Kid's App of the Week: Sara's Cooking Class

You may have never heard of GirlsgoGames, but the Dutch online gaming developer appears to have a lock on what girls want in a video game. With 50 million active users online, GirlsgoGames is most popular branch of the Spil Games network of gaming sites. 

And last week the tween girls gaming site made a major foray into mobile with the launch of its app “Sara’s Cooking Class.” Based on GirlsgoGames' popular free desktop game, the app walks girls aged 8-12 through various steps in virtually cooking different recipes from scratch.

There is a free lite version with two recipes to choose from, but the $2.99 version has more recipes, like homemade pizza and sushi rolls. As players follow the recipe steps, they earn points competing against a kitchen timer, and Sara awards stars as prizes at the end of each level.

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The goal of the app, according to GirlsgoGames marketing director, Dieneke Kujipers, is to inspire young girls to learn more about recipes and cooking for themselves in real life. 

The star of “Sara’s Cooking Class” is the in-game guide Sara, who walks kids through each step – dragging items from the pantry on the touch-screen, mixing ingredients in their bowls through vigorous finger-swiping. But, with exposed mid-riff and low-cut top, Sara may not be everyone's first choice of avatar, however. And Spil Games has acknowledged as much: market testing in the UK and America has convinced them to tone down the character's ensemble. 

In the end, the main purpose  is to involve parents in helping their kids learn about ingredients and ultimately create real-life edibles from the game. The experience is intuitive and educational, bound to inspire little chefs everywhere. 

“Sara’s Cooking Class” is available in a lite or premium version on iTunes, or the Amazon Appstore for $2.99. Are you familiar with the game or do you plan to download it now? Let us know what you think.