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My girls are always begging me to download new apps on my iPad and iPhone for them to play and secretly, okay perhaps it’s not such a big secret I really like to play most of them too. I received an email this morning about a new Disney Carnival App [1] that was FREE! Who can pass up a free app, especially a Disney one?! So I downloaded it to check it out and thought I’d share with you my thoughts on it.
The Disney Carnival App allows you to discover fun Disney themed activities including puzzles, coloring and music. This is a very simple app and my four year old really liked it. I think it would probably be good for ages 3-6, you might get your 7 and 8 year old to play it for a little while but I think with the limited amount of advanced activities they would get bored fast.
Puzzles:
The puzzles have an option to make them simple or harder (three different levels) which means the piece sizes are different â€" although the puzzle is printed on the screen in low opacity so you just grab each piece and put it in it’s matching spot, which makes this a great activity for the younger crowd. The level one puzzles have only 4 pieces while the level 3 puzzles have 12 pieces. There are six different puzzles to choose from.
Painting:
As with any app I really like the painting programs that have a bucket where you click on the part of the picture and it fills it in. This app doesn’t have that. There’s a paint brush, a colored pencil/marker, an eraser and 11 different colors to choose from. The pictures seem to be a little more complicated and not as simple so I think it’s pretty hard to stay in the lines when using your finger. There are six different pictures to choose from.
Music:
I expected the music section to have a little more to it but it’s just a mickey themed piano with an octave of keys that you can play to your heart’s consent. No music to follow, or songs, it’s just use your own creativity so I got bored fast and I think my older children would too.
Digital Books:
This is probably my least favorite part of the app. As with most free apps they always have a section where you can click on something to purchase. Personally I’d rather just pay for the app and have unlimited use to whatever is included. I hate the games where you play and then al of a sudden they want you to buy more things to be able to continue. The Digital Board Book section has a whole slew of books available. When you click on the book it shows you a written description of the book and then you can click on the video clip and i t will show you all the great things about the book. Now I’m not saying the books aren’t great but I’d prefer a section like this not to be included in the app. I guess that’s what you get with free apps- advertising to spend money, its where they get us as parents. When you click on the purchase button it takes you to the Apple store where you can purchase each board book individually for $4.99.
PROS:
- Free
- Great for young kids
- Bright Colors
- Fun Background Music
- Disney Themed
CONS:
- Simple- not good for older kids- in fact my 4 year old got bored pretty fast
- Fun Background Music- is repetitive and could get annoying quickly
- No Paint Bucket Option
- Music section- needs a little more detail and interactive options
- Book to purchase option
MY RECOMMENDATION:
So if you’re looking for a good free app to keep your 3 year old entertained while you’re out and about running errands or sitting in the doctor’s office waiting room and you like Disney then download [2] this right now for your iPhone or iPad but if you’re kids are a little older then I think I’d skip this one.
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