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Pluto Learns Piano Review & iPad 2 Giveaway

If you have kids and an iPad you probably already know how beneficial they can be.  With so many apps geared to education that appeal to children’s love of games, it’s not hard to teach kids all sorts of things through entertaining apps.  Pluto Games offers a Game called Pluto Learns Piano in which children are introduced to learning music.  Pluto the Penguin, the main character is used to navigate a series of music notes in a sea of bubbles, rocks and other sea creatures as the screen scrolls through the ocean.  Watch out for obstacles because your score will be dinged for bumping into anything but the correct notes.  Notes are housed in bubbles but darker colored bubbles contain the incorrect notes adding a level of difficulty to the game.

Players start out learning basic songs like Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star and Old McDonald Had a Farm and classics such as Swan Lake by Tchaikovsky.  They earn stars for their performances to unlock new songs and instruments.  Having goals to achieve is a motivational factor of this game that inspires kids to keep trying even if they don’t succeed at first.

In addition to the scrolling game, children can also learn to play the songs on an instrument.  With the piano, for example, players select a song and the keys light up in the order in which they should be played.  Players just have to touch the keys in timing with the beat.  A progress meter fills up as the correct notes are played but decreases when errors are made.  This game seems to be a little more difficult for my four year old.

Overall I’m really impressed with this game.  It does an excellent job of combining learning with play.  The music is very pleasant.  In fact, I played several rounds myself, just because I loved the melody of Minuet in G Major by J.S. Bach.  I wasn’t very good at the game myself, but it was fun!  The game not only teaches music but dexterity skills as well.  It can help improve reflexes and other motor skills too!

While Pluto Learns Piano is a free download, the free features are somewhat limited.  You are given coins to start out with and it
“charges” you 1 coin per song played.  Each day you are given 4 coins for free.  Additional coins can be purchased at the following reasonable rates:

40 tokens $1.99

100 tokens $2.99

350 tokens $4.99

1000 tokens $9.99

2500 $19.99

Another feature of the game is the Magic Shop where you can uses Magic Gems to purchase games boosts such as note shrinkers and star multipliers.  You are given a certain amount of magic gems for free and more can be purchased for these rates:

5 magic gems $1.99

15 magic gems $4.99

50 magic gems $9.99

125 magic gems $14.99

500 magic gems $24.99

Using magic gems to purchase star multipliers improves your performance score and allows you to unlock new songs faster.

Pluto Games for kids has raised $500,000 in funding for tablet based music education in conjunction with YouWeb and angel investors.  You can find out more information at http://venturebeat.com/2011/12/09/youwebs-pluto-games-spins-out-and-raises-500k-for-tablet-based-music-education-games/.

Feeling lucky?  Pluto Games is giving one lucky Mommies with Cents reader a 16 GB iPad 2 in their choice of white or black!

Enter the giveaway by filling out the form below.  Also, be sure to check out all of our other giveaways. NOTE: if you are having trouble with the mandatory entry on the form below, click “I did this” first. Then the form will pop up to enter your info. If you don’t leave your address, I won’t have a way to get your prize to you. If you need more guidance, you can watch this video on how to enter Rafflecopter giveaways.

This giveaway is open until December 20, 2011 at 12:01 am CST to U.S residents.

Your information is confidential and used for contacting the winner and prize fulfillment purposes only.

A complimentary product/service was provided for this review, however, all opinions expressed are my own.  I was not compensated in any other way.  See Mommies With Cents disclosure policy for more details.


a Rafflecopter giveaway

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  6. karen M says

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  24. Kristen hope says

    The raffle copter won’t load. I have been having issues with the raffle copter on and off since the upgrade around a week ago. I did share this on my Facebook : )
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  25. Ann Hagen says

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  32. Claudia says

    Im not sure if my entries went through as the form reset when i got halfway through. Fingers crossed.

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