Fruit Pal

For grown-ups

Pick a fruit, dress it up from the wooden drawer, and bring it to life. Then count and find colors together. For ages 3 to 6.

Your child picks a fruit, then builds a friend one full-screen step at a time, from the top of the head down: a hat, hair, ears, glasses, eyes, a nose, a mouth, a silly face, a scarf, arms, legs, feet, and a fun thing to hold. Each step shows the pal so far and nine big pictures to pick from, plus a picture of the pal with a soft no-sign for "none". One tap puts the part on and, after a short calm pause, the next step comes; a small back arrow goes back a step. Little part pictures across the top fill in as the steps finish (no numbers). Then the wooden drawer opens with every part, where your child can change anything: tap a tab or a part, drag it onto the fruit, paint it with the color row, or roll the dice for a surprise look. Building is free play: there is no right or wrong.

The big green "Bring Pear to life!" button wakes the pal up once a part is on: one soft rising chime plays, twinkles drift in and fade, it opens its eyes, stretches, turns around once and waves (one slow move at a time, nothing repeats), then says something kind about what your child made and "Let's play!". Your child lands on the pal's own little arcade: the pal big, with its words in a speech bubble (the speaker says them again; tapping the pal makes it wave), and eight big picture tiles: counting, colors, Feed me (drag the right number of fruits into its bowl), Dress for the weather (a sun hat, an umbrella or a scarf for sun, rain or snow), Copy my dance (watch two or three slow moves, then tap them in order), Where am I hiding? (behind the tree, under the box or behind the bush, with a little of it peeking out), Color me (the pal becomes a page in Coloring Pages, kept only on this device) and Change my look (back to the wooden drawer, with the pal kept). One tap on a tile and the pal says its name, then it opens; more taps wait. Each game is 3 turns, then "All done", where "Play with my pal" goes back to the pal's tiles, or you can stop there.

Saved pals and names: every pal that comes to life is saved on this device only (never sent): the last 3 on their own, and a pal picked 3 times in a row becomes a favorite that stays until you delete it in the Saved pals list above. When there are saved pals, Play opens with a big "New pal" button and up to 4 saved pals below it (favorites first, on a gold tile with a heart); a saved pal says hello and goes straight to its tiles. The first time a new pal comes to life it asks "What's my name?": your child taps one of six names (each with its first letter in a colored block), or taps Play to skip, and you can type a name under "Grown-ups: type a name". Each build step also has a row of 8 colors: a color paints that step's part and pictures, and the next part goes on in it.

A wrong answer gets a gentle "not yet" line, and every answer waits until it has been said, so tapping fast never moves on. After two misses the right answer is lit, with the rest of the screen dimmed.

Child lock: tap the lock at the top right. The ways out hide and the back button stays in the game. To unlock, tap the lock and answer a sum.

Easy (ages 3 and 4): count 1 to 5 fruits; the number cards have dots too. Normal (ages 5 and 6): count, then add within 5 ("2 pears and 1 pear"). On a computer, the Tab and Enter keys pick parts and answers.

Evening look (dimmer and warmer)

Why it's good for your child, what they learn, and how we designed it

Free, no ads, no sign-in. We count plays without names or anything that identifies your child, and your child is never recorded. The fruits and every part are our own drawings.

Why it's good for your child

Building a friend is pretend play your child is in charge of: one full-screen choice at a time, from the hat down to the feet, and the friend thanks them by naming what they made. Then the friend says "Let's play!" and opens its own little arcade of picture tiles, and counting, colors, sharing a snack, dressing for the weather, copying a dance and hide and seek become things two friends do together. Children learn most from a screen when the play is active, engaged, meaningful and social (Hirsh-Pasek 2015), and the line on the "All done" screen takes it off the screen, where talking with a grown-up helps most (AAP, Zero to Three).

What they learn

Naming the parts of a face and everyday things to wear, and 8 colors. Counting up to 5 things and stopping at the number asked for, which is kindergarten Common Core K.CC.B.4 and K.CC.B.5, and on Normal, adding within 5 with pictures (K.OA.A.1). Matching what to wear to sun, rain or snow, remembering two or three moves in order, and the position words behind, under and beside (K.G.A.1).

How we designed it for ages 3 to 6

Every button and choice is a picture, with no reading needed, and one clear voice says everything with captions, with no music (Bus, Takacs & Kegel 2015). The friend moves one slow step at a time and nothing loops, because fast cartoons lowered 4-year-olds' attention right after (Lillard & Peterson 2011); parts and fruit can be tapped or dragged (Hiniker 2015). One tap is one step, and a wrong pick gets a gentle "not yet" that has to be said before anything else can be tried, so tapping fast never moves on. A round is one game of 3 turns that ends on "All done", with nothing to collect and no "one more" prompt (Radesky 2022).

About the game

Fruit Pal is a free build-a-friend game for preschoolers, with no reading needed. Your child picks a fruit (an apple, a banana, a pear, an orange, a strawberry, a watermelon slice, grapes or a lemon), gives it a face and silly clothes from a wooden drawer, and brings it to life. The fruit pal says something kind about what they made, then plays counting or colors with them.

How a round goes

Pick a fruit. Pick each part in turn, from the hat down to the feet and a fun thing to hold (or none). Each step has a row of colors to paint the part. Then change anything in the wooden drawer, paint the parts with the color row, and tap the big green button to bring the pal to life. It says "Let's play!" and shows its own little arcade of eight big picture tiles: counting, colors, feeding it a snack, dressing it for the weather, copying its dance, finding where it hides, coloring it as a coloring page, or changing its look. The first time, the pal asks your child to give it a name. Pals are saved on the device, so next time your child can make a new one or pick a friend they made before. A game is 3 turns, then it stops on "All done", with a big button back to the pal to play again, and nothing starts by itself.

Two levels

  • Easy, ages 3 and 4: count 1 to 5 fruits, with dots on the number cards to match; feed it 1 to 3 fruits; copy dances of 2, 2 and 3 moves.
  • Normal, ages 5 and 6: count, then add within 5, shown as fruit pictures; feed it 2 to 5 fruits; copy dances of 2, 3 and 3 moves.

More: Coloring Pages to color your pal, Counting to 20, Name the Feeling, and preschool games.

Questions parents ask

Is Fruit Pal free?

Yes. No sign-in, nothing to download or buy. It runs in the browser on phones, tablets and computers.

What ages is it for?

Ages 3 to 6. Easy suits 3 and 4 year olds (counting 1 to 5 with dots on the number cards); Normal suits 5 and 6 year olds (counting, then adding within 5).

Does my child need to read?

No. Every button is a picture, and the fruit pal says everything out loud, with captions you can read to them when the sound is off.

How long is a round?

Build a pal one part at a time, bring it to life, then one game of 3 turns, and the game stops on an All done screen with a line for you to talk about together. Nothing starts by itself.