Pitch: Players (age 18 months – 4 years) match physical shapes to virtual ones on an iPad screen, which gives them positive feedback when they choose correctly. (Co-designed by Azadeh Jamalian, a PhD candidate in education at Columbia University’s Teachers College.)
Payoff: Understanding the connection between the toy in their hand and the shape on their screen is a huge and important cognitive leap. And although social toys and games are crucial to development, psychologists say it’s also important to learn how to entertain yourself, as Tiggly enables.
Price: $29.99; available here.