Special thanks to Curious World and One2One Media for partnering with me for today’s post. All thoughts and opinions are my own, as always.
Can I make a confession? My kids play with tablets often, but I’d say 80 percent of their screen time is spent watching videos instead of playing with apps. Sure, we own some apps, but I’m not an avid consumer of them because, quite frankly, I’m overwhelmed by the selection and I’m weary of all those in-app purchases that seem to beg kids to click on them. I am unsure of what apps are best to buy, and so by and large, I just don’t buy any.
So I am really grateful for the app we downloaded earlier this week called Curious World, which works on iPhones or iPads (Android compatibility is on its way!) and is ideal for kids in the 3-7 range. There is a free version of the app, but if you are like me and don’t care for in-app purchase stuff, I’d recommend skipping over that and taking a closer look at their subscription options. You can pay a monthly fee of $9.99 or you can pay a yearly fee of $80.
Does that seem expensive for an app? Of course! But I want to emphasize that this isn’t just an app, but rather a subscription, and what you get in return is pretty darn incredible.
Curious World contains a very robust collection of books, videos and games (over 500 at this point, and growing) that are fun and that promote learning. Specifically, there are 8 areas of learning that the Curious World app focuses on, and even tracks!
While children are exploring the curated list of videos and activities, the app tracks the amount of time being spent online and how that breaks down by content type (books, videos or games) as well as how it breaks down by developmental area. So as a parent, you can see what is interesting your child and what you can continue to foster, as well as note areas that aren’t getting as much attention so you can see if you can help engage them more in that area.
If you have more than one child who would enjoy Curious World, you simply set up multiple profiles so that their interests can be independently tracked. Furthermore, the content that will be presented your child will be age appropriate, so your 3-year-old isn’t going to have the exact same offerings as your 7-year-old.
I noticed my youngest going for the videos first, which is not surprising given how she is used to spending her screen time, so I did devote some time to showing her some of the games and other activities so that she would feel more comfortable trying those out. I think it’s a great idea to spend time with your child when you first introduce him or her to the app to ensure an understanding of the great variety of options.
Get Offline
Perhaps one of the things I appreciate the most about this subscription service, though, are the offline activities that are suggested for parents and children to do together. I found this information on the Curious World website, which you can log into with the same username and password that you use for the app. The offline activities you complete with your child can be tracked by learning areas, as well, which I really love! There are times when my child asks to play with me and my brain turns into a pile of mush when I try to come up with something we can do in a fairly short period of time. I can turn to Curious World to help me come up with fun new ideas that are also educational. Yay!
As a parent who is overwhelmed by apps, I find this one to be a winner. I would recommend signing up for one month (you can get a month FREE!) and seeing how much use you and your children get out of it. If it seems to be very popular, it might be worth springing for the year subscription to Curious World. There’s a lot to be said for knowing that there’s a safe place online where your kids can have fun and grow their minds without stumbling upon something questionable (I’m looking at you, YouTube…).