FETCH! LUNCH RUSH
Novel PBS Kids app takes game off screen and into room.
Parents say
Based on 1 review
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FETCH! LUNCH RUSH
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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 FETCH! LUNCH RUSH is a fun, novel way to play an educational game in "augmented reality." It isn't a game app that most kids will be able to get started playing without some help from a parent or teacher. Game pieces need to be sent to an email address, printed, and cut out before kids can even begin to play. Players place the game pieces on the ground or on a wall and view them through the mobile device's camera to select answers to the questions on the screen and help the adorable Ruff Ruffman get sushi for his crew. This can be a single- or multi-player game. To get the correct pieces of sushi, players must solve the math problems on the screen. This app was funded by the U.S. Department of Education to supplement first- and second-grade math education.
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What’s It About?
This "augmented reality" game requires quite a bit of pre-work -- game pieces need to be sent to an email address, printed, and cut out before kids can begin to play. Players place the game pieces on the ground or on a wall and view them through the device's camera to select answers to the questions on the screen and help Ruff Ruffman get sushi for his crew. This can be a single- or multi-player game. To get the correct pieces of sushi, players must solve the addition and subtraction problems on the screen (with answers to 10).
Is It Any Good?
If you're motivated enough to do the pre-work to set up the game, FETCH! LUNCH RUSH is a truly novel way for kids to practice basic math and learn some relatively new technology, too. The game pieces have to be taped onto the wall or, more practically, spread out around the room. If the mobile device is going to be carried around the room and handed between players in the multi-player version, it could get risky for the device, especially since part of the game is to see how fast each player can arrive at the answers. As a result, teachers or parents who are thinking of using this as a multi-player game may want to consider setting some "careful carrying rules" for the mobile device being used. The math lessons may be limited in scope, but since this app is free and the idea is quite unique, it's definitely worth a play at least once.
Talk to Your Kids About ...
Help kids print out the necessary game pieces and set up the game -- it's not something young kids can do on their own.
Find more ways to involve your device's camera in your kids' learning adventures. A camera can add an interesting twist to a math-related scavenger hunt, for example.
App Details
- Devices: iPhone, iPod Touch, iPad
- Subjects: Math: addition, subtraction
- Skills: Collaboration: cooperation, meeting challenges together, Tech Skills: using and applying technology
- Pricing structure: Free
- Release date: July 20, 2014
- Category: Family Games
- Publisher: PBS KIDS
- Version: 2.0
- Minimum software requirements: Requires iOS 5.0 or later.
- Last updated: August 19, 2016
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