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Parents' Guide to

Out-A-Bout

By Cynthia Chiong, Common Sense Media Reviewer

age 4+

Great combo of reading and outdoor activity; some crashes.

App iPhone , iPod Touch , iPad Free Education
Out-A-Bout Poster Image

A Lot or a Little?

What you will—and won't—find in this app.

  • Out-A-Bout App: Screenshot #1
  • Out-A-Bout App: Screenshot #2
  • Out-A-Bout App: Screenshot #3

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What’s It About?

Out-A-Bout encourages families to create a story together. The basic idea is that parents take photos of their kids in various scenarios that get inserted into a story. While the scenarios like "pretend to climb a tree" could be done inside, the prompts really do encourage folks to go outside and move around. Once done with all the pictures, the app automatically creates the story with them. Kids will get a kick out of seeing themselves in the story, and families can read it together and talk about their fun experience.

Is It Any Good?

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

Out-A-Bout pushes the boundaries of what an app for kids can be. It uses the technology to create an experience that a family can enjoy together. The personal touches make both the experience and the end product extra memorable. For example, in addition to the personal photos, it records kids saying their name with their photo so that every time their name is mentioned in the story, it's their own voice.

What would make this app even better would be the addition of more and better story templates. Both parents and kids will wish there was more than just the one story they could create in this way. Also, at the time of this review, the app often crashed during the photo session, so that you have to start all over with the photos each time. This could be very frustrating and discouraging, especially when trying to get young kids to do specific poses.

Talk to Your Kids About ...

  • Use Out-A-Bout in different places and see how it can change the story.

  • Encourage kids to take pictures with the device and make up their own stories with them.

  • Have your child pretend to be different characters in the pictures and story.

App Details

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