Playing House On iPad With My PlayHome

 Contest Closed

Pretend play has never been this fun. My PlayHome (sold separately for iPhone $1.99) by Shimon Young allows children to let their imagination run wild as they navigate in this digital doll house.

Comprised of four rooms, My PlayHome creates a space where a child controls where the family goes and what each of them do. The family consists of mom, dad, and three children.

The first scene that the child will see is the living room.There children can explore the room to find hidden activities. Turn the television on, put the books away, or close the curtains. The child in control of this digital doll house will find a few surprises; actions cause reaction.

Move into the kitchen to cook eggs or do some laundry. Kids will have a blast moving items to where they don’t belong. Who on Earth puts pizza in the cabinet?  Kids will –  giggling is built into this app.

The other two rooms are the bathroom where individual family members can hop in the shower or put towels away and the kids’ bedroom.

In the bedroom the child can put the kids to sleep, blow bubbles, or play basketball. There are many things to do in each of the rooms, the child just needs to explore – something they will be drawn to do in this app.

The graphics are perfect this type of game. There are a few items, however, that are very small and might be difficult for the youngest children to manipulate.

My PlayHome is said to be for children between the ages of one and seven. This may seem like a rather large age variant, but it’s  appropriate.

Young toddlers will enjoy the animation that occurs when they touch something while older children will be imaginatively challenged to find all of the things that can be done in each room.

There is no music that plays continuously in the background, but there are plenty of sound effects in each room to break the silence. The living room music comes from the CD changer where the child can change the CD if they want something different. A really neat touch.

The only thing missing from this app is a backyard scene.  Having the ability to explore the backyard would add a lot to My PlayHome. I hope they add that and other areas to explore in updates.

Overall, My PlayHome is a solid app and one any child will enjoy. Although it is, in a way, a digital doll house, boys will enjoy it just as much as the girls. It’s more like a virtual playhouse and stimulates creative play. There is no gender typing – a girl can play basketball and a boy can make lunch – and everyone can blow bubbles, who doesn’t like to do that?

For something educational, traditional and still high tech, My PlayHome is  wonderful choice for the whole family to enjoy.

Contest Closed

 †Prices accurate at time of posting but are subject to change without prior warning on the App Store