Why might kids like SoDunked!?

We are noticing a trend. We take out our phones to show friends the app and their children take over, commandeering our phones and leaving us with saved dunks of teddy bears, parents, and dishwashers (or whatever is around). We have decided that this is a good thing.

I apologize in advance if this next bit is geared completely toward parents or grandparents, but here goes: Have you ever been in a situation where your child is reallllllly antsy and bored, but you need to finish what you are doing and you find yourself willing to offer bribes of future sugar or t.v. for “please just another 20 minutes”? Why not let them use your iTouch or iPhone for 20 minutes? Okay, I hear the possible answers to that, but for a 5-8 year old who just wants something to do, SoDunked! can help. Something about it seems to keep them focused.

I asked an 8 year old boy what made him want to keep playing after a particularly long stretch and he said “trying to hit the target.” [Interview with Maya B.’s younger brother, December 31, 2011.]

Is it that simple? From my non-scientific observations of 5-8 year old kids playing SoDunked!, I note that they do appear to be very patient and persevering when trying to hit the target, that they seem genuinely happy to hear the music that plays when you finally dunk someone after a lot of tries, that they enjoy chasing their parents or the cat to get a photograph, and that they really enjoyed dunking a sibling, especially one who made a silly face just for the dunker. Maybe the appeal is the variety of tasks in one app—that in one app you are using a camera (looking for a photographic subject and taking the picture yourself), that you get to name the “dunkee” anything you want, and then you get to play a target game.

When we developed the app, we were imagining adults and maybe teenagers playing it because they might want to send someone a message and the dunking just makes it fun. We didn’t anticipate that younger people would be so interested. We are thrilled.

I am not suggesting that everyone use technology to occupy a bored child. But, if you already use technology or you are thinking of adding it to your bag of distraction tools, our app can keep a child in that 5-8 year old range focused. (And, by the way, unless you give them your password, they cannot post it to your Facebook page.)

So, is this our new niche market? How do we reach 5-8 year olds? How do we reach 5-8 year olds whose parents have an iPhone or iTouch? For this and more, please keep reading our blog. You can “follow” or “invite your friends” to follow or “subscribe” by clicking the relevant option at the right (on this page). Get the SoDunked! app at http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/sodunked/id406270928?mt=8#.