Parents' Guide to

uKloo

By Amanda Bindel, Common Sense Media Reviewer

age 5+

Scavenger hunt makes reading fun; user can customize levels.

App iPhone , iPod Touch , iPad , Android Free Education
uKloo Poster Image

A Lot or a Little?

What you will—and won't—find in this app.

  • uKloo App: Screenshot #1
  • uKloo App: Screenshot #2
  • uKloo App: Screenshot #3
  • uKloo App: Screenshot #4
  • uKloo App: Screenshot #5

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Privacy Rating Warning

  • Unclear whether personal information is sold or rented to third parties.
  • Unclear whether personal information are shared for third-party marketing.
  • Personalised advertising is not displayed.
  • Unclear whether data are collected by third-parties for their own purposes.
  • Unclear whether this product uses a user's information to track and target advertisements on other third-party websites or services.
  • Unclear whether this product creates and uses data profiles for personalised advertisements.
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What’s It About?

After selecting a starting scene -- a farm or a farmer's market, with more scenes coming soon -- kids follow written clues to find the UKLOO card hidden in the scene. When they find the card, they'll see a fun little animation and then receive their next clue. The challenge can be customized by tapping one of the scene selections and then choosing the number of clues per round and the reading level: Choose three to 10 clues and the reading level from 1 ("look on the sun") to 10 ("check behind the white bucket"). By tapping the book icon, parents and kids can see a list of the sight words included in the clues grouped by parts of speech and shown with a picture.

Is It Any Good?

Our review:
Parents say: Not yet rated
Kids say: Not yet rated

uKloo is simple but both engaging as well as effective for getting kids to read. The bright scenes look like something out of an early-reader picture book, and the animations provide a fun little surprise. There's nothing slick or commercial: It feels almost wholesome, especially with the farm and farmer's market scenes. Kids can play a quick round or two to review sight words, and parents -- or kids themselves, since there's no parent gate -- can increase the challenge as needed. Since the words are always there to reference, kids can associate the word with a picture as a voice says the word. There's no wrong answer, so kids simply explore until they tap the right item. However, if kids tap the wrong item, the scene sometimes zooms in and shows only the whole picture after you tap the arrow. Though kids can reference the words whenever they want, there are no hints within the scene itself, so parents will want to make sure the challenge is set appropriately.

Talk to Your Kids About ...

  • Families can talk about reading -- and then do it! Read aloud to kids of all ages and have kids read aloud to you to develop fluency. Ask questions about what you've read to build comprehension skills.

  • Create a scavenger hunt for kids with clues written at their reading level (get ideas from the book icon in-app or buy the uKloo cards).

App Details

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