Apps We Love: “Critteroos: Mix. Match. Print.”

This app is as much fun as it is beautiful, and that’s saying a lot! Very funny, borderline surreal, educational, and easy to use, this app is a teaching tool that truly stimulates imagination and creativity. And it’s so simple! The great ideas often are.


Crisp, high resolution photos of animals appear, the photos split horizontally, so the top of one animal can be mixed with the bottom of another. Users can slide the animals’ tops and/or bottoms left and right to find a match. Tap either panel and the app pronounces the animal’s name. Need more of a challenge? Try it in Spanish. Or download versions in French or Mandarin.

The app can also be used as a series of flash cards for babies and younger toddlers. Again, a tap and the animal’s name is announced. Older kids will enjoy creating, naming, saving, sharing, and printing their own unique “hybrid” animals. The app allows you to type in your animal’s chosen name before printing. It’s a great vocabulary builder, too. (So THAT’S what a serval is!)

The Critteroos website offers suggestions and stories incorporating their own collection of hybrid animals. I have to say, I appreciate an app with a great web presence, and I appreciate it even more with kids’ apps. Critteroos’ parent company—CMCD Visual Symbols—has one of the best websites I’ve seen.

This app is so clever YOU won’t want to put it down. But be a sport! Share it with the kids, already!

Review Summary:
App Name: Critteroos: Mix. Match. Print.
Category: Education
Age Level: 4+
Updated: 21 July 2011
Requirements: iPhone, iPod touch, iPad, requires iOS 4.2 or later.
Price: $2.99
Bottom Line: Every app should be this clever, well designed, and fun.