Touch and Learn - Emotions

Common Sense Media says

Free app builds emotional awareness; best with adult input.

Age(i)

2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17

Quality(i)

 

Learning(i)

(i)
Download
Write a review

Touch and Learn - Emotions gallery

What parents need to know

Ease of play

Very easy to use. Many options for customizing. There's not much in the way of tutorial, but most features can be figured out in the process of customizing the settings.

Violence & scariness
Not applicable
Sexy stuff
Not applicable
Language
Not applicable
Consumerism

The settings page has links to "Like this App? Click to rate it" and a "Get More Grasshopper Apps."

Drinking, drugs, & smoking
Not applicable
Privacy & safety
Not applicable

Parents Need to Know

Parents need to know that Touch and Learn - Emotions is a free app that helps kids identify and name emotions, facial expressions, and body language. Four images of real people appear on the screen and a voice says an emotion such as "frustrated." Kids tap on the image of the person they think looks frustrated. Some of the images are very similar or are open to interpretation. Parents, teachers, or therapists can customize the images using their own voices and photos they add to the app.

What kids can learn

Subjects

Language & Reading

  • vocabulary

Skills

Emotional Development

  • empathy
  • identifying emotions
  • labeling feelings
  • self-awareness

Engagement, Approach, Support

Engagement

Kids can look at and identify emotions for more than 100 images of real, diverse people. You can add personalized audio and photos to boost engagement.

Learning Approach

By viewing photos and choosing which of the four people on the screen demonstrates the identified emotion word, kids can learn to connect emotional vocabulary with facial expressions and body language. 

Support

The app needs an in-depth tutorial and some explanations for adults to help kids understand the more ambiguous images.

What kids can learn

Subjects

Language & Reading

  • vocabulary

Skills

Emotional Development

  • empathy
  • identifying emotions
  • labeling feelings
  • self-awareness

Kids can learn to identify a wide range of positive and negative emotions. Understanding emotions can help kids in many ways including improved communication with other kids and adults and helping kids get more comfortable expressing their own feelings. By using Touch and Learn -- Emotions, kids can expand their emotional vocabulary, which can help them say what they're feeling and empathize with others verbally. Touch and Learn -- Emotions can help kids connect emotional vocabulary with facial expressions and body language, but parents need to customize the app to maximize its full learning potential.

This Learning Rating review was written by Dana Villamagna

User reviews

Review this title!

Parents say

Not yet rated
Review this title!

Kids say

Not yet rated
Review this title!

What's it about?

Kids hear an emotion word and simply tap to choose which of the four people on the screen demonstrates that emotion. Sometimes, it's quite challenging to discern which picture the app's creator intends the emotion to match, but choosing incorrectly simply results in a neutral sound and then kids can choose again. A correct choice comes with an approving sound and message. Kids and parents can customize the app with personalized audio and photos.

Is it any good?

QUALITY
 

TOUCH AND LEARN - EMOTIONS includes more than 100 images of real people -- kids and adults -- for kids to look at and match to specific emotions, such as "afraid," "hungry," upset," or "scared." Parents and teachers can customize the emotions and photos or adapt the learning to focus on one set of emotions if kids need extra help identifying a specific concept. Kids are rewarded with successful messages that can be customized as well.

The app could use a bit more of a tutorial. And parents and teachers would benefit from some explanations so they can help kids understand why some rather ambiguous images are chosen to represent certain emotions. Fortunately, the settings options allow adults to adjust which images link to which emotions and set images to match more than one emotion. Overall, this is an excellent way for kids to practice identifying emotions, body language, and facial expressions.

Families can talk about...

  • Use feeling words as much as possible in everyday life. Identify your own feelings and encourage your kids to tell you how they feel.

  • If your kid is having trouble interpreting certain visual cues, facial expressions, or body language in the app's photos, use your own photos and voice to add custom sets.

App details

Devices:iPhone, iPod Touch, iPad
Price:Free
Pricing structure:Free
Release date:March 17, 2012
Category:Education
Size:14.30 MB
Publisher:Innovative Mobile Apps
Version:2.0
Minimum software requirements:iOS 4.3 or later

This review of Touch and Learn - Emotions was written by

Dana Villamagna

About our rating system

  • ON: Content is age-appropriate for kids this age.
  • PAUSE: Know your child; some content may not be right for some kids.
  • OFF: Not age-appropriate for kids this age.
  • NOT FOR KIDS: Not appropriate for kids of any age.

Find out more

Quality

Our star rating assesses the media's overall quality.

Find out more

Learning ratings

  • Best: Really engaging, great learning approach.
  • Very Good: Engaging, good learning approach.
  • Good: Pretty engaging, good learning approach.
  • Fair: Somewhat engaging, okay learning approach.
  • Not for Learning: Not recommended for learning.
  • Not for Kids: Not age-appropriate for kids; not recommended for learning.

Find out more

About our buy links

When you use our links to make a purchase, Common Sense Media earns a small affiliate fee from Amazon or iTunes. As a nonprofit organization, these funds help us continue providing independent, ad-free services for educators, families, and kids while the price you pay remains the same. Thank you for your support.
Read more

See more about how we rate and review.

Great handpicked alternatives

For kids who love working through emotions and feeling good

Journal Apps, Online Diaries, and Digital Scrapbooks
Funny Apps
See all recommended app lists

Browse more apps

Top advice and articles

What parents and kids say

Write a user reviewThere aren't any reviews yet. Be the first to review this title.

Poll

Did our review help you make an informed decision about this product?

Poll

What are the different ways that you access Common Sense Media ratings and information? (Check all that apply)

Essential Apps Guide