Parents' Guide to

Animal Antics (for Families)

By Mieke VanderBorght, Common Sense Media Reviewer

age 4+

Fun storytelling encourages kid, caregiver co-play.

App iPhone , iPod Touch , iPad , Android Free Education
Animal Antics (for Families) Poster Image

A Lot or a Little?

What you will—and won't—find in this app.

  • Animal Antics (for Families) App: Screenshot #1
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Privacy Rating Warning

  • Personal information is not sold or rented to third parties.
  • Personal information is shared for third-party marketing.
  • Personalised advertising is displayed.
  • Unclear whether data are collected by third-parties for their own purposes.
  • Unclear whether this product uses a user's information to track and target advertisements on other third-party websites or services.
  • Unclear whether this product creates and uses data profiles for personalised advertisements.
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What’s It About?

Start ANIMAL ANTICS (FOR FAMILIES) with a step-by-step tutorial on how to use the app. Then, choose one of the story themes -- such as At the Library or Let's Cook! Two animated animal characters appear on either side of the screen with a photographic background a short text description sets up the story. Tap on the one of the animals to choose a facial expression, and tap record to make it say something. Open-ended questions help prompt ideas for what to say. When done, the other player gets a turn to do the same with the other animal character. A turn counter shows how many turns each character has. When all turns are used, the story moves to the next plot point. Then, when the story is complete, press play to hear the whole thing. Finished stories are stored in the Our Performances section on the main screen.

Is It Any Good?

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

Relatable stories with silly characters offer a nice open canvas for parents and kids to get creative together. Animal Antics (for Families) isn't fancy, but it's easy to use and has great ideas for sparking thought and conversation. The story prompts lead caregivers and kids to focus on a theme, but they also have plenty of space to narrate the story in whatever way feels right. Open-ended questions are a great help, particularly when kids don't know what to say. In fact, parents may want to talk through all the questions before they or their kids pinpoint what they want their character to say. This app is meant to spark play and conversation for kids and caregivers -- or even siblings or other pairs -- and isn't meant for solo play. Even the turn taking feature can be important practice for the back and forth nature of conversation. Animal Antics (for Families) can great fun for loved ones to tell stories while talking about every day experiences -- together.

Talk to Your Kids About ...

  • Families can talk about kids' own experiences with the story themes in Animal Antics (for Families). Have you and your friend ever wanted to play with the same toy at the same time? What's your favorite thing to do at the library?

  • Read through all the thought questions on each setting screen and discuss all the ideas before tapping record.

  • Talk about how the characters feel and why. What facial expressions best represent those feelings?

App Details

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