The Planet 316 Story Bible has more than 100 stories covering both the Old and New Testaments that are enhanced by the FREE downloadable app for both Apple and Android devices. THe text of the Bible stories is written in a child friendly tone and is great for reading aloud. After you read the stories together (or on your own if your child is an independent reader) then you can enhance the story and watch it come to life on your mobile device or tablet. here's a short video showing you in a little more detail what you can expect.
You can see in this video that the characters are animated and they POP up off the page and seem like they are moving around. You can then tap on them and they will talk. I liked that the characters didn't all sound the same and that the men and women sounded like men and women. Also the illustrations are made of lively animated people, animals, and backgrounds ... they truly draw you into the story and make it more fun for younger children.
Once you purchase the Bible on the back you can scan a QR code or just search in your app store for the Planet 316 Story Bible App. You will find it easy peasy. We downloaded it on my husbands Android phone (my phone is a little tight on room for apps ... I take too many pictures) at first. I thought having the ability to hold the phone and then have the Bible open would be easier then on a tablet. We did have a little trouble in the beginning with it stalling ... but then there was an update and after it updated it seemed to work more efficiently.
One of the biggest problems we had was lighting. We tended to read the Bible stories in the evening and in our house we turn down the lights. The problem with this was that the app couldn't seem to see the pictures. So my husband attempted to turn his phone's flashlight on, but as soon as the app came on it disabled his flashlight. So then we would use my phone to provide more light and have the Bible in a lap and my son would try and hold dad's phone which was a bit clumsy. The Bible is also hardback so the pages tended to flap close so then the app would jump from one picture to the next and get confused and sometimes glitch. Not really a big issue/problem, but did want to note that.
So then I borrowed one of my mother-in-laws iPads and downloaded the app on it. This one was a bit easier for my son to use, especially if he was sitting on the floor or at the table. We didn't seem to have any lighting issues with the iPad. He also liked that he could place the Bible on the floor and be able to hold the iPad on his own and then tap the characters and see what they said. He says his favorite stories were the one about Samuel hearing from God and then the one on the Ten Commandments.
We haven't been reading through the stories in order, he'd just pick one out that he liked. The other day we were babysitting and one of the children is 4 years old. He wanted to show her all about the cool new Bible he had gotten to review. They sat on the floor and were mesmerized for over 30 minutes picking Bible stories and then tapping all over the screen to hear more about the story.
We have really enjoyed these stories as well as using the Planet 316 Companion App and I know that this would also be a good gift for my little niece and nephew. You can find them on Facebook and Twitter. I encourage you to read how others on the Crew also used Planet 316 Story Bible and the companion Planet 316 Story Bible App by clicking the link below.
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