Angela Moorad, MS, CCC-SLP. Over 36 years experience in AAC. OMazing Kids AAC and app consulting. Creator of several AAC Feature Matching resources (https://omazingkidsllc.com/omazing-kids-aac-resource-links/). Includes info about unique features to support Gestalt Language Processors
I was thrilled to have the opportunity to review the newest app from Dr. Panda for Technology in Education /Appymall! I have several of this developer’s apps and use them almost everyday in OMazing Kids speech therapy.
Here’s what I love about this new app:
There is a knock at the door but it doesn’t open to reveal which character is coming in until you tap it. This is fun to build anticipation. The character waves “hi” as they enter.
The app has an intuitive interface (easy to figure out where to tap and what to do). The arrows on the right and left sides of the screen lend themselves well to working on that basic concept as you chose which direction to go.
Extra large characters & items. This is great for kids with fine motor delays or visual impairment. It also made it easier to point out details such as body parts, bath toys, hygiene tools, etc. as I used this app to target speech and language goals.
I love the realistic feel of the characters in this app (in comparison to the flat sticker-like feel of characters in the Dr. Panda School and Dr. Panda Farm apps). The app includes 2 boy characters (Dr. Panda & Puppy) and 2 girl characters (Monkey & Kitty).
A symbol or two appear in the top right hand corner of the screen to tell you what that character needs. There are often other clues such as the character being dirty, wiping off their clothes, saying “Eww”, etc. This is great to work on perspective taking and inferencing. When 2 symbols appear, it’s a great opportunity to talk about what the character should do “first” and then “next”.
There are 7 areas in the app (door/entry area, closet, toilet, sink, laundry, bathtub, shower)
After using the toilet, the app automatically takes the character to wash their hands at a close up view of the sink.
The sink area is also for brushing teeth and in that mode has a manual toothbrush, electric toothbrush, toothpaste, mouthwash, spray cologne & a comb.
The shower has hot & cold water and the character reacts if it’s too hot or too cold. I also liked being able to remove the shower sprayer to spray all over the character.
The bathtub has a scuba mask and snorkel. So cute to get to make the character go under the water! I also love the toy (sometimes a boat & sometimes a rubber duck)
The closet has 5 outfit choices for the boys and 5 outfit choices for the girls.
A checkmark appears over the symbol in the top right corner when that task has been successfully completed. I immediately thought of my patients who use a visual schedule and how it would be fun to create a visual schedule to go along with this app.
When all the tasks have been completed and the character has been dressed, they go back to the doorway area. The door opens and they pause in the doorway. This provides the opportunity to tell the character “bye bye” before you tap them and they say “bye” as the leave. This is followed by a new character knocking on the door and a new series of opportunities appearing. The app appears to be randomized which makes for lots of fun options each time you use it.
The app has lots of opportunities for core vocabulary with AAC users (of course this app would have to be on a separate iPad from their “talker”). There are also tons of opportunities for other vocabulary, spatial concepts, adjectives, verbs, etc…. That’s why I love using apps like this in therapy!
The parent area is secured and contains options to easily toggle off/on the background music and sound effects separately from each other and to toggle off the promotion screen (when “on” it shows a pic of one of their other apps on the home screen. I personally toggle this off to prevent patients from becoming distracted). These features all make it sensory-friendly & special-needs friendly.
One of the most AWESOME features throughout the app is that the character’s eye gaze follows items as you move them on the screen. They even look up towards the checkmark as it’s added to a completed task. If you try to tap on an area that doesn’t make sense (such as the closet to get dressed while the character is still dirty), the character makes a surprised facial expression and looks up towards the symbol area to remind us what we still need to do. Most of my patients have Autism and often don’t tune it and follow like that so it will be super cool to see if this skill being modeled in an app leads to an increase in those skills as I infuse this app into their therapy.
Wishes for a future app update:
make it possible to rotate a character in the shower so you can wash their back.
add the hot/cold reaction to the bathtub like is currently seen in the shower.
add a few more outfit/clothing options. The drawers at the bottom open so that would be a good place to have extra outfits. Additional outfits could also be added by having separate choices for each character and by having additional choices rotate through as the app randomizes.
depict the characters spitting out the mouthwash by adding a swishing and spitting sound effect and action. I had one patient who thought the characters were drinking it (eek!)
Dr. Panda Bath Time by Dr. Panda Ltd https://appsto.re/us/iek0bb.i, iOS Universal, $2.99 (a bargain for a well designed app that could be used to target several speech and language goals)
There are also two Android versions. I haven’t tried those since I don’t have any devices on that platform but am sharing the links for those who do:
Update: Here are some symbols I made to use with the app. I’m planning on using them both as communication symbols and as visual schedule symbols depending on the child I’m working with:
{Free App Alert} All of the apps from STEP BY STEP are currently FREE for a limited time so grab them quickly! Get links on this post: http://bit.ly/2bWPMhd
I downloaded them all, tried them out and especially appreciate all the settings options that make these apps “sensory friendly” and “special needs friendly”.
The developer’s Facebook page indicates “in the coming weeks, another 8 apps will be launched (all approved by Apple already) and then we’ll start working on Android versions.” No indication as to whether or not they will also be free but I’ll keep my eyes out for them.
I left 3 installed on my therapy iPad based on goals I’m addressing with current patients. The “Same Same” app is nice for face up identical matching. I have several patients who get frustrated with the “memory” aspect of most memory match games so face up matching is a nice place to start. “Place in Groups” & “Sort by Kind” are good for categorization.
{Book Review} The Gingerbread Man Loose at the Zoo by Laura Murray
About the book: Is there anything more fun than a class trip to the zoo? The Gingerbread Man and his classmates don’t think so, and they get to solve riddles on a WILD scavenger hunt. They meet giraffes, monkeys, and even a fox (especially scary for a Gingerbread Man!). Animals galore and a trail of clues make the Gingerbread Man’s latest adventure his wildest one yet.
What I love about this book:
wonderful rhyming text that is fun to read
funny illustrations (many have speech bubbles)
lots of great verbs & adjectives
simple animal riddles
lots of opportunities for kids yoga activities based on the animals and other elements in the book (frog, owl, wolf, snake, giraffe, monkey, lion, elephant, bear, mole rat (child’s pose), zebra, rhino, seal, crocodile, fox, kangaroo, bus, gyan mudra looking glasses, cross crawl hike)
Important Notice: Sadly I cannot recommend this app anymore. The app developer has chosen to price it at $99.99 to force folks over to their newer Speech Blubs app. They have chosen to go with a subscription-based model, are luring folks in with the promise of a free short trial and then charging a $9.99 per month subscription fee. They are also misusing the names of several SLP blogs including my own to promote that new app. On their website they include quotes from reviews for the original app and number of users from that app and are trying to pass them off as being related to this new app. You can see my full blog post with concerns at:
It took a social media blitz to get them to remove the OMazing Kids name from the description for Speech Blubs on the App Store but I just saw they are still using my name on their website and linking back to this post. I have written this update to this post to hopefully force them to quit using the OMazing Kids name on their website, any social media or any app stores (Apple, Google Play, Amazon or any others that might appear in the future). They have seriously messed with the wrong speechie…. I am very active and vocal on social media, am in almost every SLP Facebook group that they might try to lure SLPs in and am definitely not afraid to call them out every single time I see them post.
Also see this post on my Facebook page and the comments section on that post:
{Free App Alert} Cool! Check out the new First Blubs app to encourage kids to imitate the sounds & mouth movements of 22 different animals. Includes peer video modeling, a mirror for video self modeling, virtual animal props, stickers to encourage participation, virtual candy with hidden video surprises or animal facts, and more! This app would be fun to incorporate with play with animal toys or puppets and the Dr. Seuss book or book app “Mr. Brown Can Moo! Can You?”.
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Get the FREE app (includes the donkey, fish & duck) and then tap on any of the locked animals to unlock the in-app purchase for all of the animals FREE (see the 4 steps in the screenshot). Grab the IAP quickly since it will only be free this week.
{Tips: Be sure to adjust your settings to allow IAPs on your device before attempting to unlock the IAP in this app. Also make sure you have a strong WiFi connection and be patient as it takes a bit for all the animals to download after you unlock them}
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First Blubs – Speech Delay Therapy with Animal Sounds by Blub Blub https://appsto.re/us/_eOPdb.i, iOS Universal (works on iPad, iPhone or iTouch running iOS 8.0 or later)
Found out about the IAP being free via this post on the app developer’s page and then verified by unlocking the IAP on my iPad:
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App video trailer:
Check out their website for more info, tips and how to get free coloring pages to go with the app.
Their website also has a place to subscribe for a notification when the Android version of the app is released.
. Wishes for a future app update: My wish for a future app update would be for them to add these tips and free coloring pages with the option to print them each individually as a PDF in the settings area on the app rather than having to go to a website or to e-mail to request the coloring sheets. It would also be nice to add the name of the animal on the sticker screen and the practice screen to promote early literacy skills and to aide in the adult knowing what the animal is. Most are obvious but I wasn’t able to guess that the duck was a duck by the illustration. I also wasn’t sure what the two different birds were.
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Excited to see on their website that they have more apps in the works in this series 🙂
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{App Review + Giveaway} Join the Fuzzies Chip the beaver, Hopsy the rabbit, Siena the alpaca, and Wooly the lamb in their Fuzzy House. This gorgeous new app has six interactive areas to explore (entryway, living room, kitchen, upstairs hallway, bedroom, and bathroom). Each area has interactive objects and other hidden features. Love using open exploration apps like this in OMazing Kids speech therapy! So many great opportunities for vocabulary, verbs, adjectives, pronouns, spatial concepts, storytelling, sequencing, turn taking and more. My favorite room in this app is the living room where the animals can dance to music, play an instrument, jump on the couch, build a fire in the fireplace and more.
I have 3 iOS codes to giveaway for the iPad version of this amazing new app. See details below for how to enter to win a code.
OMgoodness! I wish I knew how to knit. Check out the patterns to knit your own characters from the app: http://www.fuzzyhouse.com/knit/. Also check out all the cute items to make for the Fuzzies: http://www.fuzzyhouse.com/create/
Want a chance to win this fun app? Head over and follow the entry instructions on this post the OMazing Kids Facebook page:
Entry Deadline: Tomorrow, 8/21/16 at 6:00pm CST. Depending on the number of entries received, it may take a day or so to verify them and to announce the winners/distribute the codes to the winners.
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“My Spots” is a sweet children’s book about finding our own unique “spots” and being okay with any birthmarks that nature gave us. The author gently guides children through a journey of acceptance and self-love by illustrating beautiful spots and markings found on animals in nature. This is a wonderful new addition to my OMazing Kids collection of children’s picture books on self-esteem! I like that it includes a page for the child to draw their own special birthmark spots & a page for them to answer the question “If you were an animal, what type of spots would you have?” and then draw it.
{Free App Code Tips} So maybe everybody else already knew this but I just found out that there are FREE app promo codes hidden in the messages in the Inbox area in the Starbucks app. Cool! I saw a post over in the On Sarah’s iPad Facebook group about this Sago Mini app being free. Awesomesauce! That is one of the few Sago Mini apps that I didn’t have yet and has been on my “wish list”. So I downloaded the Starbucks app on my iPhone and logged in but there were not any messages. A little bummed but then I checked the messages area on the app that had already been installed on my husband’s phone and BINGO! The message was there, I was able to redeem a code and then install it to my iPad from the cloud since he & I share an iTunes account. I then went back through all the old messages in that app on his phone and scored several other apps whose codes had not expired yet. I’m now leaving the Starbucks app installed on my iPhone so I can get new messages about the free apps from this point forward. Guess my hubbie’s love of Starbucks coffee finally paid off… lol 😉
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P.S. Unless you already love Starbucks and go there frequently, then it wouldn’t be worth your time to try to get free apps via their app. But if you go to Starbucks frequently then be sure to check your messages within the app to see what app freebies may be awaiting you.
{$.99 App Deal} This app is hilarious! Found it last night when I was looking for more ways to target Yes/No questions. Also great for targeting goals on forming questions, inferencing & categories, etc…. Definitely worth $.99 :). Be sure to get the free printable cards to go with the app. Also check out the links that I posted in the comments section on the Facebook post to other apps I love that target Yes/No and some great websites.
{App Update Tips} There are several reasons why I have “automatic downloads” toggled OFF on all my iPads:
Some app updates cause you to lose access to an app. See the “First Nouns” app in this screenshot as an example. The developer has switched to a subscription based model.
If an app is working properly with the version of iOS that I’m running on that device, there is no need to update. Doing so may cause problems. The saying “if it’s not broken, don’t fix it” applies. As a side note, I always hold off on updating to the latest iOS operating system to allow time for bugs to be worked out and to allow time for app developers to release updates to make their apps compatible with that iOS and work out bugs there too. I use my iPads everyday in speech therapy and especially depend on AAC apps and therapy apps so I can’t afford to take any risks. I look for comments on an app developer’s page and in a variety of FB groups for signs that it’s safe to update the iOS and/or the app.
Some updates add content that I’m not interested in. An example of this is when many apps add seasonal content for Halloween.
But there are times that I do need to update an app. I often will look to see if an app has been updated if it is acting glitchy or after I have updated to a more current iOS and apps are acting glitchy with that.
Important reminder: It is always wise to back up any programming that you’ve done on an AAC app BEFORE you install an update. It’s also wise to get any info you need from the data collection area of a therapy app before you install an update.
In order to update apps manually, you go to the App Store, tap “Updates” at the bottom of the screen (or search for the app by name) and read the info closely about the update to decide if you want to install it. NEVER click “update all”. Instead click “update” just on the specific app you have decided to update. Some updates are large and will require a strong WiFi connection and may require you to free up space on your iPad before you install them.
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OMazing Kids AAC Consulting 