Land, Sea or Sky?
Sorting vehicles by where they go: on the land, on the sea or in the sky.
How it plays
Vehicles drift about; your child drags each one to where it goes: in the sky or on the land, then on the sea as well. When a vehicle gets there, Ruby Roo says what it is or one thing about it. On the first screen you can set “How fast they move”, “How many of each” and “Keep them where I put them”.
What it's for
Sorting vehicles by where they go: on the land, on the sea or in the sky. There is no score to lose and no way to fail: a wrong move is met with a gentle nudge, and a level ends when it's done.
Away from the screen: The toy-box sort
About two minutes, with things most homes have.
- Put a blue towel (the sea), a green one (the land) and a cushion (the sky) on the floor.
- Find any toy vehicles, or draw some on scraps of paper.
- Your child puts each one where it goes.
- Find one that could go in two places (a seaplane, a duck).
Three questions to ask while they play
- Which one is the fastest?
- Which one would you ride to Grandma's?
- Can a helicopter go on the sea?
Play together
Things to say or ask
- A road train! It pulls lots of trailers.
- Where does the hot-air balloon go?
Taking turns on one device: One of you names a vehicle; the other finds it and puts it in its place.
If they find it hard
Set “How fast they move” to its slowest and “How many of each” to one. Say the vehicle's name as they pick it up.
Every fact, and where it comes from
What Ruby Roo says in Land, Sea or Sky? was checked against the page it links to.
- A road train is a prime mover towing two or more trailers, allowed on set routes, mostly in remote Australia. (National Heavy Vehicle Regulator)
- A burner heats the air inside the balloon; hot air is lighter than the cooler air around it, so the balloon rises. (Britannica Kids)
- Helicopters can take off and land vertically, move in any direction, or hover in one place. (Encyclopaedia Britannica)
What it practises
- Sorting by two things. Putting things into groups by what they look like, then by two things at once: orange and round, small and pointy.
AC9MFSP01 (Mathematics, Foundation); AC9MFM01 (Mathematics, Foundation); EYLF 4.2 (Early Years Learning Framework V2.0)
The codes are from the Early Years Learning Framework V2.0 (for children from birth to five) and the Australian Curriculum v9 (Foundation to Year 2). Each links to the official wording. Every skill, and the games for it.
What it costs, and what we collect
Nothing, and nothing. There is no account, no advertising and no tracking of any kind. Which games have been played is remembered on your own device and is never sent anywhere. The full version is here, and it's short.
Where it lives
Land, Sea or Sky? is part of Machines & Vehicles. It works on a phone, a tablet or a classroom screen, and once it's been opened it keeps working with no signal at all.
Updated