#AppMondayTAS - Toca Boca Birthday Party

Each week I will be featuring an app from BridgingApps.org.  These apps are features in the Bridging Apps newsletter each week and are reviewed by Speech Pathologists, Occupational Therapists, and Special Education Teachers.  Come back each week for a new review.  If you’d like more information on how to use the BridgingApps.org website, or to find more app reviews, please click here.

Toca Boca Birthday Party - (Universal, $2.99)

Reviewer Comments

Toca Birthday Party is a fun app that address pretend play and language skills.

The app begins with a choice of party themes. When the theme is chosen, the child then sets the table, chooses a gift and invites guests. The lights go out and the candles are lit. The app plays a song and the child and play partner can sing "Happy Birthday". The cake is then cut and the players can eat their cake, pour juice, pop the poppers and open the gift.

The app gives the child plenty of opportunities to communicate with the other players as well as pretend play. The adult play partner can request more juice or cake from the child encouraging receptive language by following commands and identifying objects receptively. The graphics are clear, crisp and engaging. The sound is unobtrusive and encourages more language from the players.

We have used this app with children from 2 years to 9 years with diagnoses of autism spectrum disorder, expressive and receptive language delay, Down syndrome, articulation disorder and pragmatic language disorder. The app is great for addressing pragmatic/social language goals, expressive labeling, sentence usage, asking and answering questions and following commands.

Mobile Devices

iPad

iPhone

Embedded Skills

"wh" questions

able to discriminate between pictures

able to follow simple directions

attention span

auditory comprehension

expressive identification of pictures

expressive language

expressive receptive language

follows 1-2 step commands

formulating questions and answers

increase creative play

listening skills

receptive identification of pictures

receptive language

social interaction

social skills practice

turn-taking in conversation

Independent Traits

Creative

Early Learning

Education

Listening Skills

Preschool Games

School-age Games

Creative

Early Learning

Education

Listening Skills

Preschool Games

School-age Games

Social Skills

Assistive/Independent

Independent

iTunes Categories

Games

Family

Kids

Entertainment

BridgingApps Categories

BridgingApps Reviewed App

Communication

Fun

Language Arts

Life Skills

Social Play

Social Skills

Speaking and Listening

Disclaimer:

You may copy, modify format, distribute and perform the work(s), including app reviews and

any data even for commercial purposes, all without asking permission provided that you: a)

cite our research project and publications as follows: BridgingApps, a program of Easter Seals

Greater Houston; b) agree that we make no warranties about the work(s) or data, and disclaim

liability for all uses of the work(s) or data, to the fullest extent permitted by applicable law; c)

when using or citing the work(s) or data, you should not imply endorsement by us; and d) do not

misrepresent the work or its content, or any part thereof, or present it any manner which would

have the effect of disparaging BridgingApps, Easter Seals Greater Houston or any affiliated

entity or person.

Patrick

Share this

Do you know somebody else who would find this post interesting or useful? Please forward it to them. Did somebody forward this post to you? Visit Teaching All Students and subscribe to receive posts for free. If you need a tutorial please visit this post: RSS Readers.

Toca Boca - Toca Store - Free April 2

Tomorrow is World Autism Awareness Day and to celebrate Toca Boca is offering a free app.  Tomorrow, April 2, Toca Boca is offering Toca Store (Universal) for free in the iTunes App Store.  Make sure you download your copy!

Patrick

Share this

Do you know somebody else who would find this post interesting or useful? Please forward it to them. Did somebody forward this post to you? Visit Teaching All Students and subscribe to receive posts for free. If you need a tutorial please visit this post: RSS Readers.

#AppMondayTAS - Toca Boca Apps

I downloaded Toca Hair Salon (Universal | $1.99) on a free day, and until recently had not had the chance to check it out.  This app is an amazingly well done app that's all about cutting and styling hair.  I first tried with my daughter, who fell in love with it.  Then I tried it with my students (8 boys) and they can't stop playing with it.  This app is all about play and imagination and presents so many opportunities for communication and socialization it is well worth the money.

Even before I had Toca Hair Salon, I had downloaded Toca Tea Party (iPad Only | $2.99), and again hadn't had a chance to try it out until recently.  This app caught my attention immediately, it's beautifully created and an amazing recreation of a child's tea party.  You start off by setting a table, by choosing your tablecloth, plates, cups and sweet treats.  Then it tells you to get some friends!!!  Everyone sits around the iPad and they can eat their sweet treats and drink their tea.  The host can pass out more treats and pour more tea.  There's even some napkins for when you spill.  The opportunities for practicing social skills, questioning, answering, and requesting are endless.  You can't even take more to eat until you finish what's in front of you!  When all the treats are done you have to put everything in the sink and clean up!

Since I had tried these two apps, I decided to splurge and get a few more.  I've since downloaded Toca Kitchen (Universal | $1.99) and Toca Store (Universal | $1.99).  Both are excellent apps that really encourage communication, creative play, socialization, requesting and more.  Toca Kitchen lets you pick from four characters and feed them.  Some foods they like, some they don't and some need to be cooked first!  Toca Store lets the kids set up shop and play store keeper.

Recently Toca Boca has added Toca House to their list of apps, which also include Toca Doctor, Toca Birthday Party Playtime, Toca Robot Lab, Toca Hair Salon - Christmas Gift (Free) and Helicopter Taxi.  I highly recommend these apps for any special education classroom or parent!

Patrick

Share this

Do you know somebody else who would find this post interesting or useful? Please forward it to them. Did somebody forward this post to you? Visit Teaching All Students and subscribe to receive posts for free. If you need a tutorial please visit this post: RSS Readers.