Common Sense Media Review
By Amanda Bindel
,
based on child development research. How do we rate?
Cute, free coding game covers the basics.
Parents Need to Know
Why Age 7+?
Any Positive Content?
Where to Download
Videos and Photos
Daisy the Dinosaur
Privacy Rating Pass
Privacy Rating
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Pass
Meets our minimum requirements for privacy and security practices.
Warning
Does not meet our recommendations for privacy and security practices.
Fail
Does not have a privacy policy and should not be used.
Privacy Rating
Our expert evaluators create our privacy ratings. The ratings are designed to help you understand how apps use your data for commercial purposes.
Pass
Meets our minimum requirements for privacy and security practices.
Warning
Does not meet our recommendations for privacy and security practices.
Fail
Does not have a privacy policy and should not be used.
What's It About?
DAISY THE DINOSAUR gives kids a basic overview of programming using a cute character and scene. Rather than dealing with unfamiliar figures or commands, kids choose commands written in plain English and drag them into the program to make Daisy the Dinosaur do what they direct. Once kids have completed the five challenges that cover moving, looping, and conditionals, they can use the free-play mode, wherein they decide what they'll have Daisy do using the available commands.
Is It Any Good?
What Daisy the Dinosaur does best is make programming accessible to kids -- even tech-averse kids. It gives them a very brief, uncomplicated introduction to programming using simple commands in everyday language. The downside is, if kids get hooked, there's not much to keep them engaged. The challenge mode will take kids only a few minutes to work through, and there's not much innovation that can happen with the nine commands available in free-play mode. There's also no way to save programs. This is a great free introduction to teach kids the basics. Parents may want to have a few other programming games and apps in mind to buy if kids show an interest in going deeper with their coding interests.
Talk to Your Kids About ...
Encourage kids to explore a variety of programming tools so they have at least a basic ability to write and understand computer code. Software jobs outnumber students three to one.
Character-based coding games often appeal more to girls, so encourage them to move on to the developer's more in-depth programming app, Hopscotch HD.
App Details
- Device : iPad
- Subjects : Math : patterns , sequences , Science : engineering
- Skills : Thinking & Reasoning : logic , strategy , thinking critically , Self-Direction : working efficiently , Tech Skills : using and applying technology
- Pricing structure : Free
- Release date : February 22, 2012
- Genre : Education
- Topics : Animals ( Dinosaurs )
- Publisher : Hopscotch Technologies
- Version : 2.2.0
- Minimum software requirements : iOS 8.0 or later
- Last updated : October 1, 2025
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