Orphs of the Woodlands at Tangletree - TOS Reveiw

We loved reviewing Orphs of the Woodlands by Star Toaster so when we were offered the chance to review their new product, an interactive app called Orphs of the Woodlands at Tangletree I had some very excited girls.

This new game is designed for elementary children so I signed up Tulip and Rose (9 & 7). Both have really loved this but I am getting ahead of myself.

The Orphs of the Woodlands at Tangletree is an app designed to look like a book that teaches as you read, during the story you are introduced to various concepts (usually highlighted words or phrases) that link to explanations, new pages of examples or video lessons.

The story focuses on Abba and Hatta's rescue and subsequent care of the baby Orphs, all the while trying to help those effected by a flood and solve a few mysteries. The plot is engaging and really sparked the girls imagination.

As you read and learn from the interactive story, you are offered jobs / tasks in town, these jobs earn you stars which provide you with supplies you use to feed and clothe the Orph babies you have rescued from the flood. 

The set up is really easy as is the navigation - there are four icons at the bottom of the screen; the compass takes you to a map, the book takes your current place in the story, the tree shows you what you need to buy to provide a safe haven for the Orphs and the star takes you to town where you earn your stars. Pages in the book are turned using the green arrows on the page and you can move forward or backwards.

When you visit Stumptown, all the shops have a little number above that indicate the numbers of jobs available. 

Clicking on the building takes you to the jobs they have available and also offers some job training (it's just a repeat of the things they learnt in the story and the videos but the repetition really helped cement the facts). There were loads of topics covered which included vocabulary, zoology, morals, character, grammar, science and more.

I have loved this app, I enjoyed it so much that I sat alongside them as they were reading it however this is a product they could easily have used unsupervised, they even have a section where you can view their progress and work so you can keep track of what they are doing.

I'm also impressed by how much it has taught them, they have even started identifying and using similes in their normal conversations (and taking great pride in telling people what a simile is) and that they were willing to give up other game privileges to play this.

The girls have really taken to the story and Rose was so impressed by Abba that she spent 3 days dressed as a flying squirrel (although she wasn't happy that she didn't have a green cape).

Orphs of the Woodlands at Tangletree is available for $1.99.

You can see what my crewmates thought over at the TOS Blog.