App review by Debbie Gorrell, Common Sense Education | Updated June 2015
Imagination Playground 3D Builder
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Imagination Playground 3D Builder

Open play encourages budding engineers; touch features may frustrate

Get it now
  • Download from App Store
Learning rating
Editorial review by Common Sense Education
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Grades
1–5 This grade range is based on learning appropriateness and doesn't take into account privacy. It's determined by Common Sense Education, not the product's publisher.
Subjects & Skills
Science, Creativity
Great for
Game-Based Learning
Price:  Free
Platforms:  iPad, iPhone, iPod Touch
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Take a look inside

4 images
The main screen touts the tool's "real-life" building blocks.
A tutorial helps get kid started.
Kids can use blocks to build structures like ships.
By stacking blocks, kids can build tall structures that model buildings.

Pros: Cool activities empower kids to use their creativity and apply principles of engineering.

Cons: The touch features are glitchy and have limits; for example, blocks can only be rotated in 90-degree increments.

Bottom Line: A fun resource with great potential to spark creativity, but glitchy touch features may distract and frustrate many kids.

How Can I Teach with This Tool?

For younger kids, use Imagination Playground 3D Builder as a learning center activity, allowing kids to take turns building structures. For older kids, use the app as part of a science or engineering unit. Challenge kids to build structures that demonstrate certain key physics concepts, like how gravity affects the motion of a ball, or have kids build ramps and observe how changes in the heights of the ramps affect the speed of a ball.

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Standards:

Imagination Playground 3D Builder is all about open play and creativity. Kids start by tapping the "Let's Build" button, and a brief tutorial describes the different game features. To build, kids drag blocks and other building pieces one at a time into an open space. They can rotate the pieces horizontally and vertically, take screen shots of their creations, and tap the Gravity mode icon to observe "real life" physical properties of the blocks.

Imagination Playground 3D Builder is a virtual building tool that encourages creative, unstructured free play. Kids can learn about building and stacking blocks, which helps improve spatial awareness. In Gravity mode, the blocks exhibit "real life" physical properties, so kids can learn about gravity and how it affects the motion of a ball. For example, kids can build a ramp with blocks and place a ball at the top of the ramp. When they turn on Gravity mode, they can observe how the ball travels down the ramp. There aren't any focused goals in this game, so kids have an opportunity to be as creative as they wish with the available technology. While features like these might be a great fit for older kids, this setup may be difficult for kids who need more task-oriented play.

Overall Rating
Engagement Would it motivate students and hold their interest? Is it visually appealing? Would it inspire teachers to try something new or change their instruction?

Kids will have fun dragging blocks into the open space to create structures, but inconsistent touch features may frustrate many kids.

Pedagogy Does the tool help teachers promote a more student-centered experience? Will students gain conceptual understanding or think critically? Does it deepen teachers’ pedagogical thinking?

Activities encourage kids to be creative and explore basic principles of engineering, but there's no real instruction and explanations are lacking.

Support Can students and teachers get assistance when they need it? Is it created with people of different abilities and backgrounds in mind? Is learning reinforced and extended beyond the digital experience?

A brief tutorial shows kids how to use the app's features, but other than that, kids are on their own. A template of different designs might help kids who need more direction.

Common Sense reviewer
Debbie Gorrell Educator
See how we rate and review

Key Standards Supported

Engineering Design

  • K-2-ETS1-2

    Develop a simple sketch, drawing, or physical model to illustrate how the shape of an object helps it function as needed to solve a given problem.

Motion and Stability: Forces and Interactions

  • 5-PS2-1

    Support an argument that the gravitational force exerted by Earth on objects is directed down.

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