Toca TV

LQ: 9.5

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Brain grade: 9
Fun score: 10

Platform/Console: , , LWK Recommended Age: 5+ Thinking Skills Used: , ,

Toca TV is a subscription-based video streaming service from popular app developer Toca Boca. Toca TV contains both original and manually curated content, created and chosen especially to encourage kids to play, explore, experiment, and be creative. Though Toca TV requires a paid subscription ($4.99 a month), the service is unique in that it provides users with an entirely ad-free experience. And because content is handpicked rather than chosen through algorithms (as with YouTube Kids), parents can be sure that their children are only watching quality content. In addition to featuring a number of kid-hosted shows, Toca TV offers many how-to videos that will make kids want to make and do things. Kids can even create their own shows with Toca TV’s video recording feature. We recommend Toca TV to kids 5 years and older.

Get Toca TV at the iTunes App Store >>>


THIS APP IS GOOD FOR KIDS WHO NEED HELP WITH:

Focus

Getting started and then maintaining attention and effort to tasks.

tocatvscreen6No parent needs to be told how well kids are able to focus when it comes to watching videos and TV -- often kids are focused a little too well. The benefit of Toca TV is that its videos aren’t just wholesome and entertaining, they are selected by Toca Boca because they encourage kids to do more than just sit back and watch. Much of Toca TV’s content challenges kids to move around, ask questions, and get creative. When kids learn a new dance move or follow along with a DIY video to make something cool, they’re paying attention to the video as well as what they are doing, passive entertainment becomes active entertainment and the focus thinking skill practice is intensified.

Self-awareness

Understanding our own actions, thoughts and feelings and empathizing with others.

tocatvscreen1The potential for increasing self-awareness is always there when kids watch videos and television, but Toca TV is unique for a very important reason: all video content is hand-curated by Toca Boca and held to a strict standard. Users will never encounter third-party product placement or advertising. Videos are chosen for being kid-friendly, having positive messages, and featuring diverse people and characters. This makes Toca TV is especially good for helping kids understand themselves and others. Plus, kids are able to make their own videos right in the app, allowing them to see themselves, and their friends and family, right on the same screen as their favorite kid hosts and characters. Filming and editing their own videos leads to additional exercises in reflection and self-assessment, important aspects of self-awareness.

Time Management

Being efficient and aware of our use of time and effort.

tocatvscreen4Though Toca TV does not have a timer, there are third party apps like Screen Time that can help you put definitive time limits on your child’s television watching. But whether you choose to use an app timer or a real life timer (and a bit of trust) in conjunction with Toca TV, the streaming app offers an opportunity for building stronger time management skills. Used with a timer, children are required to make quick decisions and prioritize their TV-watching in the time allotted. Will they let the app choose what they watch or do they have a favorite show or theme (animals, DIY, etc) in mind? Do they want to access a DIY video so they can make their own art project? Or will they choose a little more time with the app to make their own show?

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