Sago Mini Puppy Preschool
By Mieke VanderBorght,
Common Sense Media Reviewer
Common Sense Media Reviewers
Simple mini-games have puppy charm but little substance.
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Sago Mini Puppy Preschool
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What’s It About?
In four games, kids play with puppies while exploring some basic early learning topics in SAGO MINI PUPPY PRESCHOOL. Count puppies as you take them in and out of a soapy bathtub. Match shapes to give the puppies a toy or sort by color to give them food. The match and sort tasks get more complex with more options as kids continue but reset every time they close the game. And you can play a tune -- freestyle or by following a guide -- on a puppy piano.
Is It Any Good?
Simple game mechanics and cutesy graphics may easily appeal to small kids, even if there's not much meaty content. Sago Mini games excel at being super kid-friendly and very accessible to young kids. They're friendly, welcoming, and easy and look good with lovable recurring characters. Sago Mini Puppy Preschool doesn't disappoint in this respect, even though the only familiar character here is Harvey the dog. Play is only partly open-ended in that two of the games (shape matching and color sorting) have very specific goals and only advance if kids make the right moves. The other two games have a bit more flexibility, within limits. Kids can take up to 10 dogs in and out of the tub to their hearts' content as they listen to the narrator count up and down. It's a neat touch to be able to play with the settings and learn numbers 1 through 10 in a new language. And the puppy piano is a pretty typical app "keyboard" with nine notes, with the one exception being that each note has its accompanying dog (matched by size, meaning that a bigger dog equals a lower note) and sounds like a bark/howl. Parents looking for simple, harmless games to entertain their young kids should feel perfectly fine about Sago Mini Puppy Preschool. Those looking for more substance may want to look elsewhere.
Talk to Your Kids About ...
Families can talk about the learning themes introduced in Sago Mini Puppy Preschool. Ask your kids to name the colors they see in the color sort game. Encourage them to count out loud with the narrator in the counting game and sing along to the songs they make with the puppy piano.
Play lots of games offscreen to support basic preschool learning. Build, sort, label, and sing songs, recite nursery rhymes, and read books. Point out colors, shapes, types of movement, and directional words (for example, "inside," "behind," "in front of") in items you see around you.
Play continues indefinitely until you stop it. Talk to your kids about screen-time limits. You can use the Common Sense Media guide to making a Family Media Agreement and Device Contract for guidance.
App Details
- Devices: iPhone, iPod Touch, iPad, Android, Kindle Fire
- Subjects: Math: counting, numbers, Arts: music
- Pricing structure: Paid
- Release date: December 14, 2016
- Category: Education
- Topics: Numbers and Letters
- Publisher: Sago Sago
- Version: 1.1
- Minimum software requirements: iOS 7.0 or later; Android 4.0.3 and up
- Last updated: December 21, 2016
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