Toonia Jelly: Music Review

I would like to introduce readers to Toonia Jelly: Music - a delightful exploratory app for toddlers and pre-school aged children that will allow them to experiment with different instruments such as a flute, xylophone, drums, and more. Like the first app from this series, Toonia Jelly, users may drag the cute, amorphous blob around the screen - here to interact with the different brightly colored instruments as well as the kinetic fun of bouncing off of objects that are offered by the included physics engine.

Colorful objects can be found around the screen as well that will change the color and shape of Jelly when gobbled up, but will not affect his mood as much as the previous app that specifically explores emotions. Instead, the bottom of the screen can also be interacted with, allowing Jelly to bounce around different tactile terrain including both favorite areas of Jelly to explore as well as other spaces that make Jelly glum. Children will definitely enjoy the free-play nature of this area, but I don’t see as much logic regarding what makes Jelly happy or sad as I did in Toonia Jelly.

Upbeat background music is included, which children as well as their adults will find interesting to listen to, and I appreciate how users will get to have their own solos when interacting with these instruments and be able to add their own sounds along with the tune being played. Different types of music are explored from the classically-influenced flute, allowing children to mix their own sounds much like a DJ might. Also included is the ability for Jelly to sing briefly after eating musical notes floating around the screen. I did find the choice of Jelly saying “yo” in another DJ-themed moment to be jarring and out of place when isolated this way. I would rather have heard more melodic or operatic sound instead.

Toonia Jelly: Music. It keeps him occupied - especially when he knows that his screen time is limited to just a few minutes and that it would not make a lot of sense to get involved with a more complex building app. This app is therefore one that I find easy to recommend.