Learning Games: For Kids

What is SKIDOS Learning Games app?

In this educational app review, we're looking at three apps together. We've chosen to do this because they're by the same developer, and a single subscription called the SKIDOS Pass unlocks them all (plus more than forty others). They are similar in quality and activity style, so your choice will be to decide which will appeal to your child.

The three apps we've chosen to represent are one based on bathtime (SKIDOS Bath), one on visiting the doctor and dentist (SKIDOS Doctor), and another more general learning games app (SKIDOS Bike Racing). Even the bathtime and doctor-focused apps feature some math and literacy activities besides their central theme.

The apps contain many activities and mini-games with varying levels of structure. Some are entirely open-ended for kids to play and use their imagination, while others have more rules and challenges for kids to play.

What we love about SKIDOS Learning Games app.

All of the activities in this app look gorgeous, with vibrant colours, expressive characters, and fun animations. The games are polished and playable. Across the three apps specific to this review and the wider selection, there is a good variety of playstyles, tasks and subjects.

The games and activities feel similar to many casual games popular on mobile, which is a good way to get kids to engage with educational content. Many of the games use 3D graphics and look indistinguishable from pure entertainment titles, and kids can enjoy similar activities, such as customising how their cars look in the races.

Some of the activities are quirky. Helping a character use the lavatory is not a typical app game, but the task in question is something parents must address with their kids. Having the app provide a fun backdrop to talking and learning about personal hygiene tasks will help keep kids focused and help them understand.

The games play well, particularly those that cover subjects aimed at the upper end of the apps' audience. They are intuitive to learn, fast-paced, and use familiar game elements like coin collecting. The apps also provide a handy selection of educational videos so kids aren't just practising existing skills and knowledge but adding to them.

Having 40+ educational apps accessible through a single subscription is unusual. A single app and different subscription options typically open up various features or levels, or each has a separate subscription.

There are advantages to the method adopted by the SKIDOS apps. 

• It will feel to kids like they have more apps as they access each one through a separate download and icon.
• It is easier for young kids to remember and find their favourite activities.
• The device's storage is not taken up by activities that kids aren't using.

What skills does it teach?

The apps reviewed here don't go especially deep into any category of knowledge or skills but provide a broad and helpful platform for additional learning. Personal hygiene and routine are covered by the SKIDOS Bath, health care by the SKIDOS Doctor, and all three apps cover numeracy and literacy skills.

The numeracy skills aspect is more fully developed than literacy.

Literacy is mainly limited to letter recognition and formation, at least in the three apps we focussed on for this review. The more-developed SKIDOS math curriculum covers addition, subtraction, multiplication, division, geometry, telling the time, and coding-style puzzles.

What age is it appropriate for?

The age ranges listed on the app's store pages indicate that they are suitable for kids 2 to 10 or, for some apps, 2 to 11. In the case of some of the apps, such as SKIDOS Bath reviewed here, the upper end of the range is too high. However, other apps have activities that are more appropriate for kids closer to 10 but less so for young kids. We'd like to see each app have a more realistic, less general age range applied to help parents understand how much of the app is suitable for their purposes. This issue is mitigated if you browse the games through the publisher's website, as you can filter them by age and go straight to the app download page. A helpful QR code makes this easy if you search on your computer but then want to download an app to your child's device.

Fortunately, as the apps have full access for a short time per day or a free trial if subscribed to through the developers' website, you can easily see whether they are relevant to your child.

How will students benefit?

While some kids like to draw a distinct line between entertainment and education, the majority enjoy the additional stimulation of gameplay as they practice what they have learned. The games in these apps are excellent fun, and their variety gives kids a meaningful choice. Young kids who want to play without pressure and use their imaginations can enjoy one of the sandbox-style activities, while those who want extra stimulation can pick a racing game. These games provide a useful compromise between the fun kids want and the learning that their parents prefer.

How will parents benefit?

Separating the full SKIDOS experience into different apps lets parents pace kids a bit more. Rather than kids binging on everything they can access in a few days, they can try something new when their parents feel they'd appreciate it or have had plenty of play from an existing app. The parental dashboard provides valuable insights into what children have practised and how they performed. This feedback will reassure you that your kids are using the apps enough to warrant your continued subscription and may also indicate if you need to provide extra help in math.

How will teachers benefit?

The apps are not especially school-focused, but teachers of young kids might be able to use them. The open-play activities would look great on a shared display and provide a visual resource for discussions or explanation.

What can SKIDOS Learning Games app improve on?

Earlier in this review, we noted the benefits of having the activities across separate apps, but there is a downside. To ensure that the apps' users know about the other games available, each one shows them in the games section, but tapping on them takes you to the app store install page via the parental lock, whether they are already on the device or not.

This flow may be unavoidable for technical reasons, but having the games listed where kids can click on them but not access them will likely lead to frustration as it is not a common way of doing things. We'd prefer to see them differently presented so that users know they exist, but the app conforms to expectations when users try to open the games.

It is unavoidable for some educational topics to feel a little forced when built into a game-like environment. The games featured in this collection of apps are subject to this too. For example, the math and the player's activity are not always directly related, as a multiple-choice quiz pops up over a bike race.

There's no doubt that answering these questions alongside speeding along in a racing game is more fun than doing the same on a worksheet, but parents and kids need to have the right expectations for how learning and games mesh in apps such as this.

How much does SKIDOS Learning Games app cost?

The prices differ slightly depending on whether you subscribe via your device's app store or directly with the apps' publisher.

App Stores

The apps are fully functional from the moment you download until your daily time limit expires. This time gives you long enough to see if your child would enjoy learning and playing with them but not enough that you could stick to this mode. Kids will likely want to spend more time than they get in the free version.

To get past the time limit, you'll need a SKIDOS Pass. This subscription unlocks all of the apps by the publisher, which at the time of this review is more than 40.

Direct

When you subscribe directly through the website, you get a three-day free trial. Each subscription allows up to six different children and parents can create user profiles within the app.

Is SKIDOS Learning Games app safe to use?

The apps protect important options with a parental gateway. These are among the more challenging locks we've seen on apps, as they differ from the typical simple arithmetic challenges. As ever, there will be a point when kids are old enough to work out the solutions, and parents need to ensure that they have appropriate supervision or safeguards in place.

The apps have no advertisements, even when playing the free time-limited option. The publishers state that the apps are COPPA and GDPR compliant

Overall rating of the app.

The three apps we've reviewed show the quality of the full selection available for the SKIDOS Pass. We think you'll get the best value if you have young kids, as they'll get to move on to new games and videos within the app as they progress.

You get a lot of content for your SKIDOS Pass, and if you use one of the trial options, you can discover how much of it will suit your child's learning needs and preferences. The SKIDOS apps occupy a great spot on the continuum between pure entertainment and pure learning, collectively earning them five stars.