Big Kid Life Fairy Princess

Review

Common Sense Media says

Cute, engaging app sneaks in reading comprehension lessons.
greenON: Content is age-appropriate for kids this age.
yellowPAUSE: Know your child; some content
may not be right for some kids.
redOFF: Not age-appropriate for kids this age.
not for kidsNOT FOR KIDS: Not appropriate for kids any age.

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Quality
 
Sometimes media can be age appropriate but a real waste of time. Our star rating assesses the media's overall quality.

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Kids say

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What parents need to know

Parents need to know that Big Kid Life Fairy Princess is a fairy tale-themed story app that helps kids practice reading comprehension skills with 15 different stories. This app is one of a series of similarly crafted apps by Fingerprint, a developer that has come up with ways for parents to manage a child's apps, see what they're playing and learning, and send and receive personal messages back and forth to their kid through the apps. But you don't have to sign up for Fingerprint's parent options to play the game; you can sign up via email for more limited features or as a guest for just app gameplay only. In this app, your child can select a boy character who is dressed like a prince, but the story still refers to him as a "fairy princess."

  • Ease of use3
    Quite easy to play, although some areas within the app contain written instructions only (such as how to move back to the main "choose a story page"), and pre-readers may have a hard time knowing what to do next. Recording messages is a little more difficult at first if kids don't understand the very limited instruction. They must tap and release the button icon, speak, and then touch the button icon again to send. Also, the app needs a better way to exit a game. Players can tap the pause button to go "home," but the home menu does not give an option of ending the game you're on and starting a new one.
  • Violence0
    Not applicable.
  • Sex0
    Not applicable.
  • Language0
    Not applicable.
  • Consumerism2
    The logo for Fingerprint is on the app's main intro screen, as well as on the screen that prompts kids to send a message to their parent. An "FP" icon on some screens will, when tapped, move kids to a Fingerprint page that tells them about new games from the developer. If kids tap on the new game, another screen pops up and a verbal prompt says, "Tap here if you want to tell your mom that you want this game." Then a message is sent to the parent.
  • Drinking, drugs, & smoking0
    Not applicable.
  • Privacy & safety4
    Minor concerns. Parents can opt to exchange personal messages back and forth with their kid through a service called "Mom-Comm," but they must use Facebook or an email account to do so. You don't have to sign up for Mom-Comm for kids to play the app; instead you can sign in as a guest user for app gameplay only.
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Is it any good?

 

BIG KID LIFE FAIRY PRINCESS tells cute stories like "Unicorns Like Kites" and "Brother Troll's Bedtime" in interactive ways that young kids who love fairy tales will likely enjoy enough to not notice they're also practicing reading comprehension. The three levels of play become increasingly more challenging, incorporating some letter recognition and more difficult storylines, but none too difficult to cease being more fun than work for these little learners. The Mom-Comm messaging system and other parent-centered aspects of this app are quite interesting and novel, although it's not certain that they'd be worth the time or that kids won't lose interest in sending the messages through this simple app sooner than later; the concept may be even more beneficial for apps with more advanced learning levels and more real reasons to prompt communication between kids and parents.

This review was written by Dana Villamagna

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This review was written by Dana Villamagna
Topics:princesses and fairies
Category:Educational Games
Platforms:iPhone, iPod Touch, iPad
Price:Free
Size:36.50 MB
Publisher:Fingerprint
Version:1.0.0
Release date:November 30, 2011
Minimum software requirements:iOS 3.2 or later
This review was written by Dana Villamagna
 

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About our rating system
ON: Content is age-appropriate for kids this age.
PAUSE: Know your child; some content may not be right for some kids.
OFF: Not age-appropriate for kids this age.
Learning ratings
BEST: Really engaging, great learning approach.
GOOD: Pretty engaging, good learning approach.
FAIR: Somewhat engaging, OK learning approach.
NOT FOR LEARNING: Not recommended for learning.
Our child development rating guidelines

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