Nickelodeon's Wallykazam!: Letter and Word Magic is the Number One Education App (Photo: Business Wire)
Inspired by "Wallykazam!", the network's latest preschool literacy TV series, the application aims to help kids develop phonemic awareness, letter knowledge and letter-sound associations, and promote excitement about words and learning to read.
Original Nickelodeon Press Release:
Nickelodeon's First Preschool Literacy Mobile App Tops Educational, Kids and Paid App Lists
April 15, 2014 03:47 PM Eastern Daylight Time
NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)--In its first week live, Nickelodeon's brand-new literacy app, Wallykazam!: Letter and Word Magic, skyrocketed to the number-one spot on the educational and kids app lists and the number-two spot on the paid app list on the iTunes App store in the U.S. Inspired by Wallykazam!, the network's latest preschool literacy TV series, the app aims to help kids develop phonemic awareness, letter knowledge and letter-sound associations, and promote excitement about words and learning to read. As one of the first kid-focused media companies to launch content on the iPad, Nickelodeon continues to provide compelling content to the platform. The network's apps are designed so kids can interact with their favorite characters in new and different ways, on all the platforms they have available to them.
Nickelodeon's Wallykazam!: Letter and Word Magic is the Number One Education App (Photo: Business Wire)
The Wallykazam!: Letter and Word Magic app, which was developed by curriculum consultants and tested by kid focus groups, follows Wally, Norville, Bobgoblin, Gina Giant and Libby Light Sprite, in magical and hilarious adventures. Users can play games and learn about the power of letters and words by touching, tapping, flicking and tilting their devices to interact with Wally and his friends. The app features four games, 400 words that teach upper and lowercase letters, and kids are rewarded with words after completing each activity.
Wallykazam!: Letter and Word Magic App Curriculum Includes:
* Letter Recognition and Letter-Sound Correspondence: Users search for missing letters in Wally's forest, but must watch out for troublemaking Bobgoblin;
* Letter Writing: Kids can learn to write letters with Libby Light Sprite by tracing and dragging letters in the night sky. Each time a letter is traced it grows brighter to show progress;
* Rhyming Words and Word Families: Users must build a stone word tower out of rhyming words to help Wally reach the top of Gina Giant's head. As the tower grows higher, Gina giggles causing the tower to tilt, prompting kids to turn their devices to keep up;
* Alliteration: Kids can use the words rewarded from each activity to make Ogre Doug's creatures do a variety of entertaining and silly things, like making Borgelorp big, blue or burp.
About Wallykazam!
Wallykazam! is Nickelodeon's first preschool series that embeds a literacy curriculum into a full-length story, introducing skills such as letter and sound identification, rhyming, vocabulary development and comprehension strategies. Each episode features a new set of magic words that Wally uses to playfully transform the world around him. Celebrity guests featured in season one include Vanessa Bayer (SNL), Weird Al Yankovic, John O'Hurley (Seinfeld), Kate Micucci (The Big Bang Theory) and Alanna Ubach (Nick at Nite's See Dad Run). Created by producer/writer Adam Peltzman (Emmy Award-winning The Backyardigans and Bubble Guppies), the series airs regularly weekdays at 1:00 p.m. (ET/PT) on Nickelodeon.
About Nickelodeon
Nickelodeon, now in its 35th year, is the number-one entertainment brand for kids. It has built a diverse, global business by putting kids first in everything it does. The company includes television programming and production in the United States and around the world, plus consumer products, online, recreation, books and feature films. Nickelodeon's U.S. television network is seen in almost 100 million households and has been the number-one-rated basic cable network for 19 consecutive years. For more information or artwork, visit http://www.nickpress.com. Nickelodeon and all related titles, characters and logos are trademarks of Viacom Inc. (NYSE: VIA, VIA.B).
Contacts
Nickelodeon
Tori Fernandes
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