Futaba
Editor’s Choice Award in the August 2012 Edition of the Children’s Technology Review with an overall rating of 90%.
The 12 Best Children’s Educational iPad Apps Released In 2012
“….a powerful concept for the iPad, engaging multiple players in fast paced games for the classroom or home. You can easily add your own content and create your own game based on any theme you choose. This is an amazing option for teachers to implement and customize to whatever they are studying.”
Check out the video tour below and a review of Futaba on Wired.com.
Download a free guide to using iPads in the classroom
While the app comes with a bunch of great learning sets (including Dolch Sight Vocabulary Words, Subtraction, Multiplication, Telling the Time, Currency, Countries and Flags to name a few), the real power of Futaba is that you can make your own learning sets. In our 1.4 release you can even include your own audio with each question.
Parents, teachers and even students themselves can create their own content by using either the built in camera, the camera roll by copying images to iTunes. Dropbox account holders can also upload new images via the cloud (a hassle free way to share content across a number of devices).
INKids will be updating this app constantly with new learning sets (hopefully every quarter), so if you’d like us to make something to go with your curriculum we’ll do our best to have our artist draw them up and add them to the next update). Send your requests to futaba@inkids.com.au.
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Read what other teachers and parents are saying about Futaba CG
Cute! – ★★★★★ by AndreJolicoeur, Canada (Jan 26, 2012)
Very cute quiz game for many age levels. The built in questions are great (you can toggle many categories to tailor the questions to the players abilities), but the make-your-own content aspect is the best part. We had a blast taking turns making the questions for the quiz, and the kids loved it. Dropbox integration is much appreciated. Simple but effective, cute and colourful.
Great App – ★★★★★ by LeeBee78, United Kingdom (Jan 26, 2012)
Great App can’t wait to try it out with my class and start making my own games….
Phenomenal! – ★★★★★ by Beto1501, New Zealand (Jan 28, 2012)
Incredible app. Very good for international students to learn lots of new words. I’m definitely gonna be using a lot! Countries and flags stimulates their imagination incredibly! 5 stars!!!
5 Stars – ★★★★★ by Jahmai, Australia (Jan 30, 2012)
Had a play, love it. It’s really easy to move around the app and starting a new game is obvious and basic gameplay is intuitive for all ages.
Via Email from Jon, Spain (Jan 31, 2012)
I’m glad to hear about the idea of building a community and be able to share our work. I’m an English teacher from Spain, I work in a public high-school and I’ve found your app very useful as a vocabulary presentation activity. The best thing about this app is the ability to include your own set of words, which is essential for a teacher. I really wish this app becomes a best-seller so that your team design new games and activities to be used with the same sets. The whole app in carefully designed, and very user-friendly, which motivates students into paying attention.
5 stars! Another great app from INKids!- ★★★★★by Hanso336 (Feb 3, 2012)
This is a great 4 player game that my kids just adore. We’ve just started to experiment with creating our own game content which is proving to be a great learning experience in itself. The possibilities are endless.
Via Email from Cecelia, WI (Feb 10, 2012)
I am a special education teacher of 38 years and run my schools RTI program and Data. Are you aware schools in WI require scientific data regarding the use of programs? I found your app last wk. Since then I have loaded in over 100 pictures and words. I am immensely impressed with the rapid improvement in sight words in our first grade classroom. We have felt we have encountered endless attention to learning problems with this group, and your game holds attention, and promotes increase in word fluency. Thank you for this great app.
Fabulous Educational Tool – ★★★★★ by appsolutelyapps (Feb 24, 2012)
Futaba Classroom Games for Kids is a wonderful addition to the educational category! This app has many options for kids from preschool to 3rd or 4th grade. The multiplayer design is ingenious and gets kids “playing” together. This is a must buy for parents, teachers, and schools. You even have the option to create your own game using your own content!
Great! – ★★★★★ by Xana O – (Feb 25, 2012)
I tried the free version in my EFL classes yesterday and the children loved it. Last night I got the full version and have been busy making new phonics sets (cvcs, digraphs, blends, etc) using images from our phonics text (Kinney Brothers). You can vary the difficulty level by changing how you do your sets. For example, I have one (easy) set of cvcs with all the words, so usually the choices start with different letters. Once the kids get used to that, I will select several sets I have divided by letter (c words, t words, etc) so that all the choices will start with the same letter making it more difficult. Or sets with only b and d words so they have to choose between big, dig, dog, bag and bug for example). I am also going to throw in some photos of my students just for fun, I think they will love it! Wonderful app. Thank you!
A powerful concept for the iPad – (Feb 29, 2012)
What makes this game such a STANDOUT is that kids “play” cooperatively and it’s FUN. The competitive edge can be used to promote academic growth. Read the review in full @Teachers with Apps
By email from Audrey Colwell (March 15, 2012)
I love the idea of collaborative play. Competition keeps most kids highly engaged and focused!
★★★★★ iPad App of the Month – Tennessee Board of Regents (March 15, 2012)
What a great app! – Robbie K. Melton, Ph.D. Associate Vice Chancellor, Academic Affairs, eLearning
Awesome app for elementary aged children – ★★★★★ (Mar 16, 2012)
I teach 2nd grade and I’m always looking for apps that I can use in the classroom with just one iPad. This app allows four students to engage in a fun and interactive way while testing their skills on everything from phonological awareness to multiplication. With the option to add your own material and future updates coming, I’m very excited to see how this app grows.
I love this app – via email (March 30, 2012)
My second grade students can’t get enough of it. The game is flexible enough to allow for targeted content, which I really appreciate. I can’t think of any suggestions to make it better. Just keep up the great work!
My students beg me for the game – via email (April 15, 2012)
Guys.. I’m loving you tons! My students beg me for the game and I’m so happy to see they are playing AND learning… You will always have a lot of recommendations from me! Thank you
First of all, amazing! I absolutely LOVE it! – via email Lori East (April 15, 2012)
First of all, amazing! I absolutely LOVE it & so do the kids! I am a Kindergarten teacher and I used it for the first time yesterday in a small group tutoring session after school. I look forward to using it much more!
Great, fun, intuitive learning app – ★★★★★ (Apr 22, 2012) by ComradeJosh
Pros: superior graphics and images Intuitive interface Customizable Reeeeeeally addictive (maybe that’s a con?) Cons: I don’t really have any cons. I’ve been teaching English as a second language to children 3 and up for several months in Inner Mongolia China. While there are many great materials such as flash cards provided by my school, I was recently looking for a way to pump some enthusiasm into my kids and give them a new learning experience. I also wanted to incorporate the iPad since its more interactive. I spent an evening downloading dozens of free apps and when I downloaded Futuba I knew right away that I should purchase the full version as well as Classroom Games (CG). The reason I’m excited about the app is because the graphics and layout are so clear and easy to understand. Furthermore, the afoul copies four kids at one time, which as a teacher is awesome! If I only had more iPads. I played the game with my 4 year olds – they went bananas. Another point I’d like to mention is because our school requires us to teach certain vocabulary specific only to this franchise, the CG app allows users to take pictures or load pictures so you can tailor the game for each specific case. Of course there is a ton of material already provided but having that option was a real selling point for me.
Great Update! ★★★★★ (Jun 19, 2012) by Xana O
This is a fun and versatile classroom app that can be tailored to your own curriculum, and can be used by up to four students at a time. I teach English to Japanese children. I love the new version of this app! It’s now so easy to make my own games based on our current phonics sounds or vocabulary. Now that I can input text directly, I can also make questions that target grammar patterms. And I like being able to write my own answers, to make the questions more challenging (e.g. a choice of “bat, but, dat, tab” rather than “bat, dog, cat, pig” for “bat”). You have also made it easy to sort the sets for different classes. Thank you so much! My students love it. Their reward for studying phonics is…doing phonics on Futaba! They look forward to it so much! I hope you will consider adding sound in the future. For EFL students, it would be great to have them hear word pronounced aloud.
Futaba fan ★★★★ – (Jun 28, 2012) by Morepad
Used this game as a center at summer school for kids entering Kindergarten this fall. They loved the game! Great way to differentiate practice and review for kids with varying needs and skill levels. Look forward to using with First Grade during the school year for vocabulary review, math facts and many other ideas. Great purchase for the classroom!
The Best App Ever ★★★★★ – Jul 8, 2012 by Gr3md
I wanted to buy a Smart Table, but $6,000 was not in my budget. This app saved me a lot of money. It does not do all that the Smart Table can do, but at $5.00 I don’t need the table. I wanted the table so that four students could pay a game together. This app does just that. I was able to save all of my files with your Internet backup. Then I transferred everything to my classroom iPad. It worked perfectly! Thanks a million! FPS
Terrific for differentiating instruction ★★★★★ – July 17, 2012 by Reading Buddies
I had the original Futaba and thought it was a terrific concept. The Classroom Games version had some growing pains with crashes at the beginning but the developers are very responsive. I love that you can now enter text for the questions. I just spent 20 minutes creating a money game and a sight words game geared to my Summer School students levels. Thanks for a wonderful app!
Texas Computer Education Association (TCEA ) recommended iPad App ( June 2012)
Feedback from an occupational therapist via email – Aug 27, 2012 by Danene Park
I am an occupational therapist working in a school district and I generally serve students who have a wide range of abilities from preschool up through middle school therefore will be using your apps in a variety of ways. I will be using some of the settings you already have set up for some students. For other students I will be making my own games. For example, I think I will probably be taking pictures of each of the students and putting their names in so they can match them. I will also be using your apps as a demonstration for teachers so they know they can have several students using one iPad at a time – Danene Park
, bellinghamschools.org
THANK YOU SO MUCH! ★★★★★ – Aug 25, 2012 by Pam Siudak
THANK YOU SO MUCH! I am enjoying setting up some fun games for my kindergartners. They will be having so much fun, they may not even know they are learning! I heard about Futaba at an inservice on how to use ipads in the classroom. We actually got scolded by the presenter because our group was having so much fun playing Futaba that we weren’t paying attention to the presentation. My kindergarten class last year enjoyed it as well. I was super excited to see the classroom version- I can’t wait to set up our own version of Futaba with my student’s pictures. It will also be nice to create games that my non-readers can play and that will support skills being taught in class. Thank you so much for this awesome learning tool. Pam Siudak, Peace Lutheran School
Fabulous! ★★★★★ by TeachinFirst – Version 1.3 – Sep 7, 2012
This app is amazing! Once you get the hang of creating your own games it’s so easy to use! My first graders love the games I have created that are customized to Common Core curriculum. I created a game with their pictures where the students have to match student names to their face and they love it.
The Future of Classroom Technology – February 26, 2013
Futaba Classroom Games for Kids is a shining example of the growing trend. It is truly one-of-a-kind; the content is customizable from skill level to uploadable graphics, and up to 4 players can play at one time…. At $5.99 the app may seem like an expensive download but it could very well take the place of a range of different educational apps that are currently being used by your young learner. It also means that students can share one iPad instead of needing their individual device, which we all know are costly. For those that are teaching their kids at home, Futaba Classroom Games can also replace expensive homeschool materials.
If you have a testimonial – please post it on iTunes and we’ll put it up here as soon as it comes in
