Do you have kids in grades K – 5? Do they love to play on the computer? Here is a product that will teach them as they play on the computer.
When I was approached to review The Smart Bunch, I thought, okay, I can do that. But if you follow my blog, you know that I have two kids under two, so no children in the house to review this with. So, I watched it myself so I would be able to make an opinion, and I borrowed my niece and nephew.
The Smart Bunch is an animated eBook / digital book series that teaches and entertains children in grades K – 5 in Science, Technology, Engineering and Math (STEM). The series will help young children to develop reading, math, science and vocabulary skills. The first episode, and the one that I reviewed, is about electricity and the many sources of electricity.
Cgimate, LLC is the computer animation company created The Smart Bunch animated eBook series. The company partnered with Dr. Stephen Jones of Villanova University to create high quality animated eBook apps. These will educate and entertain children in grades K – 5. The animated eBook apps will be available for purchase and download on PC and mobile / tablet devices.
The mission behind Cgimate, LLC is to make learning fun through computer animation! Since we all know that kids these days tend to love being on the computer, why not let them have that fun while still learning.
Have you ever wondered what happens when you turn on a light? Where does that electricity come from? Timothy and Taylor Smart wondered that very thing the day a storm knocked out their electricity. Follow them as their parents take them on an adventure to find out about the different ways we get electricity.
First off, let’s meet my test subjects:
J – 5th grade, 11 years old
M – 1st grade, 6 years old
This worked out well to have kids at opposite ends of the age range. M loved it! She watched it 5 times in a row. She would have watched it more and more, but she had to go to sleep. J had a differing opinion. He was a bit bored with it.
After watching it myself, those were the reactions I expected. I like how it’s two kids in the story learning about electricity. The story shows many different forms of electricity that young kids may not know are electricity yet. The voices of the characters are designed to keep the kids’ attention. The story is only about 10 minutes long which is a perfect length for kids to stay focused.
View a clip here
The timing for this story was funny to me because I had just posted about an alternative energy source so I was thinking about these things at the time.
The only con I found was that it isn’t interactive which can bore the kids on the upper side of the age range. If there was a little interaction for the kids, I think the older kids would be more into the story, but especially the younger kids will love it as it is. If you have ever read books on tape / cd, this is the same thing. For the last few years, my niece, M, loves coming over and reading my books on cd. She will sit and read them all day long, one after another. If you have a child that enjoys those, this would be a great book to download for them. Not only are they reading, but they are learning about different topics. This is definitely a better option than just having kids sitting in front of a computer playing games.
*After talking with Steve, I found out they are going to be working on an interactive app that will hopefully be ready by November*
Connect with The Smart Bunch
Coming soon! Two of my lucky readers will each win this digital download to share with your kids!
