What Does It Do?
What machines do: the digger digs, the crane lifts, the tractor pulls, the cement mixer turns.
How it plays
Two machines at a time. Ruby Roo asks “Which one digs?” or “Which one lifts heavy things up high?”, and your child taps one. A right tap says what both machines do; the other tap names the machine and asks again. The digger, crane, fire truck and garbage truck come first, then the tractor, cement mixer, bulldozer and tow truck. It's in Tiny Steps.
What it's for
What machines do: the digger digs, the crane lifts, the tractor pulls, the cement mixer turns. 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: Be the machine
About two minutes, with things most homes have.
- Say a machine's name: digger, crane, cement mixer.
- Your child acts it out: scoop and dig, lift up high, turn and turn.
- Swap: they act one out and you guess which machine it is.
- Next time you're out, look for one doing its job.
Three questions to ask while they play
- What does the crane do?
- Which machine would you need to move a big pile of dirt?
- Have you seen one of these near where we live?
Play together
Things to say or ask
- The cement mixer turns and turns, so the cement stays wet.
- Which one would you drive?
Taking turns on one device: One of you asks Ruby Roo's question out loud; the other taps.
If they find it hard
Do the action with your hands while Ruby Roo asks (scoop, lift, turn), so the word has a picture to go with it.
From two to eight
Tiny Steps: made for two- and three-year-olds too. With Tiny Steps on, it stays on its gentlest level, a not-yet tap is never counted, and there's nothing to read.
Switch Tiny Steps on in Who's playing?, on the grown-ups' page.
Every fact, and where it comes from
What Ruby Roo says in What Does It Do? was checked against the page it links to.
- A crane is a machine that lifts and moves heavy objects. (Encyclopaedia Britannica)
- A bulldozer is a powerful machine with a steel blade at the front, for pushing earth or rocks. (Encyclopaedia Britannica)
What it practises
- New words. Meeting and using everyday words.
AC9EFLA08 (English, Foundation); EYLF 5.1 (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
What Does It Do? 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