kalvin faythe: This is my body - Anatomy for kids for iPad review

Thursday, September 6, 2012

This is my body - Anatomy for kids for iPad review

This is my body - Anatomy for kids is an iPad app that teaches the principles of human anatomy in a playful and engaging way. It features informations about all important aspects of the human body in a beautifully designed and illustrated app package.

Since Anatomy is designed for kids, all of the screens are fun animations and everything is narrated by a young girl. Before you start, you get to choose from 8 different characters. There are four girls and four girls to choose from. Anatomy does make a point to mention that how you look doesn't have an impact on how your body works and that all bodies function the same -- every human is unique, yet we are all very similar.

After choosing your character, there are nine different modules to explore: Growing, My Skin, My Senses, I am Hungry!, Breathing, Heartbeat, My Muscles, My Nerves, and My Skeleton. At each section, you can tap and interact with different elements of the screen to learn about body parts or to participate in actions like putting a bandaid on a cut.

At the top and right of the screen of the main page of each section of Anatomy, you'll see ribbons. Pulling the top ribbon down will navigate to the next module and pulling the right ribbon to the left will move to the next page of the current module. There are multiple pages with each section that provide a lot of great information. For example, in the Growing module, there are five pages that discuss uniqueness vs similarities of people, fingertips, pregnancy, hair and fingernail growth, and more. Some pages can be scrolled up for even more information. If you tap on a block of italicized text, the narrator will read it to you.

Anatomy does mention that we originate from an egg cell that is fertilized by a sperm, so if you're not ready to answer the questions your child may ask when learning this fact, you may not want to have your child use This is my body quite yet.

When swiping down to navigate between modules, you are essentially removing layers of the body. Your character will start fully clothed, then just tank top and underwear, then to being in only underwear or completely naked, then different screens for digestive, respiratory, and circulatory systems. Next, the skin will be removed to show the muscular system, then the nervous system, and lastly, the skeletal system. From the Settings app, you can choose whether the My Senses module will show your character completely naked (with genitalia that can be identified) or in underwear only.

The good

Engaging and fun for young users
Educational
Tap text to have it read to you (for the younger ones who are still learning to read)
8 characters to choose from
Option show character in underwear or nude for My Senses module

The bad

Anatomy mentions the the app's settings in the parents section, but doesn't make it clear that they are in the Settings app and not in-app

The conclusion

This is my body - Anatomy for kids is a fantastic way for children to learn more about their bodies. It is very engaging and fun for all young learners and makes learning about the human body fun and exciting.