Elmo Loves ABCs iPad app

Many parents nowadays don't let their kids watch any television at all, but I stand firm on my opinion that tv isn't all bad. Hey, I learned my letters and numbers watching Sesame Street! When I was a kid, tv was the only way to have access to Sesame Street, but these days Sesame Street has gone multi-platform. Not only can kids have fun learning with Sesame Street on tv, they can also watch Sesame Street videos, read Sesame Street books, play with Sesame Street toys, and play Sesame Street videogames. They've even joined the mobile age with apps for the iPhone and iPad, like Elmo Loves ABCs for iPad. I think the folks at Sesame have done a GREAT job at keeping the educational focus, no matter what the medium of instruction, and Elmo Loves ABCs is no exception.

Here's more information about the app:

About Elmo Loves ABCs
Explore the alphabet and learn letters with Elmo in this immersive, kid-directed iPad app! The iPad and Elmo are the perfect combination for little letter-learners. In Elmo Loves ABCs, every touch is immediately rewarded with more letter fun—videos, activities and games. And of course, you can sing the alphabet song along with Elmo. Come on! Explore the alphabet with Elmo!


This app is all about Sesame Street doing what it does best -- teaching preschoolers to recognize, pronounce and write the letters of the alphabet. Actually, there's so much for kids to do that it's more like a collection of apps. Kids can color pages and watch Sesame Street video clips (adults who grew up on Sesame Street will love these short trips down memory lane!) and dance to alphabet song music videos. It is very interactive; kids can pop bubbles, rake leaves and push balls around at the touch of a finger. When kids touch the letters, they fill up the screen, and when they trace the letters with their fingertip they unlock more features and fun. Each activity is short enough to last through a young child's attention span, but there are enough things to keep a child busy for a car trip. Like everything Sesame Street does, it's educational and fun!

Elmo Loves ABCs draws on elements of the “Sesame Street” television show – favorite Muppet characters, peppy songs and an active approach to learning. The app offers several features of interest:

• More than 80 classic “Sesame Street” videos, as well as new ones, focused on letters. Videos come in various formats, including live-action, animation (2D, stop motion and CGI), and live-action/animation.
• 78 Sesame Street coloring pages for fingers-on fun.
• Different types of interactive hide-and-seek activities: popping bubbles, pushing balls, wiping a foggy screen, and sweeping away leaves.
• A game mode where children can practice finding the letters they’ve learned, identifying upper- and lower-case letters and their related objects.
• A song mode where children can hear and see several alphabet songs.

Elmo Loves ABCs introduces children to more than the alphabet; learning about letters is simply its main focus. The app also cleverly exposes children to numbers and colors, animals, food and everyday objects. And the design of the app itself encourages fine motor skills and basic computer literacy.

The app’s short videos, approximately 15 – 25 seconds long, hold young attention spaces. Many videos star favorite “Sesame Street" characters, including Grover, Big Bird, Bert and Ernie, Cookie Monster and of course Elmo. As with other elements, the videos can be replayed as often as desired.

Disclosure: I received a free download of the app to facilitate my review, but have not been paid to review it or give my opinions. Information is provided by the featured company/product and is indicated in italics. The views and opinions expressed here are my own.