Camping With Grandpa
By Mieke VanderBorght,
Common Sense Media Reviewer
Common Sense Media Reviewers
Sweet guide leads kids on quick hike through mini-games.
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Camping With Grandpa
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What’s It About?
In CAMPING WITH GRANDPA, kids go on a camping trip with a high-fiving grandpa as their guide. In seven mini-games, kids explore different aspects of the camping experience. They identify species of butterflies or birds, match animals tracks to the animals that made them, roast a marshmallow, complete a nature-related word search, and more. After completing each game, kids get gentle encouragement. After each round, the fun automatically cycles to the beginning for kids to pick their gear and choose from four hiking trails.
Is It Any Good?
Grandpa is a kind, gentle, and encouraging guide to take kids on this cute virtual camping trip, but the games are somewhat shallow. Using a grandpa is a nice way to represent the special relationship between grandparents and grandchildren and plugs nicely into how much grandparents have to teach the newest generation. Camping is also a wonderful subject to tackle as a bonding experience, an important learning opportunity, and a great way to get kids interested in respecting nature. However, though the mini-games are fun, they're somewhat frantically quick and shallow -- and they can quickly get repetitive. Kids could learn some background information about the animals or why it's important to pack certain items. While the embedded videos do some explaining, they're too brief to contain a lot of information. With each game's trial-and-error setup and without any explanations, kids also run the risk of simply tapping randomly around the screen and advancing through the games without really knowing what they're doing. It's definitely accessible and sweet but gives only a surface-level peek into camping.
Talk to Your Kids About ...
Families can talk about camping, nature, and spending time outdoors. Why is it important to learn about these things? How can experiences such as camping enrich us?
Take your kids camping in real life! Prepare them for what will happen and then spend a night in the great outdoors. If you can't get far away, set up a tent in your backyard or even go for a long walk in a local park. Point out trees and wildlife, listen to new sounds, and breathe in the fresh air.
Talk about your kids' real-life relationship with their grandparents or other adult figures in their lives. What makes these relationships special? What can the older generation teach us?
App Details
- Devices: iPhone, iPod Touch, iPad
- Subjects: Language & Reading: following directions, letter or word recognition, vocabulary, Science: animals, plants
- Pricing structure: Paid
- Release date: May 5, 2016
- Category: Education
- Topics: Adventures, Science and Nature, Wild Animals
- Publisher: Fairlady Media
- Version: 1.0
- Minimum software requirements: iOS 8.0 or later
- Last updated: July 26, 2016
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