Parents want so much to teach the old stories from our scriptures to our children; however, stories that were written so long ago are usually not as appealing to kids as watching cartoon or playing video games.
Well, now it’s time to level the playing field. The folks at Wanderful have taken the story of Daniel in the Lion’s Den, as told by Ruth Tiller, and have transformed it into a computer program that bring the story to life.
Yes, it’s an app.
Daniel’s story originally comes from the Old Testament. Now, kids can get to know Daniel, all of his fears, and how he overcomes them.
The app is full of several pages brimming with color, activity, and lessons to learn. Kids connect with the characters because they are portrayed in an accessible way. The narration voice is of a child, so that in and of itself is huge.
When you first download the app, which costs just $2.99, you are greeted by Daniel, who welcomes you with “Shalom!” From here, you can choose to have the story read to you or you can read it yourself.
Should you choose to be read to, the app will take care of everything. All you do is sit back, relax, and listen. In this mode, as the narrator speaks, the words light up, keeping kids’ attention and subliminally teaching them how to read.
Should you choose to explore, the page will be read to you, but then pauses for you to tap on words, read the text again, or just tap on the various items on the screen, which magically come to life. The animations and dialog are humorous and entertaining, which makes the learning so easy.
When you are done with a page, you tap on the right arrow found at the bottom right of the screen. The next page will be read and then you can explore that one. If you want to go back to a page, you can do that, too.
Other neat features include:
- Ten (10) fully animated pages
- Engaging original music throughout the storybook
- Virtually every item on each page comes to life when tapped
- Multiple settings to further customize the app to meet your child’s needs
- Parental tips to maximize value from the interactive storybook
- Bookmark mode – you can set whether or not you want the app to remember where you were if you have to close it before finishing
- Patience Mode – kids have to allow an animation to finish before they can trigger the next item
- Page Story Completion – When ON, the narration on a page must finish before any animation triggered by taps will be allowed. This is a must for little ones.
There is no much negative that can be said about this app. As an adult, even I found it interesting. The one this I would change is make the screen a bit bigger. I’m being a pain because I was viewing this app from my iPhone. I probably should have purchased it on an iPad, but not everyone has one.
Other than that, Daniel in the Lion’s Den is a definite download if you are in the market for an educational app that teaches kids great things on multiple levels.