Toca Boca

          By far the most popular app designer in our house is the Swedish company Toca Boca.  The girls love the stylish and silly characters in all of the games. They also enjoy how simple all of the games are—there are no menus or rules or settings to fix. Kids of all ages can just open the app and play. Somehow we have acquired the following 8-10 different Toca Boca apps over the years on our various iOS devices (Toca Boca is generous about periodically releasing a specific app for free, or gifting a holiday version of an app—over time, they collect on the machine): 

Toca Tailor and Toca Tailor Fairy Tales

Toca Band

Toca Hair Salon and Toca Hair Salon Christmas Gift

Toca Tea Party

Toca Monsters

Toca Doctor

Toca Store

Toca House

           I am honestly such a fan of all of these games that I am having a hard time deciding which to write about, but in the interest of being specific, I will just choose two to describe. 

Toca Tailor

           Toca Tailor is the sort of thing the iPad was made for. It is a design tool I can imagine being useful in real life, as well as to a 5-year-old’s imagination. Open the app, choose a model to dress, then change everything about the outfits with a swipe of the finger. Shorten and lengthen hems and sleeves, choose styles and patterns… you can even use the iPad camera to add to the selection of patterns. For example, check out this sweet dress I made with a photo of my cat:

              Unlike other dress-up apps, there are no short skirts or exposed belly buttons in Toca Tailor. The focus is squarely on the clothes—the patterns, textures, and outfits—rather than the sex appeal. And because of that, the app feels like it is appropriate for boys and girls of all ages. In fact, although other reviewers have said this is an app for little girls, I know more than one dad who has spent more than his fair share of time playing Toca Tailor.
 

Toca Tea Party

            Yes, she could just have a tea party on the floor with her stuffed animals. And she does do that. But one tea party does not preclude the other. This app can be used in conjunction with the blanket and the stuffed animals. It just adds a bit of color and flair. It also had the advantage of being portable: tea parties are now something that happen on long car rides or in doctor’s waiting rooms as well as on my living room floor. 
            Set the scene by choosing the tableware and refreshments, lighting the candles, and tuning the radio. Then eat and drink from all three settings until someone spills and needs a clean up. Practice saying things like, “Excuse me!” and “Please pass the delicious carrot cake,” and “Could you turn the radio down, please? I can’t hear what Pooh Bear is saying.” Surprisingly, it isn’t my youngest who likes this app the most. As simple as it is, my five-year-old is charmed by it. 

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Most of the Toca Boca apps call for creativity. In Toca Hair Salon she can cut, style, color, and grow people and monsters’ hair. Toca Band allows her to combine cartoon characters who are playing different parts in a band: percussion, vocals, or bass, to name a few. The result is surprisingly catchy and not at all irritating. When she rearranges the characters, the music changes to reflect the emphasis she chose.

Another bonus to the Toca Boca apps are the social skills learned. As mentioned previously, there is no way to play Toca Tea Party without practicing social niceties like “Please,” and “Thank you,” and, “Could I try some more?” (In fact, this app is often mentioned as a favorite amongst parents of children with autism, due to the fact that many children with autism love electronics and also need encouragement to communicate verbally.) When my 5-year-old plays Toca Store she flips through the catalogs looking for things to “buy” for each of her friends and family members: “Ooooh, Mommy loves carrots. And Daddy just said he needs new shirts! Zoe’s always wanted a cat…” Then she practices her math and counting skills by paying for each item individually.

The Toca Boca website lists six philosophies that guide the development of their products. Number 6 is “You will like our products, but your kids will love them.” They may have missed the mark with that one—I love these apps at least as much as my kids do!