Dragon Shapes
Dragon Shapes is an educational game for iOS devices. The premise is to teach young children the basics of shapes and how they fit together.
The game is colorful and is held together by a loose story based on a Chinese Dragon myth. Using colorful characters in video, the story explains the basics of shapes to children.
Gameplay is simple in execution, but becomes more difficult as the levels progress. Understanding how shapes fit together to make larger ones becomes necessary. The game progresses through many levels that each teaches different shape forms and facts about them. This enhances the development of the STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Math) subjects and cognitive development, especially spatial skills Adams & Mayer, 2013). Research back in 1994 by Okagaki and Frensch realized the benefits of video game play on the development of spatial skills in early childhood and its impact on later childhood and adolescence.
The game is a free download with the first episode unlocked. A $2.99 app purchase unlocks the rest of the game, which is up to 50 additional levels. This is on the pricier side for a relatively simplistic game, but the production value will keep children entertained while learning. The blend of story, colors and effective teaching make this a solid investment.
Some questions to ask your child:
Are they able to recognize the shape prior to the explanation?
Can they name other shapes?
Do they see why shapes fit together?
Can they replicate the shape?
Can they say where in real life they see those shapes?
References
Adams, D. M., & Mayer, R. E. (2012). Examining the connection between dynamic and static spatial skills and video game performance. Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences, University of California, Santa Barbara. Retrieved on March 3, 2016 from http://mindmodeling.org/cogsci2012/papers/0225/paper0225.pdf
Okagaki, L., & Frensch, P. A. (1994). Effects of video game playing on measures of spatial performance: Gender effects in late adolescence. Journal of Applied Applied Psychology, 15, 33-58. Retrieved on March 3, 2016 from
www.iwitts.org/.../spatial.../spatial.../effects-of-video-game-playi.
Temple University (2012, July 25). Spatial skills may be improved through
training, including video games. ScienceDaily. Retrieved on November 21, 2013, from http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/07/120725120634.htm
