Parents' Guide to Hellosaurus

App iPhone , iPod Touch , iPad Free to try Entertainment
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Common Sense Media Review

Mieke VanderBorght By Mieke VanderBorght , based on child development research. How do we rate?

age 3+

Embedded mini-games get kids involved in viewing.

Parents Need to Know

Why Age 3+?

Any Positive Content?

  • Hellosaurus: Interactive Shows App: Screenshot #1
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Privacy Rating Warning

  • Unclear whether personal information is sold or rented to third parties.
  • Personal information is shared for third-party marketing.
  • Personalised advertising is displayed.
  • Unclear whether data are collected by third-parties for their own purposes.
  • User's information is used to track and target advertisements on other third-party websites or services.
  • Unclear whether this product creates and uses data profiles for personalised advertisements.
Learn more about our privacy ratings

What's It About?

Parents sign up for an account with HELLOSAURUS to get started. Then, kids browse the main menu by content creator to choose videos from popular YouTuber channels such as Kidz Bop and Cosmic Kids Yoga, or from the collection of original content. Videos center on a variety of themes, such as music, arts and crafts, animals, daily routine, or mindfulness. At various points throughout the video, kids can complete an activity where they can, for example, tap to unwrap a present, answer questions about penguins, tap musical instruments to play along with a song, or practice relaxation breathing techniques.

Is It Any Good?

Our review:
Parents say : Not yet rated
Kids say : Not yet rated

This unique way to watch videos offers kids an opportunity to feel actively involved, even if some interactive parts are more successful than others. As most of these videos are from third-party creators, Hellosaurus is a good curator. The collection includes high interest, high-appeal videos that kids are sure to love. For the most part, the video pauses at various points to allow space for the interactive elements, which sometimes works fine, but other times feels awkward. And, some of the interactions are more interesting than others. For example, it's fun to "dig" in the sand to discover dinosaur bones, but less fun to tap to make a figurine do a handful of dance moves during a pop music video. The best videos combine some screen games with suggestions for kids to do movements or breathing off screen as well, such as stomp around like a dinosaur. The Hellosaurus original content, not surprisingly, has the best integration of interactive elements in that the narrator speaks directly to what kids can do in the activity. But, the episodes are disappointingly repetitive. At the time of review, the collection wasn't large, but the developer promises new content regularly.

Talk to Your Kids About ...

  • Families can talk about what makes Hellosaurus different from more traditional video watching. Is it exciting to play along with the video?

  • Talk about branding. Does your kid know and love any of the content creators? Does that make them more interested in using Hellosaurus: Interactive Videos? Do they want to watch more of the content creators' videos now that they've seen them here?

  • Discuss your family's rules and guidelines around screen time before handing over the device.

App Details

Did we miss something on diversity?

Research shows a connection between kids' healthy self-esteem and positive portrayals in media. That's why we've added a new "Diverse Representations" section to our reviews that will be rolling out on an ongoing basis. You can help us help kids by

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