I played the Shape Builder puzzle game with my 5-year-old daughter and the colorful designs met her approval. But not for long.
She quickly grasped the game’s concept: drag five-to-10 puzzle-shaped pieces onto a silhouette of a hidden image. When you are finished, the silhouette is replaced with a drawing of the picture, accompanied by a pleasant female voice speaking the name of the object.
She breezed through the first dozen or so shapes but then lost interest. I think she became bored because dragging the shapes was not very challenging, as you simply keep dragging them around until they pop into place. Perhaps if the app offered a way to jump to a specific image, it might motivate a child to work on the puzzles longer. It also would be nice to skip a particular image if you’ve done it before.
Another drawback: there are no adjustable options when playing the game, like toggling the sound on and off.
Nevertheless, this app could come in handy to keep young fingers busy during a stay in the waiting room or a car trip — but not a long one. Shape Builder is recommended for kids between 3 and 6 years old.
