Dino Tales App Review

Dino Tales is a new educational app aimed at children aged 4-10 years old. It works on iPhone, iPad and iPod Touch.

We were asked to put Dino Tales to the test and review our experience - having three children aged 6, 8 and 10 we reckoned we could give it a good going over!

Here's what Dino Tales themselves have to say about the app:

Kids can customise and control a baby dinosaur to explore a rich 3D island filled with dinosaurs, plants and fossils. The game has been created with educational specialists and tested with pupils and teachers across 25 primary schools in UK. There are 6 characters to try, as well as plenty of games and activities (lava slides, rock bowling, scary cave and more).

Dino Tales unique features:

• Children can create a digital Storybook from their adventure, which can then be shared and read with an adult.

• Parents can set playing time limits, reading age and receive the Storybook via email every time the kids play.

• Kuato’s (KAGE) technology powers the game - adjusts the language evolves according to the user age group as they progress.

• Includes an interactive dino guide (named Darwin) to whom kids can ask questions such as “how fast can a T-Rex run?” via special Word Wheels.

I set the game up at the lowest end of my children's ages so that they could all play on it. I'm not sure how this effects the KAGE technology - but they all seemed very happy with the options available to them. 

Baxter (6) has had a bumpy start to his reading education so anything that encourages reading, vocabulary and story-telling is a hit with me. The problem is most of the apps in this area are ones that he bores of within seconds, and no matter how I present them there is just no tricking him into playing them. 

That was the first difference I noticed about Dino Tales - the balance of 'play' and reading meant that he didn't even realise that there was an educational side to it. (*Insert evil laugh here).

Marley and Kaya both really enjoyed the customising their own dinosaurs, Kaya loved creating her own storybook and Marley was interesting in all the fossil facts he picked up.

There are often fights between the boys about who gets to play on our family iPad first, but they seemed quite happy to explore this one together, with Marley helping Baxter out on some of the words he couldn't make out.

Setting the time limit option is also a great way to ensure they both get their fair share of time on it - and also that Mum doesn't let five minutes turn into fifty just because she's having a sneaky coffee in the kitchen...

The cost of the Dino Tales app is £2.99 which is more than I would normally spend on an app, but given it's educational function and the ability to 'grow' as your child does it's actually money well spent. The graphics are also really amazing. 

If you'd like a good look around before you buy here is Kaya's run down on some of the functions...

Disclosure: I have been paid expenses and supplied with a product sample for this review but retain all editorial control. 

Primavera Sound - Festivaling in your 40's

Ah Barcelona. We came, it rained, you partied.

It was with equal measures of excitement and nerves that I stepped off the plane in Barcelona last Thursday - almost ready of a few days of moderate hedonism. The problem with fesivaling in your 40's though is that lessons are not learned from your previous twenty odd years of experience.

And so naturally enough on arrival, when we got caught out unexpectedly by the rain, we did what every self respecting holidaying youngster half our age would do - we headed straight to the nearest watering hole. The only difference now being that instead of unashamedly sitting in the local Irish bar we disguised our early lunchtime drinking with tapas and bottles of red. Most civilised. For the first bottle at least.

The rain kept coming and so did the red. Forget that we were up at 4am that morning and had a big night of bands ahead of us - there was cheap wine to be drunk.

Somehow we stayed alive until dinner time (more wine) and managed to meet up with the second set of arrivals from our party before heading off to the festival itself. I must admit that it's all slightly hazey from then on in, but I did at least manage to tick a couple of my must-see bands off my list. And so between a bit of careless wandering, the awesome Queens of the Stone age, some young glitter fairies that dowsed me in the sparkliest of glitter, a spot of maniacal dancing to the far-to-young-for-us Disclosure and a smile as big as Barcelona - I may have managed to have one of my best nights ever. Fortunately no photographic evidence survives as I am quite sure the pictures in my head are far more flattering than the reality. (I'm told there was muchas, muchas glitter - a fact supported by my pillow the next morning).

Image Credit

Of course the next day wasn't so great - but at least the bed was comfy. And sparkly.

And on Day 2, when we finally managed to drag ourselves out to see John Grant, The Pixies and the rest of the fabulous second night set - the thunderstorms complete with forked lightening began. Still, we didn't feel too bad running back through the flooded streets of the city in our green plastic Heineken macs to our cosy hotel for some comforting pasta and vino.

Festivaling in your 40's - isn't that what it's all about?

Girls on tour

Tomorrow at the ungodly hour of 4am I shall be sneaking out of my house under cover of darkness and heading direct to Dublin airport to lead a very different life for 3 whole days.

The cooking, washing, cleaning, ferrying, bickering and general toil of family life will be put on hold for a short time whilst I pick up the baton of fun, freedom, music, sunshine and general debauchery.

I am going to a festival in Barcelona with my sisters and their friends - and I'm terrified.

I can't even use the excuse that I'm too old as 50% of the party are in fact older than me. (Sorry girls. Or should that be ladies now?)

Anyway, I've been told to metaphorically pull my socks up, enjoy a few days of madness before real life returns all too swiftly, recharge those wildness batteries.

But at the moment it's all lists of things that need to be done, things that need to be packed, information that needs to be passed on, documents to find, work to finish and of course, inevitably, a sick child to worry about, a bill for 80 euro in medical fees and an anxiety level of 10.3 on the Richter Scale.

Is it worth it?

I hope so. I hope that once I close that front door at 4.01am and fall into the back of my sister's car I will be able to let go and enjoy the excitement. Three whole days of great bands, delicious food, sunshine, copious quantities of drink, a hotel with fresh sheets, a roof top pool, lie ins and a bunch of wild women await.

Sisters

Try not to feel too sorry for me ok?