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One of the biggest differences we saw at Toy Fair this year was how many toy companies not only showcased their new products, but many have dived into the development of iPad, iPhone and iPod Touch apps for children to enhance their visibility. ALEX has been one of the standout toy companies in this arena.

ALEX, was founded in 1986, and for several years has sold many unique arts and crafts products.  Today, they continue to sell a creative product line, but now their offerings have expanded into plush infant toys, outdoor play, pretend play, preschool maniuplatives and bathtub toys. They have always been a “go to” company in my line of work to help parents find exciting ways to help children expand on their fine motor skills, but also been a personal favorite of mine when looking for different, cost effective gifts. Once you see the ALEX product line, you will start to recognize their inviting, whimsical patterns everywhere.

So yesterday, ALEX launched a new FREE app for kids on both iPhone, iPod Touch and iPad formats called Moody Monster Manor. Here children ages 3-8 participate in 4 different games. There are four locked doors that I thought I would “unlock” after I obtained enough points. However, it states there will be more games coming soon, so I’m assuming this is a way for ALEX to expand the app at a later date. All of the games are short – 30 seconds long, and it’s clear and easy to navigate around the Manor.

– With Monster Maker, children personalize and save an individual monster. They can choose a name, body style, background pattern, eyes, nose and mouth.

– In Scared Sam, children simply tilt the device left or right to change the path of a moonbeam so they can “capture” the bad dreams.

– In Worried Wanda, children will use color recognition and matching skills, to help Wanda finish her homework. Children are given a choice of four answers and they are encouraged to tap the correct answer that either matches the color of a specific animal, or  they look at an icon to match the animal with the same facial expression including ecstatic, tired, and angry.

– In Confused Carl, help Carl flick the name tags to the corresponding Monster. There is a word on the name tag such as Happy or Embarassed, with a small emoticon that gives children a clue on which monster will match the name tag. The child flicks the name tag to match up Worried Wanda, Hungry Hank and Sad Sal. Some of the emoticons like Bored were kind of difficult to differentiate, but if your child picks the wrong one it will let them know by returning it to the bottom so they can choose again.

– In Hungry Hank, help Hank make a silly snack. There are 3 ingredients to Hank’s snack. With your finger drag the correct food in or out of the bowl. Once you have placed all three, shake the device to see if you are right. If you are wrong they will return to the shelf and be sure to  try again.

Make sure you Meet the  Monsters! 20 different Monsters, with their rhyming names like Mischievous Max, Yucky Yogi, and Love Lulu.  Cute children’s voices introduce the Monsters, along with their names, giving kids clues as to what different types of emotions mean. For example, “Yawn! This is Tired Tilly. Tilly is so sleepy. Maybe she should follow the monster bedtime rules. Then she won’t fall asleep while playing with all the other monsters!” I can just see all of us now, renaming our kids with monster names on any given day based on their moods.
“C’mon Tired Tilly get yourself out of bed, it’s time for school!” Kids need to learn the names of these emotions and practice them in order to really understand what the mean in the first place, before they can personally identify the mood with themselves. This is a great way to expose kids to these kinds of feelings in a positive and fun way, so eventually they can learn to communicate better about their current feelings when “in the moment.”

I’ve reviewed several free apps of all sorts of varieties and they vary in their usability and design. Most free apps provide you with one or two teasers before prompting you to upgrade to the full version. Many companies are also creating free apps where you will see banner ads for their products in them, but not with this app. Moody Monster Manor by ALEX provides an unbelivable amount of play value, with an interesting educational perspective.  I felt like I should have been a paying customer for this type of experience. This company has done a fabulous job creating a quality app with no extra strings attached.

Moody Monster Manor is free, available for download in iTunes.

In conjunction with ALEX, to celebrate the launch of this free app, we are coordinating a giveaway of Monster Bingo, valued at $16.95!

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Giveaway ends April 4th, 2011, 11:59 EST.

I downloaded this ALEX app for free. Then after reviewing the Moody Monster Manor app I provided this review for free.  The opinions in this post are my own. In conjunction with this post, ALEX has agreed to provide the giveaway of Monster Bingo for free.  I have not reviewed Monster Bingo and have no opinion on the use of this particular game.