Sago Mini Bug Builder

I thought I was downloading this app for my little one, but as it turns out, both girls absolutely love the Sago Mini Bug Builder. Part of its appeal is its simplicity. Open the app and a cute pink bug lays a multi-colored egg that hatches with the tap of a finger. A geometric shape appears (Autumn says in delight, every time, “What is THAT?!”) that you decorate with the swipe of a finger to a color palette.  Stripes, polka dots, swirls… anything goes. Click the checkmark when you’ve finished your masterpiece, and watch your bug come to life.

Choose a hat to add to your bug, feed it some snacks, wipe the crumbs off its face, then snap a picture of your creation before she lays another egg to start the process all over again.

So what is it that my kids love so much about this app? Well, they both love to color, and this app certainly fulfills their creative yearning. They’re delighted with the way every bug comes out. And they’re just as delighted to begin a new one.

As for me, it would be hard not to be charmed by the bugs’ silly smiles and rainbow hues. I’ve also heard myself introducing some novel vocabulary words as the girls have asked my opinion on which hat to put on their bug (“The fez, definitely!”) or if I think the stripes look better this way or that way (“Why not draw some horizontal stripes and some vertical ones?”) So the Bug Builder may not be the most educational app around, but it’s far from the worst. I’m not sure how much longer this app will be free, but for now it feels like a great deal.

Dr. Panda

Are the Dr. Panda games new, or am I just late to the party? It seems that every time I turn around, one has gone free. And there was a time not so long ago when my youngest was obsessed with watching the San Diego zoo’s live panda cam (http://www.sandiegozoo.org/pandacam/), so I still get excited for her whenever I see anything panda-related. At this point, we’ve got Dr. Panda’s Handyman, Dr. Panda’s Beauty Salon, Dr. Panda’s Restaurant, and Dr. Panda’s Hospital.

Of course, it turns out the panda in these apps is purely gratuitous. He pops up to congratulate you for a successful repair in Dr. Panda’s Handyman, or to greet customers in the beauty salon. But there is no real need for a panda, per se, in any of these games. But that’s okay—all of the characters are adorable in a big-eyed simply-drawn sort of way, and my girls love them.

All of the Dr. Panda apps are role-playing games in which you pretend to be a handyman, beautician, chef, or doctor. The handyman app is particularly charming: in the giraffe family home, you get to use a jackhammer to break up the remaining tile in a broken floor, then spread glue, re-tile, and clean up the mess with a vacuum cleaner. The polar bear family has a leaky shower—lower in a new tub, with the use of a pulley system, then fix the broken pipes in the wall by fitting the pieces into the puzzle. My favorite might be the fish tank that needs assembling, populating, feeding, and then cleaning.

I like the problem-solving nature of Handyman. And there is an element of creativity behind every Dr. Panda app—you get to make lots of choices in how you handle situations, what color you paint the door, or which wig you put on the pig, etc. Plus there are lots of nice little extras. In between scenes in Handyman, you can visit the attic, where a friendly ghost and bat live, and play a quick little sorting game to separate the screws, nuts, and bolts on an assembly line. Sorting properly earns you stickers toward a scene full of power tools. In sum, the apps are fun and don't seem to be a total waste of time... especially considering the price I paid.