As much as I can hold my own on the dance floor, the stark reality is that I have about two moves I heavily rely on. (Ask anyone at any wedding I’ve ever been to). Despite my efforts to expand my moves repertoire, I think I have to relegate myself to the fact that that’s my dance floor MO. But when it comes to digital dancing, the brand new Toca Dance app is really where my skills can shine.
Launching today, as in this very moment, Toca Dance is the 31st(!) app from one of our all-time favorite developers, Toca Boca, and is not surprisingly, another win for kids — and adults — of all ages.
Similar to their biggest kids’ app hits like Toca Hair Salon and Toca Tailor, Toca Dance offers kids ultimate customization with the ability to choose characters, their outfits, music choice and most importantly their dance moves.
You start out by selecting from a fun cast of characters with fun names like, Rogan, Sahar, K-Boy and Joggi (The makings of a great boy band perhaps?) which include a mix of real people characters and more robot-like characters, for a seriously diverse dance troupe. Dress them appropriately and adorn them with the requisite dance outfits, matching or not, then add accessories to make them really dazzle on stage.
But that’s just the start.
Related: 9 fantastic gender-neutral apps for kids around themes that traditionally aren’t.
The next part is becoming a virtual dance coach, and putting those wannabe choreographer moves into play, from the top of the head all the way down to the feet. Each body part can be choreographed by drawing the dance move on screen. It will automatically register on the app so the characters will remember the move you’ve programmed for them. So cool.
You can choose from five quirky and fun music choices that range from K-pop to electro dance, so they can come together to demonstrate the moves your kids have created with an actual on-stage performance. Even the stage backdrop can be changed, plus you can add lighting and throw in some smoke effects and confetti, just for fun.
My kids love the ability to react to their dancers’ performances with sound effects that include cheers jeers and jeers, and even being able to throw things on stage like tomatoes and toast. Not that that’s a lesson I’m trying to teach my kids. We should be nice to those of us not as proficient as others on the dance floor. And yes, I’m talking about parents like me.
The brand new Toca Dance app is available for $2.99 on iTunes. Sorry Android users — for your kids, take a look at our picks for 13 of the best Android apps for kids on Google Play including some other Toca Boca apps we love.
