Magic Belles: Magic Music - Review

Bottom line: Cause and effect musical app for toddlers that is unabashedly targeted at little girls. Preschoolers and those interested in more than cakes and flowers are unlikely to get much replay value from it however.

If you would like to download Magic Belles: Magic Music ($1.99, iPad/iPhone), please support Smart Apps for Kids and use the following link:

The Magic Belles are a group of musical fairies who live in an enchanted place called Bellevue. Each fairy is responsible for a natural phenomenon such as stars, flowers and rainbows. They are very 21st century fairies however, because they have their own website. Magic Belles: Magic Music, by Luma Creative and Do-Tank Studios, is their first foray into app world.

The app is marketed at girls between the ages of 3 and 6. When your little princess opens the app she will find 7 sections to play with, one for each of the six Magic Belles and one where all of the Belles get together. Also on the home screen is an information page for Parents which is unlocked but contains links to the Magic Belles website as well as their Facebook page and Twitter account. I'd love to see this protected by a password to prevent little ones inadvertently exploring outside of the app. There's also a comprehensive How to Play section on the home screen, but help screens are also provided within each individual game.

With respect to the games, your child gets to do the following:

• Connect the dots amongst the stars. The dots are numbered so this game reinforces counting skills. There are visual prompts for the youngest children who may not know which number to tap next.

• Play a virtual guitar by pressing on different colored bells in order to turn them on and off.

• Grow and gather flowers by tapping on either their stalks or Flower Belle's watering can.

• Find all the butterflies on the screen.

• Tap on a rainbow to fill paint pots with different colors and then use the paint collected to brighten up some mushrooms.

• Place cakes and other sweet treats on a picnic blanket - the number and location of the items used will all affect the tune that is played.

• In the screen where all the Magic Belles appear your child can get each fairy to play their own song, or select some or all of the Belles so they harmonize their tunes, creating a little symphony.

There are interactive effects in all of the games - each Magic Belle will play her song for you when pressed, tapping on animals results in them making sounds, moving across the screen, even stealing cakes in the picnic game. I did study some music theory at one time but really not enough to comfortably talk in depth about the subject. What did strike me though is that the music seemed very atonal which I thought was perfect as it’s easier for kids to confidently create their own compositions when nothing they do sounds off-key.

What did I like about the app?

 

• The graphics are colorful and crystal clear and really lovely to look at.

• The Belles themselves are a diverse group - little girls hoping to find a Belle that looks like them should be able to find one.

• It's very easy for children to create music that sounds pretty good. A lot of music apps for toddlers (and toddler music toys in general) are the bane of a parent's existence because children might have fun bashing around but the sounds they produce are truly awful. My favorite game in the app is the picnic blanket one with Cupcake Belle - you simply move items around on a blanket and easily create melodies and harmonies using different notes and chords - and the sounds created don't make your ears bleed. This for me is the primary recommendation for this app - as a way to interest toddlers in the creation of music and give them the confidence to want to try more as they get older.

• For children with limited mobility or fine motor challenges, the straightforward cause and effect nature of the app would make it a good one for teachers, therapists and parents of special needs children to have in their repertoire, particularly for children who find music very motivating and engaging.

• At $1.99, the app is very reasonably priced.

 

In terms of suggestions or areas for improvement:

• I'm not convinced this app will engage older children for long. I tested it with my partner's daughter who only recently turned 7 and is mad about fairies - she thought it was cute but had no interest in playing it after she had tried each fairy's game. I think this really is an app best suited for toddlers and first-time iDevice users. The flower and butterfly game are perfect for these children to start with and as they get more confident with the device, then they will find the picnic blanket and connect-the-dots games more of a challenge.

• The Magic Belles are clearly designed to appeal to girls - fairies, rainbows, cupcakes, and butterflies - really, only unicorns and ponies are missing from the mix. My complaint here isn't so much about media that's designed to appeal to a specific gender, it's the extreme gender stereotyping that I find a little disappointing. Bob the Builder is clearly designed to appeal primarily to boys, but Bob takes dance lessons, owns a cat and his primary helper is a woman called Wendy. All the Magic Belles wear dresses and have very "girly" interests. Yes, the fairies are supposed to be connected to natural phenomena but what exactly is natural about cakes?

If you are looking for a cause and effect app for a music-loving child or are hoping to prompt your toddler to develop an interest in music - this app is well executed, nicely priced and therefore worth a look, as long as you don't mind your gender stereotypes undiluted.

 

Comments

[Maxine of the Magic Belles]

Hi there! Thanks so much for your review :-))

I hope you don't mind us (as the creators) answering some of the points you raised, as we feel quite passionate about them and have put a huge amount of thought and care into the creation of Magic Belles (and we felt that some of your points were about the brand rather than our app).

We're so delighted you liked the music - we worked very hard on creating it with a professional musician who teaches music to kids. It was a real passion of ours to make mini games where little ones could create music that sounds good very easily – and to build their confidence in early stage music making. Thanks so much for picking up on that!

With regards to appealing to older children - we think there are lots of apps out there already doing that and it was never our intention for this to appeal to anything other than preschoolers. Definitely not 7-year-olds! You're spot on - it's purely for toddlers/preschoolers :-)

About the brand itself - The Magic Belles each look after one of life's special wonders. They are wonders as seen through the eyes of a child, and we think any parent will agree that kids consider cupcakes and sweet treats to be pretty wonderful and special things. The Magic Belles aren't only 'supposed to be connected to natural phenomena' - we think the world is full of many and varied wonders - especially as far as kids are concerned.

And on the thorny subject of gender stereotyping – firstly, they all wear dresses that are BELL shaped, because they are Magic BELLES and their dresses make their signature bell jingle. It didn't quite work out with bellbottoms - though we tried! ;-)

Also, if you look at the characters on our website, you'll see that Star Belle is a star-gazer, she has her own star-gazing dome, knows all the constellations and shares star facts in our weekly blog. Rainbow Belle is the artist, Flower Belle is a gardener, Cupcake Belle is a baker, Butterfly Belle cares for bugs and butterflies (sharing crafts and facts on everything from making bug hotels and moths to caterpillars and honey bees), and Love Belle is a musician. We don't consider any of these talents to be gender stereotypes.

In reality, there are probably a lot more high profile male star-gazers/bakers/artists/gardeners/insect experts and musicians than female. (Sadly!)

Our Belles appreciate and care for the special wonders around them and have talents related to those special wonders - we think that's a positive and would rather that than them be pop stars, models and the like. I didn't want my daughter to grow up in a world of characters like that!

We truly love Bob the Builder, but when it comes to comparisons, we think there's a whole host of other purely pink big name girls' brands who know a thing or two about gender stereotyping. We don't wish to be one of them and we are always open to discuss and debate this.

Hope you don't mind us sharing the above thoughts and thanks so much, again, for the review!

Very best wishes,

Maxine of the Magic Belles

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