Kuato Studios has released a couple of simple games in celebration of Christmas, with a nod to their Dino Tales style and game. The Dino Flip game we are reviewing below is free until mid January too, so hurry! Dino Flip is a memory, matching game and Dino Paint; a lovely little painting game, that gets those dinosaurs in the mood for Christmas. The apps are available on iOS, Android and Amazon now.
Dino Paint ($1.19)
This is a simple game for the kids with some cool dinosaur scenes for them to colour in. It is a painting app that encourages colour recognition, and matching for children under 5.
Paintings can be saved to the camera on the device, so that they can be emailed out; always nice when you want to show of your kids’ artwork.
Painting is done using a small colour wheel, which has 8 colours; just the simple ones so as not to overwhelm younger children. The colour of the middle of the wheel, along with a spot on your screen on bottom left, shows you which colour you are currently painting with; I was using green in the shot below.
Your children use their finger to paint, either with a brush tool (wide and less defined – left below), or a pencil tool (thin and more defined – right below).
In addition, there is a rubber tool, which enables you to clear any mistakes made in drawing.
This is a lovely app to keep the kids entertained, particularly those with Dinosaur mad tendencies. There are 24 designs within the app to choose to colour, so something for everyone. There are also four blank sheets, so you can create your own Dinosaur Christmas fun too, or even have your own go at creating a little impressionist art just like my daughter did here…
This app isn’t too expensive, and so not a sophisticated painting app, but that is to be expected for the cost. For example, there are limited brushes, paint colours, and no fill tool. This does make sense though, as it is aimed at pre-schoolers, so they don’t need anything too complicated.
The illustrations are in keeping with the other apps from the Kuato stables, so well drawn, and charming; with a little Christmas cheekiness thrown in for a bit of seasonal jollity!
Overall, we loved having fun with this game. It’ll keep the little ones entertained while you cook Christmas Dinner, and you’ll have a lovely picture to show for it at the end. There are better painting apps out there, but they cost more, so its a perfect starter level painting app particularly for all those dinosaur fans out there.
“I’m enjoying this Mum – lets do Picasso!”
Verdict: 8/10
Dino Flip (Free until mid January)
Matching games are a tradition, and kids love them. There are a number of apps that offer this type of activity for kids, and Kuato’s latest app gives a Christmas feel to the dinosaurs pictured within it.
The app is aimed at kids under 5, and as such as a number of different levels to help choose the one suitable for your child’s age. You can choose from games involving a different number of cards to differentiate between your children’s abilities.
Matching can be done on grids from a size with six cards, twelve, sixteen and finally twenty cards. Players are shown where the pairs are, and then the cards are “flipped” face down on the screen. Depending on the level, you are then given a specific amount of time to find all the matches.
Upon completion, players are presented with a rather nice star by the in-house Triceratops!
The graphics are simple, but effective, and have a really nice Christmas theme; including some rather cute little santa hats, present bags, and those fetching pink dinosaurs that got stuck in the berry blasts from Dino Tales.
We liked how simple this game is, and that there are different levels for the kids, so it is possible for children to progress. The game is free, so you can’t really go wrong, can you? Your children’s memory (and your own!) is tested, and matching cards will help with your child’s recognition and cognitive skills. It’s cute too! ;-)
Verdict: 8/10
Both of these apps are lovely additions to the developers repertoire; much simpler than their Dino Tales and Safari Tales apps, but charming nonetheless. The music, drawings and dinosaurs have been given a lovely seasonal makeover, and we hope you enjoy the fairy lights, and holly as much as we have.
“Let’s see if I can do this without making any mistakes. Count how many I make will you?”
This is sponsored review; all opinions are our own.
Helen
Helen is a mum to two, social media consultant, and website editor; and this site is (we think) the only Social Enterprise parenting magazine! Since giving up being a business analyst when juggling travel, work and kids proved too complicated, she founded KiddyCharts so she could be with her kids, and use those grey cells at the same time. KiddyCharts has reach of over 1.1million across social and the site. The blog works with big family brands (including travel) to help promote their services, as well as offering free resources to parents of kids under 10. It gives 51%+ profits to Reverence for Life, who fund a number of important initiatives in Africa, including bringing running water and basic equipment to a school in Tanzania. Helen has worked as a digital marketing consultant (IDM qualified) with various organisations, including Channel Mum, Truprint, Talk to Mums, and Micro Scooters. She loves to be creative in the brand campaigns she works on. Get in touch TODAY!