The Land of Learnia

Kids will likely find some of this learning journey to be fun and entertaining, some to be boring, and some to be confusing. The Land of Learnia does some things really well: The 3D environments are colorful and whimsical, and the animals kids can purchase are fun to watch as they play with their toys. The math activities are engaging and use a variety of approaches to teach each skill, making it more likely that any given child will be able to understand. Many of the lessons ask kids to draw the answer on the screen, and the accuracy or recognition is impressive. It also displays what it thinks you wrote, so you can tell the difference between a wrong answer and a misunderstood number. On the other end of the spectrum, the spelling lessons are tedious, because there are no images and each lesson feels just like the one before. Also, the sample sentences for each word, all of which are read out loud, aren't age-appropriate or particularly helpful: "You shall not dishonor your family name," "I hurry from tree to tree to shun the light," and "The man killed the rat with the stick," are just a few of the odd choices kids will find (for "shall," "shun," "man," and "rat"). The mini-games and animals come with no instructions, not even on how to access them, and having separate "reward" activities not only can take a kid out of the learning but also send a message that the learning isn't fun on its own. While the landscape of The Land of Learnia is a beautiful 3D environment, the mini-games are so minimalist they seem out of date. The good news in all of this is that you can simply purchase the lessons that make sense for your family, so you can avoid the content that doesn't appeal to you or your kids.