Review by Amanda Bindel, Common Sense Education | Updated August 2012

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WhyKids Poo

Name: WhyKids Poo
Item: WhyKids Poo
Rating: 3
Author: Amanda Bindel

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Who knew there was so much to learn about poop?

Subjects & skills

Grades 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.

Pre-K–1

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Teachers say (1 Review)

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The 21 minibooks cover topics from human digestion to fertilizer.

Quizzes reinforce the information in the books.

Interactivities let kids explore the topics -- often playfully shocking, like this farting contest.

Pros: Includes fascinating information on a 4-year-old's favorite topic.

Cons: Some problems with functionality such as garbled audio and frequent freezes.

Bottom Line: Be prepared for potty humor and lots of giggles -- and to learn a thing or two about number 2.

How Can I Teach with This Tool?

It would take a really special, patient, and open-minded teacher to explore all 21 mini-books with an entire class, but a few books stand out with good classroom potential. Use the chapters on dung beetles, snails, and ants and aphids in a unit on insects, showing the brief animations as hooks to introduce the insects and how they use poop. The books on animal poop and skunk farts could be an interesting addition to a unit on animals. Teachers could use a few mini-books individually with kids who are struggling with adjusting to at-school bathroom habits -- the chapters on not holding in the poop when you have to go or on cleaning up if you sprinkle may be especially helpful for one-on-one conversations.

What Is It?

WhyKids Poo is a based on a popular Korean cartoon series and includes 21 mini-books, presented as cards with accompanying quizzes. Each card teaches the science behind a fact using an interactive video. Only two cards are available to begin, but once those are seen, new ones are unlocked. The Quiz section tests kids on what they've learned in the card section. After three quizzes are successfully completed, a virtual trading card is unlocked. There are a few very minor translation errors, but they don't interfere with gameplay. The words used for bodily functions are all slang, which may not correspond to terms teachers prefer kids to use. Only a limited number of questions are included in the quiz section, so they're repeated frequently.

Is It Good for Learning?

Although the topic is presented in a silly way -- sound effects and all -- there’s good info here. Learning topics include nutrition, hygiene, ecosystems and the environment, and animals. It's all presented in no-holds-barred potty talk, including sound effects, and visuals that include bare bottoms and lots of pictures of poop. The topics and cute animations are sure to be engaging to kids, and they'll likely talk quite a bit about what they've learned (which means they may want to re-create scenes like the farting contest).

Rating Details

Overall Rating

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

A fun and playful look at human and animal waste. Based on a popular science-themed cartoon book series, kids will enjoy the silly and positive take on a topic not often discussed. Get ready for the potty humor!

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

Includes surprisingly fascinating information, and real-world applications abound. For example, eating more vegetables can "make your poo softer and prettier." Content pushes the shock factor -- like the farting contest activity.

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

Interaction with the app is straightforward and clear, but the Android version freezes up often and has garbled audio in places.

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Amanda Bindel Classroom teacher

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