How It Works: Machines by Geek Kids app for iPhone and iPad
"Even very small children can take a look inside these transparent machines and see simplified (but accurate) depictions of how these parts come together to make a working machine."
-- Apps for Homeschooling
"I’d love my children to get excited about engineering and design. This marvellously-crafted app deserves to be on plenty of parents’ iPads."
-- Apps Playground
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* Let your child discover the fascinating work of engineers
* Assemble 9 incredible MACHINES!
* See whats INSIDE machines you use EVERY DAY
* Please, assist your children & help them understand the mechanics!
How It Works: Machines - by Geek Kids is the first put-it-together-and-make-it-work puzzle app for iPad. The app combines easy to solve puzzles where your child puts together the major working parts of the machine, followed by an animation that shows how those parts work together to make the machine do its task.
* Do puzzles - Your child doesn’t need to place parts exactly, just dragging and dropping them within the machine will guide them to the correct location!
* Watch animation - See how the parts of the machine work together & hear the realistic sound effects!
The application includes 9 vehicles and machines to assemble and set in motion:
a car, a washing machine, a hair dryer, a lawn mower, a vacuum cleaner, a rocket, a steam engine, a wind mill and a pump.
We recommend this app for:
* Children aged 4+ who want to learn more about whats inside the most common machines and vehicles.
* Parents who love to share fun and learning with their children.
Pros and cons of How It Works: Machines by Geek Kids app for iPhone and iPad
How It Works: Machines by Geek Kids app good for
What We Liked:
How it Works: Machines HD is SO neat! As soon as I brought it up on the iPad all of the children were clamoring around it for a turn. So I loaded it on our second iPad as well and we had little girls gleefully peeking inside of machines and making them work.
The navigation of the app is really simple and straightforward, and the puzzle completion doesn’t require any previous technical knowledge about the placement of major parts, so it’s perfect for beginners. Even very small children can take a look inside these transparent machines and see simplified (but accurate) depictions of how these parts come together to make a working machine.
The illustrations are all lovely and the app design is professional and well done.
What We Didn’t Like:
Nothing – this app is delightful!
Overall:
Peek inside nine common machines, put them together, then enjoy animations showing how they work! How Machines Work: Machines HD is a perfect app for tinkerers, curious children, and budding machinists – if you have a child who likes to take things apart and put them back together (or tries to), this app will be an absolute delight for them!
I hope there will be new objects. The app is a bit to little in current shape. My son loves it never the less. Thumbs up!
One of my favourite App. There could be added some other things.
Some bad moments
What a rip off of 1.99 for an app such as this for a 76 year old guy.
Very disappointed.
Little more than a VERY simple 3D puzzle.
No explanation of components or function.
NOT worth $2
My 5 year old loves this app. It could be even better if there was some way to identify what each part was (either a voiceover or with text). But we love it!
Any upgrade MUST include labeling of the parts. Otherwise, whats the point? Its not teaching anything if there are no labels or explanations.
This doesnt teach anything except that the blue thing goes on top of the red thing. Some kind of explanation, audible or written, would turn this from a jigsaw puzzle into a simple physics lesson and would be just as fun. (A three-year-old will need the audible, but look at the Dr. Suess iPad books to see how magic the process can become.) I have seven children and a dozen (and counting) grandchildren. Give them very basic principles and they can understand the world.
I liked it. It was interesting to me and to a 3-4 year old reader I showed it to. He always wants to take things apart to see inside and how things work. (He just ruined my tape measure from his curiosity, which led to me looking for such an app of book.) He also loves trains, so seeing the inside of one will keep him busy for a while. The puzzle feature is great. Everyone has a different perspective about apps, so dont be discouraged by a two-star rating. Some spoken words might make the app better, but I would suggest an on/off option and the option of breaking apart the purpose of each item, as too much information could be overwhelming to younger kids. It is kind of amazing how much preschoolers can understand from just watching the app. Adding the other features might make the app more interesting to a wider age range. It works well for me as it is now.
