Where Does It Grow?
Where food comes from: on a tree, on a vine, or under the ground.
How it plays
Foods drift about; your child drags each one to where it grows: on a tree or under the ground, then on a vine as well. When a food gets there, Ruby Roo says one thing about it, like peanuts growing under the ground. 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
Where food comes from: on a tree, on a vine, or under the ground. 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 fruit bowl sort
About two minutes, with things most homes have.
- Put out a few things from the kitchen: an apple, a potato, a carrot, some grapes.
- Make three spots on the table: a tree, a vine and the ground (draw them, or use bowls).
- Your child puts each one where they think it grew.
- Look one up together if you're not sure.
Three questions to ask while they play
- Where does a carrot grow?
- Which ones did you think would grow on a tree?
- What's your favourite food that grows under the ground?
Play together
Things to say or ask
- Peanuts grow under the ground! Did you know that?
- Grapes grow on a vine. It's a bit like a climbing plant.
Taking turns on one device: One of you names a food; the other finds it and puts it where it grows.
If they find it hard
Set “How fast they move” to its slowest and “How many of each” to one. Name each food, and say “up high” or “down low” as a clue.
Every fact, and where it comes from
What Ruby Roo says in Where Does It Grow? was checked against the page it links to.
- Macadamias are Australian trees, found naturally from north-east New South Wales to south-east Queensland. (Royal Botanic Garden Sydney)
- A peanut flowers above ground, then sends a shoot (a peg) into the soil, where the nut forms in its shell. (Northern Territory Government)
- The potato we eat is the tuber: the swollen end of the plant's underground stems. (Britannica Kids)
- The carrot is a root vegetable; the part we eat is the taproot, which grows underground. (Kids' Country (East of England Agricultural Society))
- The watermelon plant is a trailing annual with long running stems and tendrils. (Britannica Kids)
- The grape is usually a woody vine, climbing by means of tendrils. (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
Where Does It Grow? is part of Food & Cooking. 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