I am SO excited to share with you an awesome Catholic kids app that I recently discovered called Little Saint Adventure. If you want a way to engage your kids while teaching them all about our Catholic faith, this is the app for you. It is just a fact that these days, children respond to technology. It is their world. So let's meet them where they are at and teach them all about Jesus, His love for us and His church using technology that is modern, engaging, and fun.
Little Saint Adventures: An Overview
The basic setup of this app is that you go into different "worlds." Each world has a different theme and focus. There is a lesson portion that has minimal engagement - clicking on things they ask you to, but mostly just listening and watching what they are teaching.
After that there are different activities such as matching games, fill in the blank, choose the correct picture, etc. There is also quizzes to test their listening and comprehension of the topic that was just presented. You finish all of this to unlock the next world.
At the time of publishing this post, there are 7 worlds that are included:
- Francis' Forest - creation & God's love
- Nazareth Village - Jesus' early life and family
- Sailing in Galilee - Jesus' life and public ministry
- My Parish Family - Sacraments, church & liturgical year
- Shamrock Isle - Trinity & the Creed
- Avila's Castle - prayer
- Michael's Battlefield - Heaven & the saints
The app has two more listed as coming soon in 2019. Since my 5 year old made her way through the games so quickly over the past few months, she asks me daily to check and see if the new worlds have been added. She LOVES this game and is learning so much.
Check out this promo video to see more about what Little Saint Adventures is all about.
Little Saint Adventures: Using the App
I first tried out this app with my five year old. I sat with her for the first world to make sure she knew what to do and was actually paying attention to the lessons and playing the games correctly. After that, she took off and can easily use the app by herself. She quickly maneuvered through all of the worlds, learning about everything from prayers, to the live of Jesus, to items used during Mass.
Finally, just a few weekends ago, I had my 7 year old try it out. She loved it just as much as her sister and I would say retained even more of what was being taught.
I happened to be volunteering in her Sunday school (Catechesis of the Good Shepherd) class, and the teacher asked who baptized Jesus and my daughter quickly raised her hand and answered John the Baptist. The teacher followed up with who was John the Baptist and my daughter responded that he was "Elizabeth's kid" and Jesus' cousin. Then she leaned over to me and said I just learned that from the game on your tablet. Haha! Proud mom moment.
The app is very user friendly and definitely geared toward kids. My girls could easily move through the app with very little help from me. The graphics are very modern looking (as opposed to some of the outdated cartoon videos that we sometimes use in catechism classes at church.) It is colorful and engaging and definitely makes Catholicism so much easier for children to understand.
Here's a little sample of what it looks like to play the app.
Little Saint Adventures: The Parent App
Another great feature of this game is the parent app. There is a free parent app that links to your child's app. You can see the latest activity for your child (or children if you create different accounts for each child) and can find out what they've been learning about...but it doesn't stop there!
For each of the games your child plays, you will see the screen above. You will get a description of the game, conversation starters, family activities, and parent resources.
Conversation starters are just that - ideas for starting conversations that your whole family can engage in related to what your child recently learned. These are a great way to make sure your child is actually retaining what is taught in the games or see if they need to play again. This is also great to have faith based conversations at dinner or driving in the car.
The family activities give ideas for different hands on activities (crafts, songs, activities, etc.) that you could do as a family as an extension of the lesson/game that they recently completed. It also gives estimated time so you know up front and can plan accordingly.
The parent resources section compiles related videos, articles, and resources from all around the internet. You'll find youTube videos, products to be purchased, freebies, Amazon links and so much more. They took the Googling work out of it for you and compiled a variety of resources to give you more background knowledge on the topic.
They also have a supplemental activity book that you can purchase on Amazon if you want your child to do more paper and pencil type activities. They also send out emails with helpful tips and resources that you can download and use with your child.
Little Saint Adventures: My Thoughts
This app is AMAZING! I always struggle with finding great apps on the Android platform for my girls to use. I haven't found very many that are specifically Catholic and geared toward kids. This app is just that and so much more. I usually prefer free apps because I feel like my kids outgrow them and are on to the next thing, but this is an app that is worth the money.
There is so much content in this app. It isn't watered down, but simply presents the Catholic faith on a child's level. There is SO much to the Catholic faith and Little Saint Adventures does a great job of balancing all of that by teaching about Bible stories, the life of Jesus, the life of the saints, prayers, Sacraments and on and on. It isn't strictly a Bible stories app or an app about prayers. It is a little bit of everything that makes our faith so unique and I love that my girls are learning all about it through technology in a fun and engaging way.
If you are interested in finding our more about Little Saint Adventures check out their website here. You can download the Android version of the app HERE in the Google Play store. You can find the iOS version HERE in the Apple store.
If you are interested in finding our more about Little Saint Adventures check out their website here. You can download the Android version of the app HERE in the Google Play store. You can find the iOS version HERE in the Apple store.