Age suitability
Lily's Fairytale Party for Mac
For everyone from about three years old to adults.
The App Store asks a children's app to choose one age band, and this one is listed as 6–8. But it is made for a party, where toddlers, big brothers and sisters, parents and grandparents all play together, and every one of them can.
What each age gets from it
3 to 5
Puppet mode needs nothing but a body: no reading, no buttons and no rules. Step in front of the camera and a fairytale character appears and moves as you move. Free draw (painting the screen with your hands) works at any age too.
6 to 8
Every mode, including Shape draw: tracing a glowing heart, star, snowflake or moon with your hands until every dot lights up.
9 to adult
The spin, the flying (keep jumping), dancing in a group, and being crowned the Birthday Star. The grown-ups run the show from the host's console on the Mac.
What is in it, and what is not
- Friendly fairytale characters: a unicorn, a dragon, a knight, a fairy, a frog, a wizard, a gingerbread friend and princesses. Nothing violent or frightening.
- No words to read on the stage the children see.
- No adverts, no purchases, no links out of the app, no accounts, no chat and no internet connection.
- Nothing collected about anyone. The camera picture stays on the Mac, is never shown on the big screen and is never saved (see Privacy).
For the grown-ups
- An adult sets it up and runs it: the Mac, the camera, the TV and the host's keys.
- Clear a space. Jumping and spinning are half the fun, so give the players two or three metres of open floor, away from furniture and the TV.
- A bright room helps the camera see everyone.
- Flashing. The app's own effects are designed to avoid rapid flashing: no strobing, no saturated red flashes, and big effects at most about once a second. The characters move as fast as the players do, so a lively party means a lively screen. If a child is sensitive to flashing or fast-moving images, take the advice you would for any screen game.