Shimmer and Shine: Enchanted Carpet Ride Game
By Dana Anderson,
Common Sense Media Reviewer
Common Sense Media Reviewers
More about magic-carpet rides than math in this sparkly app.
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Shimmer and Shine: Enchanted Carpet Ride Game
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What’s It About?
Create a username on SHIMMER AND SHINE: ENCHANTED CARPET RIDE GAME (up to four players can save games), and then choose one of four scenes. Kids swipe to move the magic carpet forward, up, and down while collecting floating coins and avoiding obstacles. Following the genies' verbal instructions, kids will tap or swipe to open magic caves and other barriers and complete a symmetry puzzle by moving gems that match one side of the puzzle onto the other side in symmetrical order. Every time a kid completes a puzzle, an object (a toy elephant, a tiara, a jeweled soccer ball) appears and is added to their prize page collections.
Is It Any Good?
The scenes are full of sparkly, eye-catching objects, and navigating the magic carpet can be fun, but both game variation and math activities are limited. The symmetry puzzles increase in difficulty with each level completed, and kids can collect 50 prizes, one for each level. Kids aren't prompted to identify the shapes by name to reinforce what they've heard. If your goal is simply to introduce your kid to the names of some shapes and the concept of symmetry, this app may be a good way to do that, especially if he or she loves the show; those who don’t may not hang on for all 50 levels.
Talk to Your Kids About ...
Families can talk about symmetry in nature and objects. Examine both sides of a leaf, a butterfly, or your own face. How are they the same? Is there anything different on one side?
Reinforce the names of the eight gem shapes on this app (triangles, circles, squares, ovals, hexagons, pentagons, rectangles, and trapezoids) when you see one in your home, at the store, or in nature. Talk about the number of sides a shape has (or doesn't have) and its other characteristics.
App Details
- Devices: iPhone, iPod Touch, iPad
- Subjects: Math: geometry, shapes
- Skills: Thinking & Reasoning: deduction, solving puzzles
- Pricing structure: Paid
- Release date: December 4, 2015
- Category: Education
- Publisher: Nickelodeon
- Version: 1.1
- Minimum software requirements: iOS 7.0 or later
- Last updated: October 20, 2019
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