I can still remember the Christmas when I was eight. All I wanted was an Ed Emberley drawing book – specifically, the thumbprint drawing one. I poured over that book, creating flowers, animals, insects … anything I could.
And now, with a new app from Night and Day Studio (http://www.nightanddaystudios.com/app/shake-and-make/), I can create Ed’s art all over again and share it with my kids!
Ed Emberley's Shake & Make is a game, a puzzle and an art lesson all in one. After selecting one of his pictures (hint: study it well), shake your device to scramble the pieces. The pieces fall to a pile at the bottom of the screen and you have 60 seconds to recreate the picture. But it’s more challenging than it sounds! For fans of Ed’s art, you’ll remember that it’s all created with simple shapes – squares, rectangles, and half circles – lines and squiggles. Your task is to place each one in precisely the right spot. Getting the first piece to land just right is a bit tricky, but it just adds to the challenge.
Need a hint? No problem. A hint button gives you a quick peek at the picture again. But use your hints wisely as there is a 5-second penalty each time (I found out the hard way!). My almost 8-year-old loved the challenge that these seemingly simple pictures provide. And by solving the puzzles in the each set, you’ll unlock even more options – over 100 puzzles total.
If your kids are younger, the timer can be turned off or you can rotate your phone to watch the pieces snap into place themselves. Combine this with some groovy 70's music playing in the background and you’ve got an app for the whole family!
Another thing I love? By seeing how all these shapes and lines fit together on screen, my kids are able to create “art” on their own, when the screen is turned off.
As we’re preparing for our summer road trip at the end of the month, it looks like this is an app we’ll need to make sure is installed on ALL our devices. Too much fun for all of us!
Ed Emberley’s Shake & Make is available for $1.99 in the iTunes store (http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/ed-emberleys-shake-make/id433890924?mt=8)
