Learning the ABC for kids

Upon opening the application, the user is presented with a pre-loading screen and then the main Welcome page. The graphics are beautifully illustrated and the sound is great, with the added option to turn this off. There are three other buttons on the Home screen; the Quit application button, the Store button and the Welcome button. We would recommend that the Quit button may be removed as this quits the application and may be pressed by accident. The Store button displays other in-app purchases for the application. We would like to see an extra layer of parental protection here such as multiplication or number sequence before entering this section.

The Welcome button enters the main part of the application with the option of 6 possible games:

1.       Learn Letters

2.       Reorder Letters

3.       Pronounced Letters

4.       Match Letters

5.       Guess the Picture

6.       Guess the Word

Learn Letters:

Once again here the graphics are very eye catching and really enhance the application and user experience. The user can scroll through the alphabet listening to the letter that matches with the picture. The developers should consider minor changes for use in the UK market such as pronunciation of letters in lower case rather than capitals, the letter ‘Z’ and the word ‘vas’ replaced by ‘vase’. There are buttons to return to the Home page and 'Settings' to limit the letters used or linked to the in-app purchases. Again we feel that this should be protected.

Reorder Letters:

We love the moving clouds in this game and the use of a timer to encourage pace and quick thinking. The user is asked to rearrange the letters on the back of the tractor in alphabetical order. Once the timer is up another tractor moves in for the user to try again. There is instant feedback if the letter is in the wrong order and a picture reward if the order is correct which is shown in the top left. There are buttons to return to the Home page and Settings to limit the letters used or go to the in-app purchases. We would like to see the use of lower case letters rather than capitals or at least the option to switch between the two.

Pronounced letters:

The user is asked to find letters within the floating balloons as displayed at the top of the screen. Do not worry if the balloon is missed as another one will soon come along. There is sound for both correct and incorrect answers. There are buttons to return to the Home page and Settings to limit the letters used or go to the in-app purchases.

Match Letters:

This part of the application again works with a timer and allows the user to match lower and capital letters as displayed on the back of the tractor. Once gain there is excellent graphics, reward sound and instant feedback. There are buttons to return to the Home page and Settings to limit the letters used or go to the in-app purchases.

Guess the Picture:

This game allows the user to match the word with the picture. We did feel that the word on the sheep’s board at the beginning looked slightly too small and graphically out of place. Once again there is a timer and a collection reward system.

Guess the word:

This is probably the most advanced game and this requires the user to spell the word with the aid of a picture. Once again there is instant feedback although the user can guess the position of the letter as many times as possible. Scroll through the screen to reveal the answer after the timer or the next picture.

There are many apps that teach children the alphabet and this is one of the better applications. We particularly like the graphical presentation and variety of games. However we would like to see some minor adjustments for the UK markets and also the introduction of a scoring system. We noted that once the reward pictures were collected they are not saved. The developers can be commended for the apps content and also its simplicity especially with navigation around the app and the in-app instructions.