Younger children are naturally drawn to circus, as well as playing with measurements which is why I was excited to learn about this app! Today we are sharing Shiny Circus, which offers younger kids a chance to play and learn with measurement concepts like length, width, height, mass and volume. It is a story book with fun learning activities.
Charlie the monkey and his friends are off to see the circus. After helping out some friendly clowns, Charlie ends up being part of the show. It is up to your little ones to help him do his four circus acts spaced throughout the story. 
Initially, the child needs to help the clowns get into their correct costumes.
After that, for his first performance, kids make staircases for Charlie to bounce on by arranging them by size.
Next Charlie sits in a giant slingshot. kids will need to estimate the distance,direction and speed Charlie will need to travel to hit the tower of clowns.
In the last act kids need to help Charlie keep his balance on a uni-cycle. Each side of the stick he is holding needs to carry the same mass of objects. This requires counting and/or estimating.
The storybook is great for emerging readers as the simple sentences can be read along with the narrator and the colorful pictures help with inference. The math concepts were at a perfect level for our four-year old and great for practicing with kids up to 6 years.
The app also inspired some activities beyond the iPad. We made a lot of LEGO stairs and weighed produce at the grocery store to find the heaviest vegetable and the lightest fruit. It is an app will spark a lot learning ideas. I recommend adding this app to your preschool or kindergartner’s collection!
Shiny Circus is available for iPhone, iPod and iPAD. It is $2.99 on App Store.
If you would like to check it out or purchase it, please use the App Store link provided below. The cost is the same to you, but iGameMom gets a small percentage. Thanks for your support! Note: The link works for all countries.
Today’s app is reviewed by JJ (Piwi mama), a proud wife and mama of two girls. The family travel with her hubby’s work so most of her time is spent teaching her kids. In her spare time, JJ blogs about their portable learning and reviews books. You can read about their travels at Learning and Growing the Piwi way
