Bug Games HD iPad App Review

One of Ben's favorite apps to play recently has been Bug Games HD by Busy Bee Studios. It is a fantastic preschool app full of learning potential for kids who will love all the characters including singing crickets, marching ants, spiders and bees. The app consists of four games, each of which is highly interactive and engaging.

When you load the app you can select from four options including:

• Music - Select from four well known children's songs which are Hickory Dickory Dock, Hot Cross Buns, Farmer in the Dell and London Bridge by touching the circle on screen. The three crickets then begins to sing.  Alternatively you can select individual crickets to sing it word by word. This is great for teaching kids the words to songs and they will love singing along with the crickets.
  



Music with the singing crickets

• Phonics - Drag the letters to the correct flower to make a word. Each letter and the completed word is pronounced phonetically.  When you complete a word the butterfly in the corner begins to emerge from it's chrysalis after which you receive a sticker reward. This is a fun way to teach kids phonetic sounds and to help them with word building.
  

  

  Phonics - build words while learning phonetic sounds to release the butterfly

• Puzzles - Put the pieces of the pipe in the correct place by tapping on it to rotate. Once the pipe is complete the ants march to freedom. This improves logical thinking while developing fine motor skills.
  



Complete the puzzle to free the ants

• Counting - Help the spider join the numbers but tapping on the numbers in the the web which make a shape. This is a fun way to reinforce numerical knowledge.



Join the numbers to reveal the hidden object

Ben enjoys playing all these games, it is very cute watching him sing along with the crickets and I find the phonics excellent for reinforcing his pronunciation of letters. He loves revealing the hidden object in the spiders web and the challenge of figuring out the puzzle so the ants can go (in Ben's words) "march march march". The games are varied in subject which helps to captivate a child's attention and keep them engaged, it actually feels like four apps in one. The graphics and music are fun and the interface is kid-friendly and intuitive.

Ben playing the counting game

Bug Games HD is available to download from the App Store for £0.69 and is compatible with the iPad. I highly recommend this app, it is an excellent educational resource for preschoolers which they will have endless fun playing.