We were really impressed by UK-based developer hip hop hen‘s first children’s app, abc flashcard songs, earlier this month.

Now the company has released its second app, the equally lower-case abc jigsaw. It’s another colourful, characterful education app aimed at 4-6 year-olds learning their letter sounds.

Here, the schtick is jigsaw puzzles. “Each letter of the alphabet is an expertly designed letter character, which has been cut-up into many pieces,” explains its App Store listing. “The child has to put the letter character back together. As the child slots each piece into place they are reinforced with the phonetic sound of that letter.”

The app follows the phonics learning in British schools closely, focusing on single-letter sounds and consonant blends (that’s things like ‘th’ and ‘ck’) – something our four year-old has been practising this year in his reception class, so this is right up our street.

The presentation is very good too: neatly-designed letters and characters with the minimum of on-screen clutter. It’s an excellent complement to what your child is learning at school, and (dare we say it) a bit more entertaining than simply flipping through printed flashcards to memorise.

abc jigsaw costs £2.99 for iPhone and iPad on Apple’s App Store.