Touch and Learn - Emotions
Free app builds emotional awareness; best with adult input.
Touch and Learn - Emotions
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A Lot or a Little?
The parents' guide to what's in this app.
What 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.
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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?
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.
Talk to Your Kids 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
- Subjects: Language & Reading: vocabulary
- Skills: Emotional Development: empathy, identifying emotions, labeling feelings, self-awareness
- Pricing structure: Paid
- Release date: March 17, 2012
- Category: Education
- Publisher: Innovative Mobile Apps
- Version: 2.0
- Minimum software requirements: iOS 8.0 or later
- Last updated: May 22, 2018
Our Editors Recommend
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Calm Counter Social Story & Anger Management Tool
Super-simple emotion-regulation tool offers too little.
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My DPS
Fantastic app teaches emotions, coping strategies for kids.
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iTouchiLearn Feelings for Preschool Kids
Kids identify feelings; best used with adult support.
For kids who love working through emotions and feeling good
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