Curious George at the Zoo for the Apple® iPhone®, iPad® and iPod touch® is available for free in the App StoreSM through May 1. After this promotional period, it will be available for $1.99.
Within Curious George at the Zoo, kids embrace George’s curious spirit by exploring the zoo, helping to wake, feed and clean the animals. Along the way, kids learn about a variety of animals native to different parts of the world and earn virtual “stickers” for caring for the animals correctly. As they play, children engage with additional features such as educational videos about each animal, mini games and an interactive photo album that lets players add George to their pictures.
“We know that early childhood is the most important phase for overall development. HMH created this app with that in mind, providing engaged learning for young children and giving them a fun way to improve skills like memory development, sorting ability, and reasoning,” said Bethlam Forsa, Executive Vice President, Global Product and Content Development at HMH. “HMH values enabling curiosity, encouraging remarkable discoveries and new ideas. Curious George at the Zoo embodies that curiosity, making learning fun for a new generation of digital natives.”
The app touches on many domains in the Head Start Framework, which outlines the developmental building blocks for three to five year olds that are most important for school readiness and continued achievement. With a focus on areas such as language development, literacy, math, science, social and emotional development, and creative arts, the app is designed to develop skills vital for future success.
Online, parents and caregivers can find a convenient Learning Guide that will take them through the educational aspects of the game and provide supplementary material to increase the value children get out of the app, including fun activities and ways to play together.
Curious George at the Zoo will feature a variety of habitats for players to explore, beginning with the Sunny Safari. Additional habitats including Deep Freeze, The Outback and Old MacDonald’s Farm, will be rolled out in the coming months. Each additional habitat will be available for purchase for $1.99.
This is the first in the “Curious About” digital collection, a series of Curious George products for the new generation of digital readers. By combining this treasured brand with trusted educational pedagogy, these products will help parents and teachers encourage exploratory learning by engaging children and stimulating curiosity – at home, in the classroom or on the go. As one of the world’s largest providers of educational materials for pre-K learning, HMH is committed to creating innovative solutions that help to engage children and support learning outside the classroom.
Curious George is one of the most iconic children’s book characters of all time, with over seventy million books in print worldwide. Curious George, the Emmy-Award winning television program, airs daily on PBS stations nationwide.
For more information, please visit, www.hmhco.com/curiousgeorge.
About Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
With education products and services used by 57 million students throughout all 50 U.S. states and 120 countries, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt is a global education and learning company. One of the world's largest providers of materials for pre-K–12 learning, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt is leading the way with innovative solutions and approaches to the challenges facing education today. Through curricula excellence coupled with technology innovations and professional services, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt collaborates with school districts, administrators, teachers, parents and students, providing interactive, results-driven learning solutions. Its Educational Consulting Services group works to increase student achievement in underperforming schools by developing, implementing and supporting education transformation through sustained district partnerships. With origins dating back to 1832, the Company also publishes an extensive line of reference works and award-winning literature for adults and young readers. For more information, visit www.hmhco.com.