Let’s be honest: for many children, the biggest selling point of a print magazine is whatever toys, sweets and/or stickers are given away on its cover. In the world of iPads and apps, though, covermounts aren’t possible.
Boombons is the latest app trying to figure out what a digital magazine for children might look like. It’s the work of the marvellously-named developer Three Cheese Trees, with its first issue just released.
What’s in store? “Exciting new adventures that will keep your child entertained. Fun challenges designed to help your child learn. Intriguing puzzles that help develop your child’s problem-solving abilities. Creative games that inspire the imagination and help develop fine motor skills,” according to its App Store listing.
The app promises more than 25 “activity pages” each issue, as well as other “scenes” with a mixture of challenges and mini-games to play.
Three Cheese Trees also says the app has been designed to be easy for children to use without needing the help of a parent – the lack of ads and in-app purchases will hopefully reassure them on that front.
“Tablets are a natural way to provide educational resources and entertainment to children,” said the company’s founder Yevgen Yermak, as the app launched. “Our goal was to use the tablet as the platform through which we could deliver content children would enjoy, while helping them to learn important skills.”
I’ve been exploring the first issue of Boombons today, and it certainly has potential. Kids will be packing a bag for a picnic; choosing what the four main characters wear; filling a basket with food; creating a beach scene using digital stickers; learning insect facts; making music with an underwater band and more.
It’d be nice to be able to switch between US and UK accents – the app features the former, and they can be a bit… squeaky – but there’s plenty to do and see.
Boombons is a free download for iPad from Apple’s App Store, and you can get the first issue for free within the app. Future issues will be sold using in-app purchases, with issue two already available for £1.99.