We have spent a lot of time recently talking about Skylanders, Disney Infinity, and amiibo here on Engaged Family Gaming. It makes sense because the Toys to Life category has exploded in recent years (so much so that Activision is reporting that Skylanders alone is a $3 billion franchise). Those aren’t the only toys that come to life on screen though. There is one line of toys that has been right under our noses for a while now. Even better? It is a learning toy for our toddlers!
I’m speaking of Tiggly Shapes, a set of plastic shapes that interact with special apps on iOS and Android devices. Our daughter was gifted a set for Christmas last year and she adores them!
Tiggly, the company behind the shapes, isn’t stopping with shapes. They are intend on releasing a comprehensive line of learning toys that cover all of the educational bases. Shapes came first, but it was followed quickly by Tiggly Counts, a toy to help build basic counting skills. Up next is basic letter recognition with Tiggly Words.
Tiggly Words is launching this May and will feature five vowels (no y) in bright colors. It will also include several custom apps One of them will allow kids to use the letters (along with some presets within the app) to create words. For example, it might present them with a “b”, a blank space, and a “g.” They could tap the “u” Tiggly Letter on the screen to make “bug” and a cute bug will start flying around the screen!
The apps I was able to see at New York Toy Fair were still in development, but they all showed a lot of promise. We will follow up with a formal review once Tiggly Words is released! Keep your eyes here on Engaged Family Gaming for more info!
Linda Wrobel
[…] learning game approach to toys-to-life, Tiggly apps and toys are aimed at children learning to recognize shapes, do maths, and, in the near future, read. The […]