App review: Britannica Kids
Britannica Kids App Review
There are several similar apps from Britannica that focus on history. I was able to buy the Egypt app and the Aztec App when it was on sale for $0.99. Here is my review of the Britannica Kids apps.
The App has a navigation wheel at the bottom. You touch the arrow and the wheel pops up so you can select the different parts of the app.
There are several games based on pictures. There is a puzzle and there is a picture covered with sand that you can dust off to view the picture. You are supposed to guess the picture but I doubt my kids will do that. There is also a memory game and a magic square puzzle.
There are many pictures but I was a little disappointed that there were only two videos. I have used the pictures several time when we were studying Egypt. There are actual pictures of the modern landmarks and historical sites that you can see today. There are also several ancient pictures of art from that time period.
There are different articles that describe different aspects of life in the Egypt or Aztec culture. There is a list of the gods. You can click on a god and a description tells you more about that Egyptian or Aztec god.
There is a map that shows the location of some of the landmarks along with pictures. When you click on the location the picture is displayed.
The Britannica apps are nice and informative but I’m afraid in the highly interactive day we live in the app may not interest very many children. When my children are given the iPad I seldom see them pull up the Britannica apps. There are just too many other interesting educational apps that they want to “play”. Normally the app is $4.99 but if it goes on sale it would be a good reference tool for when you are teaching about the different subjects.
Update:
Apparently I was wrong about my kids using the Britannica app on their own. I just downloaded the Britannica Ancient Rome app and my ten year old son picked it up on his own. Maybe it’s the Roman soldier but my son really likes the Britannica Ancient Rome app.
Click on the pictures below for app screen shots.
