Fanny Foozle is an interactive character book and app series available on your mobile devices for preschool children. Even after reading the books and playing the games, I still have no idea what Fanny Foozle is, a balloon maybe? No idea. I do know that I have heard the theme song playing on our iPad several times in the past few days.
My toddler son likes to make the characters in the book bounce around and he enjoys playing the matching game he gets to play when the book is finished. There are a lot of cute interactive opportunities on each page that my son enjoys. Houses fly upwards, characters spin and make noises, flowers bloom, and so much more; each page offers something different.
Our family favorite page is when “the four leaf fantukle is the most beautiful flower to bloom.” The flowers on this page sound like wind chimes when you touch them and you can tap the grass to make more flowers bloom. The sound effects are very creative.
At the end of the book there are six prompts: Game, Karaoke, Matching, Web, Coloring, and Video
Game: Was a silly game where you can make the characters bounce around the bounce house. They make noises when they hit the walls and each other. Everything from squeaks to burps & toots. My toddler finds this game rather silly.
Karaoke: sings the theme song at various tempos, getting faster with each restart. You can sing along with the character or turn the vocals off. My toddler didn’t understand the purpose, thus, didn’t stay in this section long enough to formulate an opinion.
Matching Game: is a standard matching game but it doesn’t have any sound. Very cute and colorful but I’d like to see some sound or a prize picture revealed after all the matches are made as a reward. Toddler Boy does enjoy playing this matching game and it is his preferred game to play at the end of the storybook.
Web: Takes you to the Fanny Foozle website. I found this odd that they would have this as an option as many parents don’t want their children to leave the app and this encourages them to leave. The website didn’t offer anything of value either. I was disappointed that there was no “story” behind Fanny Foozle offered there.
Color: has three coloring pages. The coloring crayon is very thin. It is a great place for my toddler to scribble
Video: is a music video of the theme song. My baby girl enjoys watching the video.
Learning App:
I like that I can switch from Spelling to Writing. The spelling option is a drag and drop word spelling game. My little guy really enjoys matching up the letters and I think this is a great learning tool for him.
When working in the writing section, the work area should be bigger. I like that you can change the color crayon you are working with and you can enter your child’s name into the game to practice writing and spelling it. Even better, you can record your own voice saying the name so the non-reading child can know what the word is.
The flaw with this app is that it doesn’t automatically go to the next word once mastered. I think most kids would expect the app to move on for them. Until someone is accustomed to the app not moving forward for you they may sit and wonder why it isn’t changing.
The word puzzle it too advanced for many children solely because it is hard to understand what they are saying. I would like to see a sounding opportunity available for those who are struggling to find an answer.
Fanny Foozle Pop:
Cute game that encourages hand-eye coordination and quick thinking. All of the characters fly upwards on the screen as balloons in the air. You are to pop them before they fly away while avoiding popping the Mayor. Cute game. My toddler loves it and even understands not to hit the Mayor. He will say “Oh Man! I got ’em!” when he accidentally taps him. Cute, cute.
Mommy’s Thoughts:
My family enjoyed the Fanny Foozle apps greatly. I think my toddlers enjoy the learning apps moreso than the interactive storybook. The storybook is lengthy and they grow weary of it taking so long to get through it.
The Fanny Foozle pop game is a lot of fun and can be fun to play together with your little one. The more animated you are if someone accidentally taps the Mayor, the more fun your little one will have with it. This is a great tool for hand-eye coordination and teaching that accidents are okay.
We look forward to seeing more learning apps added to this series.
Want to try the apps yourself?
iTunes:
Google Play:
Kindle:
SONGS:
