Exploring Letter Sound Learning with the Alphablocks: Letter Fun App

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Continue reading to learn more about the Alphablocks: Letter Fun app. 

What is the Alphablocks App?

The Alphablocks: Letter Fun app is inspired by the popular BBC series Learning Blocks TV. It features beloved characters from the Alphablocks, Number Blocks, and Colour Blocks educational TV shows. 

The Alphablocks segment specifically focuses on literacy, drawing from the rich content of the TV show, which boasts over 80 episodes. The Alphablocks: Letter Fun app aims to help young children master learning the connection between letters and the sounds they represent in an interactive way. Currently, it is available in British English only and is offered as a paid app.

Are the Alphablocks: Letter Fun Apps Easy to Use?

The following factors impact the overall usability of the Alphablocks: Letter Fun app. 

Getting Around Alphablocks: Letter Fun

The Alphablocks app is generally easy to navigate. Settings are cleverly accessed by holding a “Grown Ups” button which also provides a description of the Alphablocks.  

There are two main areas for learners to explore:

1. Meet the Alphablocks – hear a letter sound, play 4 mini games for each letter

• Bubble Pop – pop bubbles to match letter sounds
• Paint Me – letter sounds game
• Favorite Things – pop things that start with a certain letter sound
• Hide & Seek – spot a hiding Alphablock
  

2. Sing Along 

• A to Z – every Alphablock sings its letter sound song

Choose to play in sequence or mix it up randomly—it’s all about fun and learning! 

Settings

The Alphablocks: Letter Fun app offers a few customizable settings on the grown-ups’ page. Parents can toggle between letter sounds and letter names, enabling children to engage with the game in different ways. Additionally, there are options to adjust game settings or reset progress, although it would be beneficial to include the ability to add multiple users for shared experiences.

Instructions 

One notable feature is the absence of distracting music, which is a significant advantage for a game focused on letter sounds. However, the inability to repeat instructions in the minigames can be a drawback. Without the option to revisit instructions, young players may find it challenging to navigate some of the minigames. 

Engagement in Alphablocks: Letter Fun

The following factors influence the engagement that learners may have with the app. 

Gameplay

The appearance of the animated characters from a known TV show definitely works to capture the attention of kids who will be drawn into the game. The design, animations, and songs are cute and engaging for young kids.  

The four mini-games in the Alphablocks: Letter Fun app are predictable and repetitive, but this design is intentional—routine and repetition are important for helping children solidify the connection between letters and their corresponding sounds. More children could consistently and actively participate in the app by adding the option to repeat instructions for each game. 

Feedback & Rewards

In the Alphablocks: Letter Fun app, the emphasis is on educational games rather than elaborate reward systems. When kids answer correctly, they receive positive sounds, stars, and verbal praise, which reinforces their achievements. There are also nice little touches, like when the Alphablocks celebrate completing all four mini-games with a cheerful song. Overall, the app effectively maintains a focus on educational goals while keeping the experience engaging and enjoyable. 

Literacy Learning With Alphablocks: Letter Fun

These factors impact how effective the Alphablocks: Letter Fun app is at teaching kids important literacy skills. 

Letter Sounds

The Alphablocks: Letter Fun app does a great job of providing accurate letter sounds in British English, which is essential for effective learning. Most games are pretty good at teaching letter sound connections, but there are a few glitches to note. For instance, in the Bubble Pop game, kids are asked to catch bubbles that say /k/, but only the letter <C> is counted as a correct answer. 

On the positive side, the app uses repetition of letter sounds which is excellent for helping kids make those important connections. However, some representations of letter sounds in the alphabet song could be more distinctive. Overall, while there are a few hiccups, the app mostly provides a solid foundation for learning letter sounds.

Phonemic Awareness

The Alphablocks: Letter Fun app primarily focuses on teaching letter sounds, which is a worthy goal for an educational literacy app. There are additional phonemic awareness exercises in the app such as identifying the first sound in a word (known as phoneme isolation). 

In the Alphablocks: Letter Fun app all letter sounds are taught at once in any order the child chooses. While there’s nothing wrong with learning all the letter sounds at once, some reading programs opt to teach a few sounds first and emphasize blending them to read words. This method can help speed up the learning-to-read process.

Is the Alphablocks: Letter Fun App Good for Learning?

Overall, the Alphablocks: Letter Fun app is easy to learn how to use and is fairly engaging for young children who are learning their letter-sound associations. The easy-to-use app uses cute animated Alphablock characters from the TV show with catchy songs to engage children in learning some foundational literacy skills. 

The app has a simple system for teaching letter-sound associations through four repetitious mini games. These games are useful, well-designed and developmentally appropriate, but could be improved by adding repeatable instructions for the games. There are also minor letter sound errors in the game, which could be occasionally confusing for kids. Overall, The Alphablocks: Letter Fun has a helpful method for teaching children the valuable goal of learning letter sound correspondences. 

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Alphablocks: Letter Fun – Overall Ratings

Quality of Literacy Instruction: 3 / 5

Usability:  4 / 5

Engagement: 4 / 5