Frozen: Story Theater
A great app for teaching storytelling skills
APP DETAILS
Developer – Disney
Age – 3 to 9 year olds
Subject – Literacy
Skills - Creativity
Score – 88/100
Price – £1.49 / $1.99)
App Store Link - http://geni.us/VTm
Play Store Link – Not Available
Windows Store Link - Not Available
App Review
There is no doubt about it, little girls, including my own daughter, love stories about princesses and for the past year no princesses have been more popular than Anna and Elsa from Disney’s record breaking film Frozen. If you have a Frozen fan in your house, then Disney’s latest app Frozen: Story Theater will be an instant hit with them.
Frozen: Story Theater is a creativity app that features the characters from the beloved animated movie. It is not the first app of this kind that Disney have released, following as it does in the footsteps of Disney Princess: Story Theater, Toy Story: Story Theater and Sofia the First: Story Theater. All these apps are similar in nature, allowing users to create their own animated story but crucially each uses the characters, locations, props and music associated with that particular movie or TV programme.
Two Modes of Play
Frozen: Story Theater features all the main characters from the film including Anna, Elsa, Kristoff, Sven and of course Olaf the friendly snowman. There are two modes of play, Story Play and Free Play. In the Story Play mode, the app takes the lead but the story is influenced by the characters, locations and props that are selected by the user. This is a great way for young children to be introduced to the art of storytelling because the app essentially walks them through the structural elements of a story.
The child has to first select a character and a location where the story will take place. For example, they could choose Anna at the Coronation Ball or Elsa in her Ice Palace. Once these choices are made, the narrator reads a short passage which the child then has the opportunity to animate. Characters can easily be moved around the screen with the touch of a finger and it is possible to resize and rotate them using a pinching gesture. Children are also able to record their voices. Further scenes are added before the story is given a title and is available for viewing. Completed stories are saved within the app and can also be exported to the device’s camera roll.
Free Play
The Free Play mode, as the name suggests, allows users to select any combination of characters, locations, props, and music. What happens in this story is entirely up to the child. There really is a wonderful choice available with all the main characters from the film ready and waiting to be used. This includes multiple versions of Anna and Elsa in the various costumes they wear during the movie. The music options do not include “Let it Go” which depending on how much you have had to listen to it over the past year may be considered a blessing. Actually, none of songs from the film are included in the app but the music is still distinctly “Frozen” in nature.
Conclusion
Frozen: Story Theater is a stunning looking app that young children are really going to enjoy interacting with. It is very easy to use and in no time at all they will be creating their own stories. There are also plenty of opportunities for learning with children developing their language skills and their understanding of how stories are sequenced.
Frozen: Story Theater is usually At £4.49 / $5.99 which is more expensive than most apps you will purchase but it is a top quality app and is well worth the asking price. At £0.79/$0.99 it is an absolute steal especially if you have a Frozen fan in the house. Frozen: Story Theater does not contain any adverts or in-app purchases. It does have links to other apps by Disney on the App Store but these are protected by a parental gate.
Peter
Educational App Advice
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