Mad Libs Lite

In Pearson PLC | 4+ Stars | Language Arts

Summary

The good: Free; good reenforcement of nouns, verbs, adjectives, plural nouns, and so on. Users can email their Mad Lib from the app. Play over and over again. Save trees.

The bad: Few stories, but it’s free, so don’t complain. You can always buy the full version which has over 20 stories for $3.99. 

The bottom line: K-8 students love the outrageous stories that evolve. Tests your parts of speech skills in an entertaining way. 

Price: Free

Reviewed on an: iPhone 3G

Version reviewed: 1.1

This Week In Ed Tech’s Review

by Buzz Garwood

Remember Mad Libs-- That little tablet filled with “fill-in-the-blank” style worksheets? I used to love soliciting adjectives, nouns, and verbs from my brother and sister on long car rides, in anticipation of hearing what outrageous story would emerge.

Mad Libs for iPhone and iPod touch offers all the wackiness of the paper based version without the need for a pencil in this new interactive and digital platform. For those who grew up without ever playing Mad Libs, or you need a refresher, here’s how to play: It can be played by one, two, three, or forty. One player, the READER, selects one of the stories. The READER does not tell anyone what the story is about. Instead, he/she asks the other players, the WRITERS, to tell him/her words. These words are used to fill in the blank spaces in the story. On the iPod or iPhone, the READER types the words. 

Mad Libs educates and entertains simultaneously. One feature that’s interesting from an educator’s standpoint is the “hint” button - a feature virtually impossible to integrate in a paper-based version. One nine year-old I saw playing momentarily forgot what adjectives were, so she tapped the hint button and suddenly, several adjectives began to drift across the screen. She simply selected one, and the word populated the blank space. 

Mad Libs Lite offers four story themes: Letter to a friend back home; Vacations; Driving in the car; and How to enjoy yourself on the beach. The app is free, so remember: you get what you pay for -- In this case, you get about ten minutes of entertainment. However, if you decide that you want more, you can purchase the full version and you’ll get over five times more stories. I recommend starting with the Lite version and decide later whether or not you want to upgrade.