ABC Bubbles App Review

My youngest son Lucas really enjoys playing learning games on my iPhone. I mean, what a fun and easy way to “do school,” right? When I was approached by George Azzam, the creator of the app called ABC Bubbles, about reviewing the app, I was intrigued. I am always on the lookout for a fun new app for my kids to try. The game struck me as something that I thought Lucas would enjoy and would help him learn his ABCs a little better, so I was in.

The first thing that struck me was that there are no onscreen words in the app. I actually read this in the app description, but it didn’t really hit me until we loaded the app for the first time.  Here is the main menu:

You can choose whichever “path” you want. Whichever star you tap, the star will say “Wee!”  and fly off-screen. First let’s choose the left path!

When the left path is chosen, you’ll see a pretty green meadow, with daisies all across the bottom. There’s a cute tune playing in the background, and there are letters of the alphabet floating around. The goal for this path is to tap the letters in order as they are in the alphabet. Here’s a hint for you: the letter that needs to be tapped will float to the beat of the music that is playing. The rest of the letters just float smoothly. When you tap the correct letter, you’ll hear the letter, and then you’re shown an example, and the letter will fall into its correct position in the alphabet.

All spoken words are done in a child’s voice, and are very clear and easy to understand. I like this, because I think it makes the game more relate-able to children. If you tap the incorrect letter, the letter falls to the ground and disappears. Repeating this path is a great way to drill ABCs. Once you’re done with this path, you get a surprise!

A pretty rainbow!

Now let’s talk about the right path. This path is a bit different. Again, there is a tune playing in the background, and there are letters floating around in bubbles, and blank daisies across the bottom for the letters. This time, you’ll see that the Star is on a stage. Again, the letter that should be tapped floats to the beat of the music. However, this path lets you tap any letter and it will fall into its correct position, instead of having to tap them in the correct order for them to fall into place. When a letter is tapped, the letter is again said in the child voice.

Once all the letters have fallen into place, the ABC song is sung over again until you either close the app, or tap the Back arrow. Doing this takes you to the main menu.

What I Think

Lucas is 5.5, and was still having some difficulties learning his ABCs. As a homeschool mom, I am definitely aware that children learn at their own pace, and I tell people this all the time. However, I am always on the lookout for things to help make my teaching my children a little easier and more effective.  When Lucas saw the icon on my phone, he knew it was for him and was excited to try it right away.  At first he needed a little help with the left path (where letters must be tapped in order), but after we sat down together a few times and played together, he was good to go. I can already see an improvement in his ABCs knowledge. He has only been playing ABC Bubbles for about 2.5 weeks, so I’m very impressed with his improvement. Before playing this, he could only say a few letters in order correctly, and he is now saying at least half of the alphabet in order. We aren’t all the way there, yet, but we are well on our way! He loves playing ABC Bubbles. I definitely recommend the ABC Bubbles app for your child to learn their ABCs and have fun while doing it!
The ABC Bubbles app is available in the App Store, and is available for iPad, iPod Touch, and iPhone, which is how Lucas played the game.  The price is .99 cents, plus any applicable taxes.You must be running at least iOS 6 or later for the game to work. You can follow ABC Bubbles on Facebook and Twitter as well.

 

Disclaimer: I received this product for free in exchange for my honest review. I was not required to write a positive review. All opinions are my own or that of my family’s.