Dino Tales
By Amanda Bindel,
Common Sense Media Reviewer
Common Sense Media Reviewers
Rich dinosaur world combined with reading practice.
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Dino Tales
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What’s It About?
Starting with one dinosaur, kids explore parts of the DINO TALES island, collecting fossils and looking for eggs that hatch and join them on their journey. They feed and play with the dinosaurs, moving them with finger controls or painting them different colors, and they collect different awards for their discoveries. The dinosaur guide, Darwin, answers questions on demand that kids customize from a scrolling list of words. Once they've hatched a dinosaur and explored with it, they can read the story of its journey, choosing words to customize the tale. Each new tale begins with a goal-oriented task, such as knocking over boulders, but there's no consequence if a kid doesn't complete the prescribed adventure.
Is It Any Good?
Despite confusing navigation and awkward controls, kids will love exploring the island and learning about dinosaurs in this rich, layered world. Kids navigate using directional arrows rather than simply guiding the dinosaurs with their fingers on the screen, which would be more intuitive for them; also, the map doesn't help kids get around to specific places on the island, which they're supposed to do. Once they've created a story, kids can read the book, but there's no audio component for kids just learning to read, and the books have a lot of overlapping content. Still, the varied activities -- creating questions, discovering treasures, painting dinosaurs, reading stories, and investigating the island -- will keep kids entertained, engaged, and learning. Parents will appreciate the controls they have, too, for customizing the reading level, sharing kids' creations, and controlling their time playing the game.
Talk to Your Kids About ...
Families can talk about what we know about dinosaurs and how scientists research something they've never seen alive.
Talk to kids about the different word choices in the books. How does changing one word affect the meaning? Make up sentences of your own and take turns changing one word of the sentence.
App Details
- Devices: iPhone, iPod Touch, iPad, Android, Kindle Fire
- Subjects: Language & Reading: storytelling, Science: animals, geology, rocks and minerals
- Skills: Thinking & Reasoning: asking questions, thinking critically
- Pricing structure: Paid
- Release date: July 21, 2015
- Category: Education
- Topics: Dinosaurs
- Publisher: Kuato Studios
- Version: 1.3.52
- Minimum software requirements: iOS 6.0 or later; Android 4.0.3 and up
- Last updated: July 12, 2020
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