Common Sense Media Review
By Jinny Gudmundsen
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based on child development research. How do we rate?
Classic kids' song becomes interactive in darling ways.
Parents Need to Know
Why Age 3+?
Any Positive Content?
Where to Download
Videos and Photos
Wheels on the Bus
What's It About?
Wheels on the Bus takes the familiar song and turns it into an interactive experience. On each page, kids can sing along and act out the verse. For example, for the verse, "The doors on the bus go open and shut," they can swipe their finger across the door to make it open and shut. Kids can also hear the song in five different languages, and six different instruments -– if you count gibberish as an instrument! Finally, kids can record their own voice.
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Is It Any Good?
Bright bold graphics of WHEELS ON THE BUS help to draw your little ones into the action of playing with this favorite song. With 8 pages, there are many interactive "hotspots" to explore by touching things on the screen. By tapping or sliding their fingers, kids can make the bus roll, the bus doors open, and the windshield wipers go "swish, swish, swish." This app provides lots of options including lyrics that can be heard in English, Spanish, German, Italian, and French; and music that can be sung or played by a variety of instruments. This adorable app is well worth its cost and is one that kids will want to watch and play with over and over again.
Talk to Your Kids About ...
Sing along with your child.
Connect kids' interactions with real context. For example, when they move the windshield wipers to go "swish,” explain how windshield wipers work.
Take a bus ride with your kid. See if any of the actions from the song happen in real life during your trip.
App Details
- Devices : iPhone , iPod Touch , iPad , Android , Kindle Fire
- Subjects : Arts : music , singing , Language & Reading : vocabulary
- Skills : Thinking & Reasoning : applying information
- Pricing structure : Free
- Release date : May 6, 2010
- Genre : Kids' Games
- Publisher : Duck Duck Moose
- Version : 1.0.5
- Minimum software requirements : iPhone OS 3.0 or later, Android 2.1 and up
- Last updated : November 11, 2020
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