Common Sense Media Review
By Mieke VanderBorght
,
based on child development research. How do we rate?
Customizable, multilingual letter play made fun.
Parents Need to Know
Why Age 4+?
Any Positive Content?
Where to Download
Videos and Photos
Preschoolers ABC Playground Pro
Parent and Kid Reviews
What's It About?
In PRESCHOOLERS ABC PLAYGROUND PRO, kids write and recognize uppercase and lowercase letters, hear letter names and sounds, and match animal names to their first letters -- and it's all available in seven languages. The six activities include letter tracing, memory style matching, unscrambling letters, and writing on a blank board. As they play, kids earn apples to use in a reward game. Some activities have multiple difficulty levels, and there are many customization options, including hiding the game, setting a timer, using letter names vs. letter sounds, and more.
Is It Any Good?
Enter a virtual classroom with lots of ways to interact with letters. Using the listening and visual techniques typical of letter-teaching apps, this app adds practice with motor skills (writing) and foreign language. There also are many ways to customize play, which can be empowering or confusing: Create just the right experience for your kid, or get lost trying to figure out just what that perfect experience is. Some guidance could help determine what's right and when to implement it. Also, the letter sounds don't allow for long vs. short vowels or how letters combine to make unique sounds (for example, s and h make a sh sound), which may confuse emerging readers. Followers of strict phonics instruction also might take issue with the way some letters are spoken. For instance, a p shouldn't have a vowel sound after it, as in puh. Overall, however, the variety of activities, customization options, and languages choices elevate this letter-learning app above many others.
Talk to Your Kids About ...
Families can talk about letters as they appear in everyday items. Point out letters at the supermarket, on road signs, and in your kids' names.
Make letter play truly a multi-sensory experience. Cut large block letters out of wood, card stock, or construction paper and glue things on them to give them different textures (sand paper, tissue paper, cloth, and the like).
Talk often about how letters make certain sounds and how those sounds make words. Sound out familiar words, and suggest games such as "Let's see if we can think of a fruit or vegetable that starts with each letter of the alphabet."
App Details
- Devices : iPhone , iPod Touch , iPad , Mac , Android , Kindle Fire
- Subjects : Language & Reading : letter or word recognition
- Pricing structure : Paid (Limited content available for free)
- Release date : June 10, 2015
- Genre : Education
- Topics : Numbers and Letters
- Publisher : Jan Essig
- Version : 4.3.0
- Minimum software requirements : iOS 6.0 or later; Android 2.2 and up
- Last updated : October 1, 2025
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