Daisy the Dinosaur

I would have gave it a 5, But freeplay mode is a bit buggy. And does not give you unlimited movements. But overall it is great for kids! But please add a grade selection. For grades pre k through kinder a voice should read the instructions. 1 through 6 Or higher should have levels to complete that get (harder)

This app really does teach the basics of computer programming, which is really cool, and it is simple enough for very young kids, BUT...kids have to be able to read well to learn to play it. It would be nice if the app had an option to read the instructions to you, so younger kids could learn it independently. The character, Daisy Dinosaur, seems to be for very young kids, and the instructions are certainly simple enough for them, if only they didn't have to deal with the frustration of using early reading skills to stumble over the words. I think Daisy is a bit too cutesy for older kids, but they would feel more confident in reading the instructions. If parents don't mind reading the instructions though, the commands are easy to read for beginning readers, and kids as young as 5 or 6 could play it once they learn how.

It's very easy and there's no new challenges. Stupid, Dumb, A Dump, Easy and No Good

I clicked the daisy support and it just takes me to the front webpage. I can't find an email or anything to contact the developers. I would like to contact them to get help for the issues I write below. The challenge mode works well and is a good way for kids to learn. I downloaded this on 4 different iPads. My plan was to use this to teach following directions. For example, "Make daisy 1)Jump five times using one jump, spin, and walk backward- GO" I have many students with following 3 step directions as their goal and I had high hopes for Daisy. However, in freeplay mode I could never get the commands to move up. The last one you can see is turn and the ones below you can't see (grow, shrink, spin) and I could not find a way for those to scroll and be accessible. I also had the entire app "move" up and down when you touch the screen. Anyway, the challenge mode was a lot of fun for the goal: following directions. I had the kids read it and figure it out. It was really challenging for them- but fun! I would like the freeplay mode to work for me though. It is a great idea, just "buggy". Or at least it was for me.

Daisy the dinosaur is a great intro to programming to pique kids' interests on the subject. My daughter was playing around with Daisy and making the dinosaur do all kinds of things. It made her hungry to learn more. She was only disappointed there were not more options for tricks and it is more of an intro to programming than something that can challenge her long-term. I am taking software engineering courses and although this doesn't expose kids to much language important for programming, it lays the foundation and visually reinforces what the program is doing when tested.