I am such a techy novice. I try and try to be good at computers but I fail miserably most of the time and have to ask my husband or my brother (who sorts out everything on this blog by the way) to do it for me. My children on the other hand, even Jimmy, are completely confident with things like phones and tablets. It’s their era, it’s what they’ve grown up with and Florence knows her way round our tablet like the back of her hand. She gets very frustrated with the television and lap top because they don’t have touch screens can you believe? But for her, that’s the way things should be!
Apps on Daddy’s phone are often ways of keeping Florence entertained on a long car journey and have been for, well, for as long as I can remember really? When she was about Jimmy’s age we had one where she would just touch the screen and a letter or an animal would pop up and tell her the name of it out loud. They can be such an amazing teaching tool while at the same time seeming like a fun game for the child!
Carrie and David Grant, singing stars, coaches and creators of hit CBeebies series ‘Pop Shop’ think the same thing so decided to create an app which would be musically educational as well as exciting and entertaining for little ones. It’s aimed at children aged 4-8 years old, based on six interactive books they have also written together and encourages children to play instruments and sing, to jump up and join in! And that’s the name of the app, Jump Up and Join In!
Children can learn about rhythm, and practice singing as they work their way through the game which includes an e-book. They simply take their photo to create their character, choose an outfit and away they go following the tasks which are visual and audible as well as written. Florence thought it was fab and spent most of the session stood at the side of the room practicing scales on the piano and then when she was asked to have her photo taken to see how she could create her own character, I could tell by her smile that she was enjoying the app very much! The tasks for each session, say playing the bongos for instance, start out with easy to tap out rhythms the children are to copy and get harder with each level completed. Florence and Jimmy are quite musical, they don’t get it from me but from Rocknroller Daddy of course. Jimmy looked up every time he heard a beat and Florence, who keeps time and is already a great little singer, enjoyed the singing tasks! Mum’s and Dad’s can also have some fun and when the children’s singing has been recorded with their dancing character, the footage can be uploaded to Facebook and the like… Well, why not eh?
Carrie and David have four of their own children so they know what they’re doing with little ones as well as being amazing singers themselves. They are vocal pop coaches, singers in their own right and have been involved in many projects over the years. I really enjoyed meeting them and what came across is that they are just very decent people. I only met them for five minutes but I could tell that, some people just give off a warmth and they do. They don’t look a jot different from when I first knew who they were as the vocal coaches on the BBC programme ‘Fame Academy’ (whatever happened to that, it was great and far better than the shadier X factor and the like) and I think they’ve really tapped into something good here. Because they are such experts in the field they have created it perfectly and watching my two at the session, I know it will be a big hit! We talked about the differences between boys and girls and I loved seeing how proud they are of this new project!
Jump Up and Join In will be available for the iPhone and iPad from 15th July 2013 priced at just £2.49. The interactive books which come with a CD are also available and can be used completely separately to the app so you don’t necessarily need an iPhone or iPad to ‘Jump Up and Join In’! Check out the JUJI Facebook page too!
I was not paid to write this post but I was invited to meet with Carrie and David Grant, the creators of the ‘Jump Up and Dance’ app for the purpose review.
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