ABC Song Piano app by Kiboomu
Since we have been incorporating more app reviews into the website, I have recently been using the ABC Song Piano app on my iPhone and iPad with my son and other young children as part of my home based visits. The ABC Song Piano app by Kiboomu.com sweetly sings the traditional ABC’s with an integrated keyboard function so kids can play along! Guess what–I just noticed it’s half off at the App Store and is selling for only $0.99!
There are different modes that include Play and Sing Along mode, Learn the Song, Karaoke mode, and Free Style Mode.
My favorite mode is the Play and Sing Along mode, while the ABC’s are sung, the letters, paired with a picture, scroll along the top from right to left. For example, an ant image precedes an A, a bat image precedes the B and so on. Children can play along with the song by touching different keys on the integrated keyboard. There is an option to change the keyboard to one of 8 different sound options that include a xylophone, piano, guitar, banjo, bell, flute, harp or animal sounds. Additional features include a voice recorder so that children can record while they are singing and playing along, the keys highlight during the song, which allows older preschoolers the ability to play along with success.
Karaoke mode, in true Karaoke spirit, is great for children who have visual letter recognition – meaning they can identify the letters when asked on by sight or have learned to memorize the song and can sing it by themselves. The letters sung are highlighted at the top to help with the pace of singing as the music plays. The keyboard is included in the bottom so they can play along as well and there is a record and playback feature.
In Learn the Song mode, while the song is sung, it teaches awareness of the keyboard sequence using real musical notes and their letters. Children can learn timing and rhythm as they tap out the song on the keys as they are highlighted. The record and playback feature is also included in this mode. The instruments can also be changed.
In Free Style Mode, the ABC’s are sung as the graphics scroll , the letters are highlighted at the top for kids who are singing along. This time the keys are not highlighted so kid’s can incorporate all they have learned from the previous modes to play along correctly or incorrectly themselves!
Other reasons why I think this is a great app:
– No matter how many times I have listened to it, the child singing it has the sweetest voice ever and it is not one of those tunes that is annoyingly stuck in your head!
– The song is sung slowly which allows young children the time to process what they are hearing to eventually hear the sounds so they can effectively sing-a-long.
– For kids who are working on motor skills, they have enjoyed listening and playing along with the app while dancing or bouncing up and down on a ball to develop their muscle strength and endurance.
– When needing to entertain Gavin at doctor’s appointments or in the car, this app has saved the day everytime. At only 16 months, he loves watching the letters scroll and likes to call out some of the names of the pictures he sees.
This app is available in iPod, iPad and iPhone versions. Kiboomu also sells a few other toddler apps and their website is a great resource for activities for your child that include educational songs with lyrics, downloadable printing sheets, arts and crafts activities and recipes.
Kiboomu provided this app to facilitate a review. The opinions in this post are my own.