App review: Christmas Sound Shelf

I'll admit that it may be a tad early for holiday cheer. But the malls are playing Christmas music already, so why can't I? My toddler is already starting to get into the seasonal spirit, so I went looking for an app that would help him recognize holiday icons and sounds. 

I found Christmas Sound Shelf for iPad. It's a pretty basic app that lets your child touch holiday-related icons to hear related noises.

My son's favorite new phrase is "Ho, ho, ho!" so I wanted something that would give him an image to match the sound. This app does just that. For instance, if you touch the holly, you'll hear bells jingle. If you touch a present, you hear wrapping paper being torn open. Touch a snowman, and a warm man's voice says, "Merry Christmas." And of course, if you touch Santa's face, you hear a jolly old "Ho, ho, ho!" 

Some of the sounds don't make sense to me, though. For instance, touching the Gingerbread man plays the sound of children yelling, "Happy New Year!" Why? Aren't Gingerbread men usually long gone by New Year's? And touching various ornaments results in a popping sound, as if they are exploding. Is that joyous? 

You can play these sound effects together if you touch them rapidly. You can also play them with Christmas music in the background, but you have only a few songs to choose from, such as "Silent Night" and "Jingle Bells." 

A shelf on the bottom of the app says "Christmas Sound Shelf," but you can't drag your favorite icons there. You also can't change any settings. The app is what it is: no extra language options or icon rearrangement. The music selection will leave you wanting, but there are other apps for that. At least, I hope there are, because I'll be searching for them as the holiday season progresses. I predict I'll have had enough "Jingle Bells" by about mid-December. 

Christmas Sound Shelf is free in the iTunes AppStore. It includes 30 icons and noises and two songs. A paid version (https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/christmas-sounds-music-merry/id405261686?mt=8) costs 99 cents and has 50 icons and noises and four songs. 

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—Natali Morris