Martha Speaks Dog Party

We enjoy the PBS show Martha Speaks. Martha is a dog who eats alphabet soup but instead of the letters going to her tummy they go to her doggie brain. Voila – Martha speaks! If only we could feed our dog Ginny alphabet soup to find out what she’s thinking. Then again, some days that might not be the best idea. We probably wouldn’t like what she had to tell us.  Martha now has an app, Martha Speaks Dog Party. The app contains four different games, all centered around a party theme.

In “Chow Time” you have to tap on a plate that the dogs are asking for. Martha asks you to find a plate that matches some descriptive words. For example, checkered, colorful or covered in robots. If you have trouble she’ll help you out with a definition of the word. Once you’ve found the correct plate it’s time to feed the dog. The dog chow goes on the plate and you use your finger to control the dog’s tongue so he can eat. Swipe across the screen and watch his tongue go but make sure you’ve got the sound up so you can enjoy the licking sound effects. Gross but so very appealing to kids.

“Doggie Dress Up” lets you accessorize the dogs for Martha’s party. My kids love this game. When you’ve got your dog decked out in the perfect accessories you can tap on the camera icon and it will “take a picture”. The dogs each have different accessories to choose from. It’s a cute game.

“Martha Says” is a take on the game Simon Says. You tap on a dog to make it do what Martha says. I’ve never been good at Simon Says and Martha caught me several times. After you’ve been successful with one dog another is added and now you’ve got two dogs to control. This continues and the number of dogs grows and grows. The most I got up to is six and I think that’s the highest you can control, but I’m not 100% certain.

Finally, “Pop Quiz” tests your vocabulary skills. Martha gives you a word and you must pop (tap) the balloon that contains the word that means the same thing.

I’ve always liked the way Martha Speaks works vocabulary words into it’s TV episodes and I like the way they’ve done it with their app too. The characters and games are true to the series and the app sticks to it’s mission of helping boost children’s “oral vocabulary”.

Price when Reviewed: $2.99

Seller: PBS Kids

Disclosure: I received a free copy of this app for review purposes.