In the classroom, this app can help pre-reading kids learn a bit about sequencing, order, and thinking and reasoning, especially if teachers ask questions related to what the vehicles look like and how they are moving. For example, as kids load the vehicles onto the flatbed truck, teachers can point out the different shapes and colors of the cars and trucks they are loading. Also, there's a sequence of events that must happen before kids can crush cars at the dump with the giant dinosaur foot. Ask kids about this sequence to see if they recall what has to happen first, second, third, and so on.
Continue readingThis is the second app about trucks by the developer, Duck Duck Moose. It has four main games built into four scenes -- Monster Truck, Fire Truck, Flatbed Tow Truck and Junkyard, and Crane and Construction Site. Kids choose one of four scenes and then listen to the instructions. For the Monster Truck scene, kids tap a truck and then drive it by pressing and holding a back or forward arrow button to move it or an up arrow to jump it to collect coins. In the Fire Truck scene, kids play tic-tac-toe and then fight a fire -- deciding where to spray the water. For the Tow Truck, kids swipe vehicles onto a flatbed to move them to the junkyard where they can help crush them. At the Construction Site, kids pickup shapes and build a tower to knock down.
One of the most dynamic aspects of this app is that the trucks and cars move, bump and roll in ways that are surprisingly similar to real life vehicles and the machine-related noises are also very realistic. Also, the background music includes diverse tunes, from jazz to Latin and surf and the narrator is a 12-year-old boy so the instructions sound friendly and relatable for kids.
More Trucks -- by Duck Duck Moose is a lightly educational, play-with-motion app for preschoolers and, perhaps, kids in kindergarten. This app will likely especially appeal to those kids who are interested in monster trucks, fire-fighting trucks, and crushing cars.
Kids can learn a little bit about motion, stacking, sequencing, problem solving, and shapes, all while following directions. There's also a tic-tac-toe game that kids can play against the firehouse dog, which teaches beginning strategy. More Trucks -- by Duck Duck Moose is like an on-ramp of fun that kids can take toward learning. Basic lessons in movement, shapes, and problem solving are built into the games, but the app's focus is having fun with vehicles.