Little Explorers: A Guide for Parents

Every app in Little Explorers is a toy first: children tap, drag and watch. Each one also has a short Lessons book (the graduation-cap button) that walks through the big idea in a handful of chapters, with a voice that reads everything aloud and moments where the child does something in the toy. Nothing is a quiz. There are no scores, timers or wrong answers, and the only record is a tick on finished chapters, kept on the device.

Clockwork Town

Ages 5-9 · about 7 minutes of guided lessons · learning goals follow NGSS 3-PS2, K-2-ETS1

The big idea: Gears pass turning along; size changes speed and strength, and touching gears turn opposite ways.

• What is a gear?. Wheels with teeth.
• Turning the other way. Touching gears turn opposite.
• Big and small. Fast, slow and strong.
• Gear trains. Gears in a team.
• Gears at home. Machines with gears.
• Gear workshop. Build your own.

Words learned: bicycle, big gear, clock, crank, direction, engineer, faster, gear, gear train, idler gear, loop, machine, mesh, opposite, power, slower, small gear, stronger, teeth.

Coin Corner Market

Ages 5-8 · about 8 minutes of guided lessons · learning goals follow CCSS 1.MD.C.3, 2.MD.C.8

The big idea: Coin names and values, trading small coins for bigger ones, and making the same amount in different ways.

• Meet the coins. Penny, nickel, dime, quarter.
• Which is worth more?. Size is not value.
• Pennies make a nickel. Fair trades.
• Counting by fives and tens. Skip counting coins.
• The quarter. Twenty-five cents.
• Making amounts. Many ways, same amount.
• Shopping at the stall. Pay the exact price.

Words learned: add, amount, cent, change, coins, cost, count by fives, count by tens, dime, dollar, equal, less, more, nickel, pay, penny, price, quarter, skip counting, trade, twenty-five cents, value, worth.

Color Cauldron

Ages 4-8 · about 6 minutes of guided lessons · learning goals follow K-2 art and science (color mixing)

The big idea: Red, yellow and blue make every other paint color; white and black make colors lighter and darker.

• Primary colors. Red, yellow and blue.
• Orange, green and purple. Mix two primaries.
• Light and dark. Add white or black.
• Brown and mud. Mix every color.
• Warm and cool colors. Feelings of color.
• The rainbow. All the colors together.

Words learned: blue, brown, color, cool, darker, green, lighter, mix, muddy, orange, pink, primary, primary color, purple, rainbow, red, secondary color, shade, tint, warm, yellow.

Counting Cove

Ages 4-7 · about 7 minutes of guided lessons · learning goals follow CCSS K.CC, K.OA

The big idea: Counting one by one, the last number tells how many, putting groups together and taking away.

• One by one. Counting means one for each.
• The last number. How many are there?
• Putting together. More critters join.
• Counting to ten. Bigger and bigger.
• More and fewer. Which group is bigger?
• The tide goes out. Taking away.
• The ten frame. Two rows of five.
• Counting by twos and fives. Skip counting.

Words learned: add, bigger, count, count down, fewer, fingers, five, fives, four, how many, last number, more, one, one by one, put together, row, skip count, smaller, take away, ten, ten frame, tens, three, twos.

Drippy's Water Cycle

Ages 5-8 · about 9 minutes of guided lessons · learning goals follow NGSS 2-ESS2-3, 3-ESS2-1, 5-ESS2-1

The big idea: Water goes round and round: evaporation, condensation, precipitation and collection, powered by the Sun.

• Water everywhere. Where does water live?
• Evaporation. The Sun lifts water up.
• Condensation. Clouds are made.
• Precipitation. Rain, snow and hail fall.
• Collection. Water gathers and flows.
• The whole cycle. Round and round it goes.
• Snow, ice and melting. When water gets very cold.
• Water under the ground. Where does the rain go?
• Taking care of water. What we can do.

Words learned: clean, cloud, collection, condensation, cool, cycle, evaporation, freeze, fresh water, groundwater, hail, heat, ice, lake, melt, ocean, precious, precipitation, rain, river, save, snow, soil, spring, stream, Sun, water cycle, water vapor, well.

Fractions Pizzeria

Ages 5-8 · about 6 minutes of guided lessons · learning goals follow CCSS 1.G.A.3, 2.G.A.3, 3.NF.A.1

The big idea: Halves, quarters and eighths are equal parts of a whole, and fair sharing means equal shares.

• One whole. All of the pizza.
• Halves. Two equal parts.
• Quarters. Four equal parts.
• Eighths. Eight equal parts.
• Fair shares. Sharing with friends.
• Fractions everywhere. Look what you learned.

Words learned: eighth, equal, equal parts, fair, four equal parts, fraction, half, halves, more slices, quarter, share, smaller, two equal parts, whole.

Little Sprout

Ages 4-8 · about 11 minutes of guided lessons · learning goals follow NGSS K-LS1-1, 2-LS2-1

The big idea: A seed grows into a plant that needs sun, water, air and soil, then makes flowers and new seeds. Different seeds grow into different plants.

• Inside a seed. A baby plant is sleeping.
• Waking up. The seed drinks and sprouts.
• Under the ground. Soil, worms and water.
• What plants need. Sun, water, air and soil.
• Leaves make food. Plants cook with sunlight.
• Flowers and bees. Flowers make seeds.
• Parts of a plant. Roots, stem, leaves, flower.
• Seeds travel. The cycle begins again.
• Plant doctor. Too much, too little, just right.
• Different seeds. Bean, acorn, sunflower.

Words learned: acorn, air, baby plant, balance, bean, droop, earthworm, flower, germination, just right, leaf, leaves, life cycle, nectar, oak, oxygen, photosynthesis, pollen, pollination, root, roots, seed, seed leaves, seeds, soil, sprout, stem, subsoil, sunlight, topsoil, travel, water, wilt, wind.

Matter Mixer

Ages 5-8 · about 11 minutes of guided lessons · learning goals follow NGSS 2-PS1-1, 2-PS1-4

The big idea: Solids, liquids and gases behave differently because of how their tiny particles move; heat changes the state.

• What is matter?. Everything is made of stuff.
• Solids. Hard, strong and stay put.
• Liquids. They pour and flow.
• Gases. They spread out everywhere.
• Heat and cold. Heat changes the state.
• Different stuff. Water and chocolate.
• Everyday melting. Butter and candle wax.
• Changes you can undo. Melt, then freeze again.
• Gases are everywhere. Air, steam and bubbles.
• Very hot: melting iron. Metal needs a furnace.

Words learned: air, boil, butter, condense, evaporate, flow, freeze, furnace, gas, heat, iron, liquid, matter, melt, metal, mold, particles, reversible, same stuff, shape, solid, spread out, steam, wax.

Metamorphosis Pond

Ages 5-8 · about 11 minutes of guided lessons · learning goals follow NGSS 1-LS3-1, 3-LS1-1

The big idea: Living things are born, grow, have babies, and the circle starts again; frogs and butterflies change shape completely.

• What is a life cycle?. Born, grow, and again.
• The frog's story. From egg to frog.
• The butterfly's story. Egg, caterpillar, butterfly.
• Metamorphosis. Changing shape.
• Same and different. Frog and butterfly.
• Not every animal changes. Some just get bigger.
• The hen family. Egg, chick, pullet, hen.
• The whole story at once. Every story in a row.
• The chicken family. Baby, young, grown-up.

Words learned: adult, baby, butterfly, caterpillar, change, chick, chrysalis, compare, dots, egg, eggs, family, froglet, gills, grow, grown-up, hen, larva, life cycle, lungs, metamorphosis, nectar, pullet, shape, story, tadpole.

Munch Meadow

Ages 5-9 · about 7 minutes of guided lessons · learning goals follow NGSS 2-LS2-1, 5-LS2-1

The big idea: Energy passes from the Sun to plants to the animals that eat them, link by link, in a food chain.

• The Sun feeds the meadow. Where energy starts.
• Plant eaters. Grasshoppers munch leaves.
• Meat eaters. Frogs and hawks hunt.
• A food chain. Energy passes along.
• The cleanup crew. Nothing goes to waste.
• Every link matters. What if a link goes missing?

Words learned: arrow, balance, carnivore, consumer, decomposer, depend, energy, food chain, grasshopper, herbivore, link, mushroom, omnivore, plant, predator, prey, producer, soil, Sun, worm.

PCB Pal

Ages 6-9 · about 6 minutes of guided lessons · learning goals follow NGSS 4-PS3-2

The big idea: A circuit board carries electricity between parts, and a full loop makes lights, sounds and motion.

• Meet the board. Golden roads for electricity.
• Power up: the battery. Where electricity starts.
• Light it up. Switch, resistor and LED.
• Sounds and spins. Buzzers and motors.
• Smart parts. Radio parts and chips.
• Where circuit boards live. They are everywhere.

Words learned: antenna, battery, buzzer, capacitor, chip, circuit board, electricity, engineer, gadget, LED, loop, motor, part, resistor, sensor, solder, sound, switch, trace, transistor.

Sense Safari

Ages 4-7 · about 6 minutes of guided lessons · learning goals follow NGSS K-LS1-1, 1-LS1-1

The big idea: We learn about the world with five senses, and our senses work together and keep us safe.

• Five senses. How we learn about the world.
• Sight. Seeing with your eyes.
• Hearing. Listening with your ears.
• Smell and taste. Nose and tongue team up.
• Touch. Feeling with your skin.
• All together. Senses work as a team.

Words learned: brain, cold, ears, eyes, hearing, hot, light, loud, nose, rough, senses, sight, skin, smell, soft, sour, sweet, taste, team, tongue, touch, vibration.

Sky Layers

Ages 6-9 · about 10 minutes of guided lessons · learning goals follow NGSS 2-ESS2, 3-ESS2-1, 5-ESS2-1

The big idea: The air around Earth is a blanket of five layers. It thins out as you go up, and each layer has its own temperature and its own things to find.

• An ocean of air. We live at the bottom.
• The troposphere. Weather and us.
• Why is the sky blue?. A sunbeam secret.
• Where wind comes from. Warm air rises.
• Today's weather. You pick the sky.
• The stratosphere. The ozone shield.
• The mesosphere. Coldest and full of shooting stars.
• The thermosphere. Where space begins.
• The exosphere and space. The edge of the air.

Words learned: air, atmosphere, aurora, clouds, colder, coldest, colors of light, cool air, exosphere, five layers, layers, mesosphere, meteor, ozone, rain, satellite, scatter, snow, space, space station, stratosphere, sunset, thermosphere, troposphere, ultraviolet, warm air, warmer, weather, wind.

Spin the World

Ages 4-8 · about 6 minutes of guided lessons · learning goals follow NGSS 1-ESS1-2, 5-ESS1-2

The big idea: The spinning Earth carries us into sunlight and back into the dark, which makes day and night.

• Light and dark. Half the Earth is in sunshine.
• The spinning Earth. Why day turns into night.
• Sunrise and sunset. Morning and evening.
• The other side of the world. When you sleep, others play.
• The night sky. Moon and stars.
• Day after day. The pattern never stops.

Words learned: cycle, day, day and night, Earth, horizon, Moon, morning, night, night sky, opposite, other side, pattern, reflect, rotate, shadow, spin, stars, Sun, sunrise, sunset.

Star Circle

Ages 6-9 · about 7 minutes of guided lessons · learning goals follow NGSS 1-ESS1-1, 5-ESS1-2

The big idea: The night sky seems to turn because the Earth spins, and the North Star stays almost still.

• The night sky. Stars everywhere.
• Why stars seem to move. The Earth is spinning.
• The North Star. The star that stays.
• Pictures in the sky. Constellations.
• Stars that never set. Always above the hill.
• Shooting stars. Rocks from space.
• One whole night. The sky all night long.

Words learned: Big Dipper, Cassiopeia, circle, constellation, Earth, far away, horizon, meteor, night, night sky, north, picture, planet, Polaris, rise, set, shooting star, spin, star, Sun.

TILT!

Ages 6-9 · about 9 minutes of guided lessons · learning goals follow NGSS 1-ESS1-2, 5-ESS1-2

The big idea: The tilt of the Earth, not its distance from the Sun, makes the seasons as it orbits once a year.

• Earth goes around the Sun. One trip is one year.
• The tilt. Earth leans.
• Summer and winter. Leaning toward and away.
• Spring and autumn. In between.
• The other half of the world. Opposite seasons.
• Living with the seasons. Plants, animals and people.
• The whole story. One tilt, four seasons.
• Long days and short days. The daylight gauge.

Words learned: autumn, axis, blossom, cold, daylight, Earth, equator, equinox, fall, harvest, hemisphere, hibernate, lean, long days, migrate, opposite, orbit, season, solstice, spring, summer, Sun, tilt, warm, winter, year.

Under This Log

Ages 4-8 · about 10 minutes of guided lessons · learning goals follow NGSS K-LS1-1, 2-LS4-1, 3-LS4-3

The big idea: Garden bugs live in hiding places, insects have six legs, and spiders and pill bugs are not insects.

• Who lives under here?. Hiding places.
• What makes an insect?. Six legs and three parts.
• Look up close!. The bug body view.
• Not an insect!. Spiders and pill bugs.
• Bug jobs. Everyone has a job.
• Why we need bugs. Bugs help the garden.
• Two new friends. The earthworm and the bee.
• Dusk in the garden. Day bugs and night bugs.

Words learned: abdomen, ant, antennae, arachnid, bug, close-up, cricket, crustacean, earthworm, garden, glow-worm, habitat, head, helper, hide, insect, nocturnal, pill bug, pollen, pollinate, pollination, recycle, six legs, soil, spider, team, thorax.

ZAP!

Ages 5-9 · about 6 minutes of guided lessons · learning goals follow NGSS 4-PS3-2, 2-PS1-1

The big idea: Electricity flows around a closed loop; conductors and insulators; and how to stay safe around electricity.

• Meet electricity. Light from a loop.
• A loop that never breaks. What is a circuit?
• Light and spin. Electricity does work.
• Push harder. Stronger and weaker.
• Conductors and insulators. What lets electricity through?
• Stay safe. Respect electricity.

Words learned: battery, brighter, bulb, circuit, conductor, copper, electricity, electron, faster, insulator, light, lightning, loop, motor, outlet, power line, rubber, safe, spin, stronger, switch, weaker, wire.