The Very Hungry Caterpillar Creative Play - StoryToys Entertainment Limited.

This review of The Very Hungry Caterpillar Creative Play was completed by the Australian Council on Children and the Media (ACCM) on 9 May 2017.

About the app

This section contains details about the app provided by an ACCM Reviewer.

ACCM review

This review of The Very Hungry Caterpillar Creative Play contains the following information:

• The level to which the game was reviewed
• App description
• Reviewers comments
• In App purchasing
• Online information
• Gambling
• Advertising and product placement
• Gender stereotypes and sexual references
• Coarse language
• Game playing behaviour which may be of concern to some parents
• Other

The level to which the game was reviewed

There are 26 templates and one blank canvas, and seven images were created using both templates and the the blank canvas.

App description

The Very Hungry Caterpillar Creative Play app is part of a suite of apps based on the children’s book written by EricCarle. Players can use cutting, paint brush and pencil tools to create their own artwork or use the templates within the app.

Reviewers comments

This art app allows kids to select either a blank canvas or trace around a variety of templates, including Christmas themes and images based on EricCarle’s books. Fine motor control is required to tap on and select either a template or blank canvas, scroll through and tap different coloured paper backgrounds and use a forefinger to trace the shape the player wants to cut out of the coloured paper. Paintbrush and pencil tools are also available to make marks on the artwork and the final artwork can be saved to a gallery on the device camera roll. Gentle music is audible throughout play and this can be muted by tapping on the musical note.

Younger children may require parental guidance to trace the shapes used in this app, particularly if they use the templates, which may be harder to master than free form “cutting”. There is an opportunity to develop the player’s pencil grip by using a stylus instead of a forefinger in this app, an important developmental transition for children. Any errors in cutting can be dragged to either the bottom right or left of the screen, where a green bin appears to delete the paper.

The cutting tool requires marking an enclosed shape and a pulsing circle appears around the end of a line to show the player where the shape is incomplete and must be finished to “cut” the paper. Younger children may require help mastering this concept of shape completion. Parents can also discuss positive and negative shapes, as players must “cut” around the shape to avoid obscuring the template image. Children must also use paper to fill the template shapes or trace around them using the marking tools, as the dotted image disappears in the saved gallery image. Completed artwork can be saved both to the app gallery and the device camera roll.  An animated caterpillar views the created image in a gallery and this character moves when tapped.

In App purchasing

Additional apps by the same developer can be accessed in the templates section under “more from Storytoys”. To access these apps, the player is provided with the instruction that they must swipe in a particular direction with two fingers anywhere on the screen. This is relatively easy to overcome as the player may accidentally swipe in the right direction to close this pop-up and return to the game. Swiping correctly takes the player to the app store to make a purchase. It is recommended that in app purchasing is disabled in the game, to prevent this occurring.

Online information

• Photo/Media/files
• Camera

Gambling

At time of review, the reviewer found no simulated gambling content. If you discover simulated gambling content in this app, please contact us with the details so we can update our review.

Advertising and product placement

Other apps by the same developer can be accessed in the templates section, which displays a static advert of the app, accessible by swiping in the direction required by a changing popup message. This feature can be disabled in the “Settings: Restrictions” section of your device.

Gender stereotypes and sexual references

No concerns.

Coarse language

No concerns.

Game playing behaviour which may be of concern to some parents

No concerns.

Other

N/A.

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