Common Sense Media Review
By Dana Anderson
,
based on child development research. How do we rate?
Creative games offer great practice in early reading skills.
Parents Need to Know
Why Age 5+?
Any Positive Content?
Where to Download
Videos and Photos
Word Wall HD
Parent and Kid Reviews
What's It About?
Word Wall HD has four basic games as well as two options to practice matching (via drag-and-drop) letters and words. The multisensory approach is based on the idea that kids should "see," "hear," "play," and "write" to learn pre-reading skills. The games "See and Find," "Hide a Word," "Bubble Words," and "Jigsaw Words" are all similar to other game concepts kids may have already encountered online or off. Kids get cute in-app stickers as rewards and a "word wall" on which to post the stickers and their favorite words.
Is It Any Good?
WORD WALL HD provides young kids a great place to practice word recognition and word building through simple, minimal-stress games. Kids who have different ways of processing language will probably find something on this app that appeals to them since it uses a combination of learning styles. The "Bubble Words" game, in which players have to choose from letters floating in bubbles to form the word that matches the picture on the screen, is probably the most challenging game. Other games on the app either allow you to set an "easy" or "hard" level or are simple enough for young learners to enjoy even if they cannot read the words presented in the game.
Talk to Your Kids About ...
Sign up for the free SmarTots service connected to this app to get learning reports and more ideas for further targeted activities.
Take some of these games -- such as the memory matching game or the puzzles -- offline and create your own versions with your kid's weekly school spelling list.
App Details
- Device : iPad
- Subjects : Language & Reading : letter or word recognition , reading
- Skills : Thinking & Reasoning : prediction , solving puzzles
- Pricing structure : Paid
- Release date : March 28, 2012
- Genre : Education
- Publisher : Emantras Inc
- Version : 1.3
- Minimum software requirements : iOS 4.2 or later
- Last updated : November 11, 2020
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