Studies (and real life experience) show that kids learn foreign languages so much easier than adults do, which is why there are starting to be so many great foreign language apps for kids. I think it has something about their brains being more plastic. Or maybe it’s the fact that they don’t have to raise kids and cook dinner and clean the house and try to maintain some modicum of social life.
Either way, your kids will really enjoy learning how to count in 21 languages with the new app Count the Animals, available on iOS for $3.99, although there’s a lite version for free. But I recommend just going ahead and buying the full version because it’s fantastic.
The app is designed by the amazing Caroline Ellerbeck, a Danish illustrator who creates totally modern and whimsical images that will charm you and your kids as you learn your numbers from 1 to 20 in French, Swiss, German, Arabic, Japanese, Italian, Swedish, and all those other flags up there I may or may not recognize. In fact, English is one of the options, which also makes this a fun app for your little ones who are just learning their numbers in their own language too.
For a more advanced kid, you can change the settings to count backward or even to identify numbers in random order. The narrator counts along with you as you tap the animals in each picture, but you can also choose to turn this feature off if you want to guide your kids through it yourself.
I love educational apps that have a sense of humor, and this one has that quirky edge my kids will love. You have to tap on each animal to activate the narration of the number associated with it, but other funny things happen to these animals (and people) too. Tap the horse for number one, and the little girl falls off (in a very non-threatening way, fear not). The dogs have, um, incontinence issues on number four. And when the chickens fly the coop on number thirteen, they all lay eggs.
It’s all silly humor that will totally have your kids giggling. And who knows, they may even learn to ask you if they can have fem cookies before dinner.
Hint: say no.
Learn your numbers with the gorgeous Count the Animals app app for iOS devices. The lite version is free if you want to try it first, and the full version is $3.99 on iTunes.
