If preschoolers aren’t running around like crazy, chances are they are (hopefully peacefully!) scribbling away with crayons. We know that coloring is a great creative outlet, but what if it could also help teach them a new language, or help them learn about a new culture? Fun with Colors, an educational app from Mark Media, does just that. Designed for kids ages 4 and up, this app teaches preschoolers Mandarin and English while having fun with colors, and ushering them into an equally colorful world full of cross-cultural exchange.
Kids join Miaomiao and her dog Doudou on an underwater adventure where they stumble upon a colorless world, otherwise overflowing with diverse flora and fauna. Kids must return color to an orange clownfish, a magic ice sapling, a red baby octopus, a yellow blowfish, a green turtle, and a purple anglerfish that appear dull and dreary without the right shades on. Coloring in underwater scenes (and drawing their own) keeps their artistic juices flowing, and helps kids spread happiness and cheer through digital play.
Through six coloring scenes, and 30 vocabulary words that include food, vegetables, flowers, music, household items, and more, kids learn to pick up beginner Mandarin and English. Designed around everyday activities such as picking fruit, fetching a blanket, or playing an instrument, kids learn the natural flow and sequence of language. Fully voiced animations and interactive digital play, such as tapping a Blowfish to make her swallow bubbles and become bigger, makes kids forget how many words they are swallowing and becoming smarter along the way.
The app prompts kids to match colors with words through short quizzes, thereby etching new vocabulary into their memory. Fun with Colors also allows ample opportunity to learn the correct pronunciation of the word by saying it aloud, repeating the new word over and over again, listening to instructions that use the new word, and rewarding the child with a prize when they finish a task successfully.
However, an app cannot replace a real, person-to-person learning experience. That’s why the Grownups section has been squeezed onto the right-hand corner of this digital classroom. It’s a treasure trove of tips, games, activities, and review sheets to help parents and teachers explore Fun with Colors with kids. And since coloring has become a craze with adults lately, this app also serves as quality together time for both!
