Kids Brain Games Digital Copel

Encountering a problem and not shying away from it is a learned behaviour.  Discovering how to approach a problem is a developed ability. Among all of the requirements to build knowledge in children, we can forget about the importance of these skills. Kids Brain Games by Digital Copel is a fantastic way of giving children's brains a daily workout.

The variety of puzzles is excellent. They cover many different topics and ways of thinking. One moment your child will be matching clocks to times and the next mentally rotating a scene to find its mirror image.  Both of these have an element of maths to them but other challenges cover words, problem solving, planning, memory, general knowledge and all sorts of other aspects. Some games cover academic learning others do not.  It is the thinking that remains the focus in this app. A child does not have to know about symmetry to work out how an image will appear in a mirror - but they do have to think in a new way.

Variety, however, can also mean the style of play and not just topics.  Many apps that claim to exercise thinking skills stick to the same structure of question repeated over and over again. Matching pairs, multiple-choice quizzes, and word jumbles are the typical offerings of such apps.

Digital Copel is not such an app. Each of the very many mini-games is both different to others in the app and avoids slavishly following the design patterns of other apps.  The variety of interactions keeps the games feeling fresh, fun and interesting.  So interesting, in fact, that the twenty minutes that the app recommends as an optimal amount of time to play it soon goes by.

At this point, children are encouraged to go off and do something else. It can be overridden by a parental code, but it is nice to see an app taking responsibility for a child's screen time.  It is easy to become lost in the lights and sounds of an electronic device so a prompt to make the user at least stop and think about doing something else is very welcome.

The app is Japanese in origin and some of its home culture shows through. This is no bad thing as children should be aware that not everybody exists in the same space as do they.  It can make the occasional puzzle a little harder due to unfamiliarity as, perhaps, the fruits or vegetables used are not so familiar,  or the shop fronts are signed in Japanese. Be assured, though, that it is only a momentary issue. Language is never a barrier in this app and dealing with the unfamiliar is a skill as useful to children as any other.

Being mindful of language skills, as the app can be used by children from the ages of two and up, everything is narrated and explained, where necessary, by on-screen animations.

The app is most at home being used by a single child. The star ratings for games and the acquisition of pieces with which to build their own land as a reward activity, encourage a child to engage and overcome each challenge.

In a classroom, teachers will need to use it slightly differently if there is not one device per child. It works well as the focus for small group work. Talking and thinking about each challenge as a group, adds a speaking and listening facet to the app. As each puzzle can be replayed, there is nothing to stop each child having a later go at trying it on their own.

The app itself is free to download and gives an allowance of playing a few games each day. Various subscription options enable more to be played.  It really is worth trying out the free option with your class. There is no risk and you'll see how well they respond to this type of thinking challenge. Kids Brain Games by Digital Copel is likely to become a firm favourite with your children.

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You can download Kids Brain Games Digital Copel on your iOS devices from the Apple App Store.