Word Wagon: Possibly The Best Word Game For Young Readers
Word Wagon - by Duck Duck Moose ($1.99) by Duck Duck Moose is just plain brilliant. Duck Duck Moose has done it again! Prior to this app being released, I was really hoping one of my favorite children's app developers would come up with a concept just like this.
Having owned this app for several weeks now and thoroughly tested it with my three-year-old daughter and almost two-year-old son, I can tell you it is a hit. My son knows hit letters but can't read yet and still enjoyed matching up letters to make words.
I would like to quickly run through the learning objectives of Word Wagon. The game focuses on guiding children in word composition, phonics, and spelling. Follow Mozzarella the mouse and his best friend, Coco the bird - they will help your child learn about everything from letters to phonics. Duck Duck Moose says, "Word Wagon includes 103 words (including 44 Dolch sight words) in 7 categories. (Ages 1-7)."
There are four difficulty levels to choose from: Level 1: Letters – Learn the names of the letters. Level 2: Phonics – Learn the sounds of the letters. Level 3: Spelling I – Spell words up to 4 letters. Level 4: Spelling II – Spell words up to 6 letters
As soon as I opened the app, I was really hoping there would be levels of difficulty and I'm so glad I was not disappointed - this feature makes Word Wagon stand out from other spelling and word games for kids such as First Words.
The list goes on of things I appreciate about Word Wagon. The characters are very fun. The levels of difficulty are perfectly appropriate for each learning stage. The interface is intuitive and easy for kids to navigate. It is colorful and engaging. Keeps track of the words your child has spelled which gives him or her a sense of accomplishment
The voice over quality could improve. The music is cute, but I would really love to see the recording quality of the voices taken to the next level.
The iPad edition is coming very soon, but even the iPhone edition on the iPad in 2xs mode looks great.
If you have children between toddlerhood and second grade, this is a great little investment. Make learning about phonics, letters and spelling fun! Mozzarella the mouse is sure to please your child and she won't even realize that she is enjoying the process of learning to compose words.
