Edurino Starter Pack Review
DISCLOSURE – THIS ITEM WAS GIFTED TO THE REVIEWER FOR THE PURPOSES OF WRITING THE REVIEW. ALL THOUGHTS AND OPINIONS ARE THE REVIEWER’S OWN.
Reviewed by Dani Haigh
My daughter, almost 6 years old, was very excited to receive her very own game for the family iPad. Up to now she hasn’t had much experience with games on a tablet or screen as she much prefers physical toys and games, so I was unsure how she would take to it – and as I am someone who my older children describe as ‘from the dark ages’ I was a bit reticent to engage with a game that is screen-based, but I have to say I have been pleasantly surprised.
Firstly, I was so relieved to see that the ‘Yuki’ figure and the ‘Magic’ pen don’t have to be charged – so we could get going straight away – and no more cables and small parts that could go missing! The pen and figure are very tactile and solid. They feel like very good quality and easily manipulated by little hands.
The app was easy to find and download – and again, the relief that everything worked seamlessly when we followed the prompts in using the figure and the pen was a huge bonus. My daughter enjoyed creating her avatar – and this is where I have a tiny niggle – there is room for a bit more diversity in the avatar features in terms of hair/eye and skin colour although it was lovely to see the eye patches and artificial limbs.
Parental controls are easy to set up – and this is the only other feature that could do with a bit of refinement as my nearly six-year-old was able to override the timer that I set up. She can read numbers in text and input the code easily, which then meant she could extend her time on the game (I discovered this when a half hour had seemed to go on for ever!!) In the parent section it’s also nice to have a bit of background to the ‘pedological concept’ and reports on her progress.
The game itself has some great features. We have the ‘Yuki’ artist street, which suits my daughter’s interests well. I am impressed with the variety of games that she can access – and how user-friendly it all is. After a few initial frustrations where she had to learn how to control the sensitivity of the pen and pay attention to the instructions offered by the characters (an issue with her rather than the game!) she soon had it all up and running and was accessing all the different games from the home screen by herself.
As a parent I can see some great educational features – the pen control is encouraged in a fun and engaging way; the language and vocabulary used by the characters is really good (I especially love the poetry used by Socka!) and the variety of skills to develop imagination is broad – there is a lot to explore here and the great thing is she is doing it all independently.
Other features I really like:
The sounds and images are good quality (not tinny, repetitive or annoying as some apps can be!);
The level of encouragement and positive reinforcement with no ‘scoring’ system (besides being able to gain stars for completing activities) which helps with her enjoyment and means there’s no competitive pressure involved with playing the games;
The learning in action (she was playing a colour mixing game and when she returned to another activity she could remember what she had just learned);
How interactive it all is – it is not staid and repetitive, there is a lot to keep her engaged and interested. It’s also great for keeping children occupied when travelling as it can be downloaded and used offline.
I would definitely be happy to recommend this product. Also, I fully appreciate that with this game it is a building block to other educational apps that she can learn and grow with and she is developing some great coding/programming/navigating basic skills – all whilst having a lot of fun. It is exactly as it says on the box – playful learning.
You can access the website via: https://www.edurino.co.uk/collections/startersets
This product is also available from Amazon.
Price:£44.99
Rating: 5/5