Preschoolers have always delighted in watching their silly friend, Cookie Monster, gobble up cookies and crumbs. Now Sesame Street has partnered with Tiggly to create “Sesame Street Alphabet Kitchen” app, a fantastically fun multi-sensory early literacy experience helping kids create cookies from letter cut-outs with some wacky coaching by Cookie Monster. Beginning and ending consonants are cut out with a blank in the middle., inviting kids to chose a Tiggly vowel toy to stamp on the screen. “b__t became “bat” as kids added the “a”, l__g became “log” and p__n transformed into “pen.” Cookie Monster said the corresponding sounds as each letter dropped into the mixing bowl and blended them together to say the word. Now squeeze some coloring into the dough, mix and, wow! Your cookie appears illustrated with a flying bat, log and pen. I had to hold some hands back to make sure their sibling had a chance for a turn as the cookies were being produced so fast! After four cookies are completed, watch Cookie Monster chomp them or tap the cookie for a bite yourself! Words that are difficult to illustrate like “lag” or “pun” were cleverly explained by the host, teaching new vocabulary “Cookie lag behind,” as it moved slowly away or “That one funny cookie, ha ha!” Combining traditional and digital play, learning is optimized as kids receive multi-sensory input to reinforce letter names, sounds and sound-blending, all critical early reading skills. Watching and listening to letters appearing, while holding, feeling and pressing Tiggly’s letter toys, as well as playing a game that relates to their everyday experience, maximizes learning! Research continues to support the fact that kids learn when they move. Tiggly’s integration of physical play into the Sesame Street fun app play makes this a winner for kids and parents. “Where Cookie Monster gone?” was all I heard when we finally finished playing several rounds!
Note: Sesame Street Alphabet Kitchen app is free as part of the Tiggly Words learning system, but can also be played without Tiggly Toys, ($2.99 on iTunes). My recommendation is to give your child the full learning experience and get Tiggly Words which has 3 additional free apps for smart play!