Over 50 Outstanding Puzzles to Explore
The Very Hungry Caterpillar - Shapes & Colors is a puzzle app based on the world created by Eric Carle's popular book, The Very Hungry Caterpillar. Kids join the adorable, striped caterpillar in playing a series of progressive puzzles sorted into the following six categories: Basic Shapes, Color and Shade, Scale, Advanced Shapes, Patterns, and Tangrams. Each puzzle provides kids with a no-fail environment in which to learn more about colors and shapes.
How to Play
The Very Hungry Caterpillar inches his way into each puzzle scene. With no words spoken, kids need to discover how to move the objects in the scene so that the larva can continue his adventure.
In the Basic Shapes category, kids will see wooden shapes and matching cut-out areas on the surface. By sliding the shapes to the correct cut-out, kids solve the puzzle and a path for the caterpillar to journey on appears. Sometimes a door in the floor opens; while other times, helium balloons appear and float the little larva into a new scene.
Color and Shade covers sorting colored blocks into buckets, and then it advances to ordering same-colored blocks lightest to darkest. With the puzzles in the Scale category, kids work on deciding how to match similar shapes to the correctly sized cutouts.
Advanced Shapes challenges kids to place geometric shapes onto a rainbow design. Kids can't see the whole outline, so they will need to extrapolate. There are also puzzles about sorting similar shapes (such as pentagons, hexagons, etc.) and finishing patterns. And Tangrams are puzzles where kids combine geometric shapes to make pictures, including a house or a fish.
App Analysis
The Very Hungry Caterpillar - Shapes & Colors is a great app to introduce young children to shapes, colors, and logical thinking. The colored wooden blocks against a white background make identifying the shapes and colors easy. And the use of the caterpillar as your child's cheerleader is brilliant. While the colorful character doesn't speak, its gentle presence (accompanied by soothing music) and adorable expressions encourage kids to experiment with and learn from the objects on the screen. They feel as if they are helping the caterpillar go on a journey.
The progression in these puzzles is well thought out, and it build on kids' previous success. The learning is deep as kids explore logical thinking and the early math skills of comparing, identifying shapes, sorting, patterns, and more. I also like how kids can't fail -- if they slide an object to the wrong outline, it simply returns to its original spot. And there is no negative sound or repercussion, so kids feel comfortable exploring (and learning!).
Also fun is the whimsy inserted in solving each puzzle. The little caterpillar gets to do fun things when a child succeeds, including crossing over a bridge to eat a yummy piece of fruit, floating in the air via helium balloons, and entering a door into a rainbow.
Best For
The Very Hungry Caterpillar - Shapes & Colors is a great app for all preschoolers! It works well in both a home and school setting.
if your kids like this app, check out
My Very Hungry Caterpillar, which features the same character, just this time you are nurturing it and helping it grow into a beautiful butterfly.
This kids' app review of The Very Hungry Caterpillar - Shapes & Colors was written by Jinny Gudmundsen.
All tech products are judged on a five star scale by looking at the following factors: fun, education, ease of use, value, and technical.
