Apart from vehicles, Noah is also interested in animals of all sorts. His “best friend” is a white tiger soft toy, and he also loves his polar bear and manatee soft toys. Recently, we had the opportunity to preview ZooMoo’s new series, ‘Lost’, a programme for children about animals, and had fun trying out the free ZooMoo app as well.
ZooMoo is a collaboration between some of the world’s foremost wildlife filmmakers and world renowned early childhood educationalists from the University of Otago, New Zealand’s premier university. The cast consists of furry puppets, and facts about different animals are introduced in interesting ways.
The ZooMoo Main Cast: Owl, Flash, and Piglet
Photo courtesy of ZooMoo
Flash (the dog) is a wildlife photographer with a passion for animals, an unshakable sense of adventure, and little sense of direction. Each 11-minute episode of ‘Lost’ sees Flash missing somewhere in the world, and in trouble. As danger mounts, Flash’s friends, Owl and Piglet, race against time to save him.
“Oh dear, Flash is lost!”
“Owl will help him.”
Noah was glued to the screen when I showed him the different episodes, but he did get quite scared when there was a volcano eruption. (He doesn’t like earthquakes and volcano eruptions.) I had to assure him that Owl and Piglet would be able to rescue Flash, before he agreed to continue watching it. Noah doesn’t watch TV regularly, and when he does, I try to ensure that he is accompanied by an adult, in case he has any questions about the programme. Noah will also make references to what he has watched, so it helps if I watch the show with him, and know what he’s talking about.
You might have noticed in the photos above that Noah has the iPad switched on as he watches the show. That’s the ZooMoo app, which is synchronised to the broadcast, thanks to an acoustic watermark, inaudible to our ears, but easily detected by the microphone on the iPhone/iPad/tablet. You’ll be prompted to allow the ZooMoo app access to the microphone on your iPad, and when the ZooMoo app is switched on, the channel sends original and complimentary content to the iPad. The app doesn’t require Wifi or Internet connection, and is free for both Mac and Android systems.
The ZooMoo app
The ZooMoo app can be used at any time, whether or not they are watching ZooMoo, to play with their collection of ZooMoo treasures, including: – Pictures of real animals – Animal sound effects – Videos of animals performing their amazing abilities – Feeding animals with collected food cards – Posing and photographing animals – Albums for their own digital photographs and art
As children play with the app, they can discover more activities to unlock. The “Parents Area” at the bottom of the play screen allows parents to find out fun facts about all the animals collected, so that they can discuss the animals with their children. I liked that the videos were of real animals moving around, instead of animations, as children can learn what the animals really look like, and observe how they move from the videos.
Some details about the ZooMoo App
Noah has never played with any app on the iPhone or iPad before, so this was a first for him. To be completely honest, we aren’t keen on letting him play with any kind of apps, no matter how educational they might be, so this was a one-off experience for him. He was very enthusiastic about feeding the animals, but didn’t know what they ate, so I had to guide him. I think young children who are more familiar with using apps will be able to figure out how to use the ZooMoo app easily, and will probably enjoy interacting with the animals in the app as well.
Noah playing with the app
If you’re looking for an educational series and app for your children, do check out ZooMoo and the ZooMoo app. I would suggest that you play around with the app on your own first, to see for yourself how easy it is to use, and to learn about the animals that your child will encounter, so that you can talk to him about them. Have fun!
ZooMoo is a channel dedicated to preschoolers, and is available on StarHub TV Channel 306. ‘Lost’ premiered on 16 September 2015, at 5pm.
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GIVEAWAY TIME!
We have a ZooMoo gift pack (items pictured below, child not included) to give away! To participate, please use the Rafflecopter widget below. Terms and conditions apply.
Terms and Conditions: This giveaway will end on Friday, 2nd October 2015, at 2359h, and is open to Singapore residents only. The winners will be contacted via the particulars provided when entering this giveaway, and will have 24 hours to respond, failing which a new winner will be selected. All incomplete entries will be disqualified, and all entries will be verified before the winner is announced. To be fair to our sponsor, please note that all fake Facebook accounts (accounts set up purely to take part in contests, with no or very few real friends), will be disqualified. This giveaway is in no way sponsored, endorsed or administered by, or associated with, Facebook.
*Disclaimer: We received the ZooMoo gift pack for the purpose of this review. All photos of the show and app are courtesy of ZooMoo. All other photos are ours, and all opinions, as always, are our own.
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