Ansel & Clair: American Bowl
U.S. history Q&A overshadowed by bald eagle bowling game.
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Ansel & Clair: American Bowl
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A Lot or a Little?
The parents' guide to what's in this app.
What Parents Need to Know
Parents need to know that Ansel & Clair: American Bowl helps test kids' knowledge of American history facts, figures, and symbols tucked into an entertaining bowling game. However, although kids can learn a lot about history as they answer multiple-choice questions, they'll spend the majority of their time trying to free bald eagles by knocking down pins, not focusing on facts. Therefore, you may want to play along with your kids, asking questions or pointing out key information as they go.
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What’s It About?
ANSEL & CLAIR: AMERICAN BOWL is a social studies quiz game that challenges kids to answer questions about U.S. history. Kids are tasked with freeing 50 bald eagles that were kidnapped by a villain. They then choose a level (easy, medium, or hard) and select from 14 categories, including Amazing Americans, Black History, and The American Revolution. Kids then answer multiple-choice questions followed by the chance to play a bowling game. At the lowest level, every answer results in a chance to bowl. At higher levels, kids must answer questions correctly before heading to the bowling alley. Once they get to the bowling alley, they select a ball, designed to represent a specific American symbol, choose a pin formation, and let the ball fly. Knocking down all the pins frees an eagle.
Is It Any Good?
The concept, although a little funky, seems pretty simple: nswer questions for a chance to bowl and free a bald eagle. But it can get convoluted fast. As kids correctly answer questions, they also unlock new bowling balls that represent key symbols of American history and receive new pin configurations designed to keep the bowling game interesting. However, the new bowling balls, pin configurations, and power-ups can be kind of distracting. Kids may focus more on the bowling game, causing them to miss out on the wealth of info available within the quiz portion. For example, every time kids answer a question, they receive additional facts or an overview of a specific person, place, or symbol in American history, which is pretty easy to skip past or ignore if they're desperate to hit the lanes again. If kids slow down their play a bit, focusing less on bald eagles and more on facts, they could learn a lot about some of the key players and symbols in American history.
Talk to Your Kids About ...
Families can talk about historical places. Take your kids to visit local landmarks related to American history and talk about their significance.
Have kids design their own bowling balls to represent a famous American or an American symbol, and write a paragraph to accompany their design.
Explore a map of the United States, labeling it with the state you live in and where key events took place or where American landmarks are located.
App Details
- Devices: iPhone, iPod Touch, iPad
- Subjects: Social Studies: citizenship, events, geography, government, historical figures, history, the economy
- Skills: Thinking & Reasoning: applying information, memorization, Self-Direction: work to achieve goals
- Pricing structure: Paid
- Release date: December 19, 2013
- Category: Education
- Topics: History
- Publisher: Cognitive Kid, Inc.
- Version: 1.0
- Minimum software requirements: iOS 6.0 or later
- Last updated: August 16, 2016
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