iGuyReviews

First Words: Vehicles (App Store, $1.99) is an educational app geared toward toddlers and small children.

Gameplay is straightforward: under a picture of a vehicle (there are 26 vehicles in all) the name of the vehicle is spelled out in large, greyed-out block letters. Beneath that are letter tiles which you simply drag up into place. When you’re successfully moved all of the letters into the right position, a voice says the name of the vehicle, the spelling, and the name of the vehicle one last time. Sounds like a great tool to help reinforce spelling skills, right? I thought so too, until I actually showed it to my 18-month-old son. Turns out it’s that, and more.

The developers have given the game options which make it fun and accessible even for babies and toddlers. For example, the option to enable/disable speech. When enabled, touching any of the letter tiles causes the name of the letter to be spoken. So your child will have constant reinforcement of the ABC’s. Another option, “Letter Hints,” causes the greyed-out letter boxes to expand as the correct letter slides into place. This allows even babies to play - they simply slide the letter tiles over all of the empty letter spaces until the correct place ‘expands’ and locks the tile into place. For slightly older children it is also possible to force correct letter order, making this app a useful tool for spelling practice as well.

The developers (Learning Touch) have also released FirstWords: Animals (App Store, $1.99) and FirstWords: Sampler (App Store, FREE) so be sure to check those out as well.