Friday, August 15, 2014

Heroes of the City Baby app review


The other day my husband and I decided at the last minute to go out for dinner. It was one of those "What should we make for dinner... Wait it is just us, there are no kids to feed, lets go out. " nights. We grabbed the baby and my purse, jumped in the car and drove to a nearby restaurant only to realize the wait time was long and I had forgotten to bring anything to entertain Cadadoodle.



That's when I remembered the app I had downloaded to review. I had waited to get my new android phone so had been putting off writing the review or even checking the app out. So I whipped out my phone and became one of "those" parents sitting at a table with hubby and baby with the baby glued to a screen.



Cadadoodle was fascinated.




The Heroes of the City baby app is based on the Swedish TV show, Heroes of the City, which bring rescue vehicles to life as characters such as a police car and fire truck help their friends, and one very silly, clumsy Calamity Crow, out of trouble.



There are 4 videos which are an introduction to the characters. These 1 and a half minute videos tell about the characters and what roles they play in keeping their city safe. 




The app also has 4 fun games geared to babies ages 0-2.



 The first is a car dashboard that plays music and revs the engine when different parts are tapped.  A fun and quirky game where the sky changes from day to night, music keys reside where the steering wheel should and buttons on the dash turn on and off instruments such as drums, guitar and the melody. There are fun things like a horn that beeps and blinkers that click.  Great for any baby that can look and point or touch things on a screen.




The second is a shape matching game. Babies can drag and drop shapes into the right spots.  The shape game takes a bit more coordination and understanding of shapes to complete the tasks though Cadadoodle enjoyed moving the shapes around the screen.




The third game is a paint like  colouring game. Dragging your finger around the screen draws a line that changes colour each time you lift your finger and replace it on the screen. There is no choice of colour but you can clear the screen and start over by touching the garbage can, and fun stars and sound effects accompany the finger motion.




The last game is Cadadoodle's favorite. Balloons with different characters from the show,  float towards the top of the screen. Touching the balloons pop them and with each balloon you get a star. There is even one with Calamity crow hanging from it and when the balloon is popped, Calamity falls.



The great thing about these games is that baby is rewarded with fun sounds, colors, and stars for completing a task but there are no time limits, or "game over". The difficulty never changes either. 



This app teaches baby the coordination needed to use a touch screen as well as hand eye coordination, shape matching, cause and effect and encourages creativity.



Also, there is a parental control that prevents babies from entering the purchasing area of the app.



Ruta Ett Ab is the company behind Heroes of the City and the associated apps. They have provided shows for The Disney channel and have their productions shown in over seventy different countries.  They are dedicated to providing quality educational  media, including games, books, movies, toys,  and activity books. Other Heroes of the City apps include Heroes of the City Movie app and Heroes of the City book app.



I also need to add that working with this company has been a positive experience. This is the second app I have reviewed for them. They have resent me links many times, so that I could have all the content on my new phone and have always been quick to respond to my emails.



The Heroes of the City Baby app is completely free to download on both Android and Itunes, and has no in app purchases. The movies are available on YouTube.





This app is a definite keeper on my phone and has saved me many times when confronted with a bored Cadadoodle!

Disclaimer: I was compensated for writing this review post producers provided me with a merchandise package. Sponsor provided product for review but my review and opinions are mine alone and were not influenced by outside sources. I make no claim that said product will perform the same for everyone; other individuals may have differing results/opinions.


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