Parents' Guide to First Words Feelings

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Common Sense Media Review

Carrie R. Wheadon By Carrie R. Wheadon , based on child development research. How do we rate?

age 3+

Useful tool helps kids study facial expressions, spell.

Parents Need to Know

Why Age 3+?

Any Positive Content?

Parent and Kid Reviews

What's It About?

Each page of FIRST WORDS FEELINGS has a feeling or other state of being and a word to spell. Click on the character depicting the feeling to hear what it is, then drag and drop letters into the right slots to spell the word. When the word is complete a voice says "g-l-a-d, glad!" As with other titles in the First Words series, parents have many ways to tailor the experience. Choose phonics or letter names, word length (up to 10 characters), whether kids must place letters in the right order, or whether or not letter hints appear.

Is It Any Good?

Our review:
Parents say : Not yet rated
Kids say : Not yet rated

The First Words series offers something for both pre-readers and kids just learning how to spell. The very youngest may just like dragging and dropping letters they recognize in the right slots; it's a simple game that will take on much more meaning as they get interested in spelling. First Words Feelings can also be useful in helping kids understand the meaning of different facial expressions and body language. The cartoon characters offer pretty accurate expressions, though something like "sly" can be a little harder to convey. From there it would have been helpful to have a sentence defining the feeling, so be prepared to explain words like "sly" and "lucky."

Talk to Your Kids About ...

  • Some words featured -- "sly" and "lucky" -- may need more explanation. Use the words in a sentence or point out when a character in their favorite book feels that way.

  • Talk about how a child is feeling and remind them that it's a word they know. "Frustrated" may be hard to spell, but preschoolers will often relate to it!

App Details

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