We’ve burned through enough awe-inspiring titles on the App Store as part of Apple’s Free App of The Week Initiative but seldom have we seen a brilliant title designed with kids in mind heading our way for free. Today is that day, as we get the chance to grab an app that has been designed to help children explore the ocean and learn about ocean life in a fun and easy manner. The app usually retails for $3, but can be grabbed for free till next Thursday.
Enter – MarcoPolo Ocean, the perfect “digital sandbox” for children, and given that fact that the age group being aimed at here is not exactly one with their own iPhones or iPads, the title is really one for the parents out there looking to move their kids away from the usual games for a change.
The best thing about this learning puzzle game is the totally open and free gameplay which will allow children to explore the ocean and the ocean floor while interacting with all elements they come across. “The open ocean is a personal aquarium your child can explore however he or she chooses!”
Six build-and-play activities bring the language and the images of the ocean to life. Ocean is playfully narrated and animated to reinforce vocabulary, physical attributes and ocean concepts.
There are over 30 different species of marine life to come across in MarcoPolo Ocean, and children will be able to “Investigate by tapping, dragging and swiping where the animals live in the ocean to see their natural behaviors and how they interact with other animals.”
The developer, MarcoPolo Learning, has developed an app/game that will take children through a “self-directed discovery” in matters of science, technology, engineering and math. It will tackle the following concepts:
The wide variety of animal species that live in the shallow and deep parts of the ocean
Ocean landscape
Construction and characteristics of a boat (shipping vessel) and submersible
Characteristics of fish and marine mammals
Topic-specific vocabulary exposure and acquisition
This is the third time that MarcoPolo Ocean has shed its price tag in two years, so if you feel like this is something your kid would actually benefit from, download it right now before the offer expires. The app is compatible with both the iPhone and iPad.
(Download: MarcoPolo Ocean for iPhone and iPad from the App Store)
You can follow us on Twitter, add us to your circle on Google+ or like our Facebook page to keep yourself updated on all the latest from Microsoft, Google, Apple and the Web.
