If you’re a teacher doing a segment on dinosaurs, or if your child is fascinated by the creatures, then Ansel and Clair’s Cretaceous Dinosaurs app for iPad is a must-have. As part of a dinosaur trilogy, the apps explore the worlds of the Triassic, Jurassic, and Cretaceous Periods.
Follow friends Ansel (an inter-galactic travel photographer) and Clair (a clever Virtoosian robot) as they explore the dinosaurs and environments of the Cretaceous Period. The app is incredibly interactive, and children must tap, swipe, or drag their fingers on the screen in order to move on to the next one. You can take pictures with Ansel and update your travel log while Clair tells you all about the dinosaurs. You can even travel to the fossil dig site to dig up bones and assemble them. After you finish the fossil puzzle, you travel back in time to the Cretaceous period to see what it was really like to live amongst the dinosaurs.
What is so great about apps like Cretaceous Dinosaurs from Ansel and Clair is that they teach kids without children necessarily realizing it. Clair is like an encyclopedia of knowledge, and Ansel asks questions for Clair to answer. You’ll hear the Tyrannosaurus roar and even experience a volcanic eruption and meteor shower. The interactive environment stimulates learning more than a traditional lecture, and it really immerses your child or student in the information rather than just simply telling it.
Ansel and Clair Cretaceous Dinosaurs also includes wonderful music reminiscent of Jurassic Park, and the sound effects and visual effects are stellar. The audio narration guides the players through the app, and it is personable and exciting.
Developers Cognitive Kid even spent a great deal of time researching the information. While they found some contradictory results, they went with the most research-based, scientific, and modern information. They do say that any factual inaccuracies can be reported to them, and they will update the app accordingly.
Ansel and Clair answer not only “what?” but also “why?” and “how?” The games and interactions are also adaptive, so they meet children at their current ability level and will increase with difficulty as a child succeeds. The app provides hours of stimulation and allows for a non-linear, open-ended, and immersive experience. Critically acclaimed by Teachers with Apps (including the real critics — students), Ansel and Clair will not disappoint.
Cretaceous Dinosaurs is the first in the trilogy, and the other two apps are planned for release. This incredible app can be found in the App Store for $1.99, which is an incredible bargain for all this app has to offer. The app is compatible with iPad.
