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This post is sponsored by Tiggly. We received a sample of the product reviewed in this post in order to facilitate the review. All opinions are 100% our own.
If you have kids in the pre-k through K age set and you have any generation of iPad or iPad mini, please do yourself a huge favor: READ ON!
First of all, everyone who has an iPad can download any of the three Tiggly counting apps – they are FREE! The three apps are: Tiggly Chef, Addventure and Cardtoons. I will get into each of them in more detail below. These apps are available for free in the Apple App Store. You can choose to play any of the apps using the Tiggly Counts pieces or simply by using your fingers.
So let’s talk about these Tiggly counting toys, shall we? Bold, chunky, colorful manipulatives, these toys are available for purchase from Tiggly. Each set comes with 5 pieces and a little tote bag to store them in. Modeled after Montessori Cuisenaire Rods, the Tiggly versions work with the iPad apps to enhance the learning experience. I could not believe how much fun Lily had with them while they reinforced math skill after math skill.
The first Tiggly app that she tried was Cardtoons. Lily thought this app was a RIOT. She literally belly laughed her way through the different scenes. As I described above, you can choose whether you play using your fingers or the Tiggly pieces.
Cardtoons focuses a lot on basic counting skills and combines motor skills with the counting. After each number is counted, an animated scene appears and plays out. Lily LOVED these.
Next up was Addventure. Personally, I loved this one. Addventure encourages kids to begin to chunk numbers by adding them up to get their answer. The little dude on the screen goes on an adventure and kids have to use their Tiggly pieces to complete his path. Get it? Cute!
The third and final app from Tiggly is the one that Lily chose as her very very favorite. Tiggly Chef combines the fun of cooking and recipe building with measuring and counting math. Kids can build recipes, add ingredients and, when they are all finished “cooking,” they can record themselves talking about how tasty the recipe was.
In summary, Lily loves these. They are FUN! As both a parent and a former educator, I love these too. They do what a teaching tool should do – teach kids while they have fun. It’s a win-win!
Tiggly Counts are now available for purchase online. They are $29.95 with free US shipping and are recommended for ages 3+.