a good thing. However, it's unlikely that kids will learn a lot through direct gameplay. Healthy eating tips and nutritional information are regularly given in between levels, but kids have to take the initiative to actually read the screen. Younger kids would benefit if these tips were narrated. An assessment that offers bonus points could help bridge the gap between gameplay and concrete learning. But, with more than 60 levels and loads of fun characters, kids will likely enjoy their virtual experience with healthful living.

Rating Details

Overall Rating

Engagement Is the product stimulating, entertaining, and engrossing? Will kids want to return?

Sorting and packing the foods is highly interactive, and as the pace quickens, the game becomes somewhat addictive.

Pedagogy Is learning content seamlessly baked-in, and do kids build conceptual understanding? Is the product adaptable and empowering? Will skills transfer?

It's great that kids are exposed to healthy foods, but the game doesn't progress beyond sorting food into bins. Kids learn mostly by reading on-screen text.

Support Does the product take into account learners of varying abilities, skill levels, and learning styles? Does it address both struggling and advanced students?

Tutorial screens walk kids through the basics. The developers have a website with healthy recipes, coloring pages, and more.

Common Sense Reviewer

Debbie Gorrell Educator

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Featured review by
Kris E. , Other

Other

Fun game to sort fruits and vegetables and learn about health and nutrition.

This app isn't much of a teaching tool. I liked that it might expose kids to some vegetables they may not be familiar with. It's fun, it teaches swiping for younger kids, but could be frustrated with some levels, as even I had a difficult time understanding how a few of them worked.

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