What parents need to know
Parents Need to Know
Parents need to know that Peekaboo Fridge takes toddlers' favorite game of peekaboo and adapts it to a game where kids can learn the names of food. Kids tap on the refrigerator door and -- "Peekaboo!" -- it’s a piece of cheese or broccoli hiding inside. It's a twist on Peekaboo Barn by the same developer, except instead of animals, this time it's food. The food items have faces and legs, so they come to life a bit and -- more importantly -- can dance at the disco party at the end of the game!
What kids can learn
Language & Reading
Thinking & Reasoning
- applying information
Health & Fitness
- balanced diet
Engagement, Approach, Support
Digital peekaboo works wonderfully with farm animals (in another version of this game) but not as well with food. Animal names (and sounds) are some of the first words many toddlers learn; food labels aren't.
Kids learn by repeating the words they hear. Although the food pictures are a bit cartoony, kids can still associate the pictures with the labels. Parents can reinforce vocabulary by labeling similar items at the grocery store and at home.
Each item gets labeled once both visually and orally until there's a dance party, and then kids can cycle through them all over again.
What's it about?
In Peekaboo Fridge, kids enter a kitchen. When ready, the fridge shakes and kids can tap on it to reveal one food item, like cheese or grapes. A child's voice says the name of the item, and the app displays the name in lowercase letters. Tapping on it again will close the refrigerator door, and the process starts over. There are 13 items in all, and once kids have cycled through them, the fridge reveals a bigger surprise: a dance party with all the food items!
Is it any good?
PEEKABOO FRIDGE is an educational game that capitalizes on the simple concept of peekaboo. While this worked wonderfully with farm animals, it doesn't work quite as well with food items. Farm animals are very popular with babies and toddlers, with animal names (and sounds) being some of the first words many toddlers learn. On the other hand, food labels are usually not. By the time kids start to learn food names like broccoli, they may have outgrown the game of peekaboo. Although the app gives the food items human or animal qualities, it's still not quite the same.
In terms of learning, it only labels each food item once, and tapping on the food or word only closes the refrigerator door instead of repeating the word, so parents may want to provide reinforcement.
Families can talk about...
Play along and repeat the labels. Have kids repeat after you and talk about whether they've tried the food, and if so, what they like (or don't like) about it.
Point out and label food items at the grocery store.
Cook with the items seen in the app and label them at dinner.