Infant Zoo App Review
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Infant Zoo App Review
Babies are on the brain and Infant Zoo is on the iPad. Infant Zoo is an app that provides visual stimulation for babies. The high contrast shapes, colors, and patterns are perfect for holding your young childs’ attention and encouraging focus. This app suits all babies and young children. I will discuss in the review how it can also benefit little ones with Sensory Processing Disorders, Autism, hyperactivity, and more.
There is a lot of research supporting that high contrast colors can improve a baby’s memory, focus, and discovery. Rather than purchasing board books and toys with high contrast designs, Infant Zoo brings them to the iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch. It is a great tool for learning together at home or on the go.
This app was created by treebetty design. They have many apps available for babies and young children. I enjoyed looking through their website and learning more about the company. They inspire discovery and exploration. Another staple to their company is making apps that are safe and easy to use.
How it Works
When you open the app, you can choose to watch or play. When watching, the shapes will turn into animals on their own with no assistance. It will transition through animals, shapes, and sounds. The baby can watch the entire thing without you and or him needing to lift a finger. The other option is to play. If you choose play, the baby will be prompted to touch the screen in order to move through the sequence of shapes, animals, and sounds. They will vibrate on the iPhone and if you shake the screen, the confetti will shake and appear all over the screen.
The watch screen is perfect for young babies that don’t know how to interact with the screen just yet. The play screen may be best suited for older babies or young tots that understand how to touch, shake, and interact with the screen.
The shake and vibration features are my favorite. They make the app more exciting and will keep your babies’ attention. When you shake the iPhone, colored confetti dots will explode across the screen. With the vibration feature, children can touch the screen and feel the vibration. For children that have Sensory Processing Disorders, they may find vibrations overwhelming or very exciting. The feature can be turned off in the settings menu. The vibrations only work on the iPhone.
In the settings menu, you can choose to have the child hit the arrows or simply tap to advance to the next sequence. I think hitting the arrows is a much more advanced skill and would be difficult for many young children so being able to turn that feature on and off is great. It might be even better to have the default setting set to off. You can also leave suggestions or contact others for help and join tree betty’s social networks in the settings menu.
Children with Sensory Processing Disorders or those that may need more sensory input will benefit from this app. I have seen and used many different sensory apps but most of them have pop ups and advertisements everywhere. This app is safe for exploration. There are no in-app advertisements or pop-ups. There are parent controls set up for the settings menu. The stimulating colors, and fun vibrations will calm and engage.
Babies Can Enjoy
Infant Zoo Overview
I would recommend this app mostly for children between the ages of 3 months to 2 years of age. This is a perfect tool for early intervention. It covers social skills, language, sensory discrimination, and cognitive skills. It really helps with coordinating activities in your daily routine as well as on the iPad. I was really impressed with the resources, tips, and guides to get you started and help you succeed. I also love the real world activities. Having a tool that steps you through therapy at home like this one does is invaluable for a parent. I would recommend finding ways to make the app a little less overwhelming but ultimately you want a comprehensive programm that will work. Be sure to enter our weekly giveaways on the Touch Autism Facebook page this week for the Infant Zoo App. At the time of writing this review, Infant Zoo retailed for $3.99 in the app store. There is a lite version to try out for FREE.
To learn more, check out the treebetty design Their focus is on creating apps for young children that encourage play, learning, and discovery.
Buy the Infant Zoo App in the App Store today!
