How to use Stan Lee's Kids Universe App + NYC Sweepstakes!

Meet Dex T-Rex, the first character for young kids from Marvel Comics maestro Stan Lee! In collaboration with Playing Forward, a transformational technology studio that creates digital experiences to
ignite children’s imaginations, Stan Lee’s Kids Universe App follows the story of Dex T-Rex as he realizes that his version of playing may be too rough on the world around him. We’ll walk you through this augmented reality app and how you can enter the NYC Sweepstakes for an all expenses vacation in the city!

This is a partnered post. All opinions are my own.

How to use Stan Lee’s Kids Universe App

Playing Forward apps are specifically designed to support kids’ social-emotional development through entertaining storytelling, movie-quality visual effects, and the use of Augmented Reality. As kids follow the story of Dex T-Rex they see how this small dinosaur learns and grows critical social skills through his actions in the story.

Once downloaded, click on Dex T-Rex to enter the app. At the top of the screen are three lines to enter the settings mode where your child can personalize their dinosaur with a multitude of color choices and patterns. Once saved, you can begin the story of Dex.

The story can be experienced in two ways: as a ‘bedtime story’ that can be read along with in 3D, and as a much more active ‘exploration’ in augmented reality, encouraging the reader to move around and experience the story from multiple perspectives. To see the next page of the story, simply swipe left. Move the iPad/iPhone around to explore Dex’s world and click on the different butterflies around him for different views.

If you click the AR view it brings Dex out of the story and into your world! He scampers over books and blocks and responds to your touch. Additional buttons are available in AR mode which allows you to move Dex closer or farther away from you.

My little guy loves the interactive capabilities of this app, and as a parent of a boy, I can see value in the storytelling by teaching through play!

In addition to Stan Lee’s Kids Universe App, Playing Forward has now launched two other character-driven apps based on books: a Penguin Publishing classic (“MAXI THE TAXI DOG”), and Lizzy’s World featuring the STEAM-powered character from a new independent book series (“IT’S JUST SO…”).

Stan Lee’s Kids Universe app is geared towards kids ages 3 and up. It is compatible with Apple devices with iOS 11.0 or later:

iPhone 6s and 6s Plus,
iPhone 7 and 7 Plus,
iPhone SE,
iPhone 8 and 8 Plus,
iPhone X,
12.9-inch iPad Pro Wi-Fi + Cellular (1st and 2nd generations),
10.5-inch iPad Pro Wi-Fi + Cellular (1st and 2nd generations),
9.7-inch iPad Pro Wi-Fi + Cellular (1st and 2nd generations),
iPad (2017, 5th generation)

NYC Weekend Sweepstakes

To celebrate the launch of these apps, Playing Forward is running a contest with the Grand Prize being a whirlwind STEAM-powered weekend of play and exploration in Manhattan.

The Grand Prize includes air transportation, a two-night hotel stay, a Visa gift card to cover meals, various museum tickets for a family of four! It will also include personalized experiences at two of Manhattan’s most unique museums – the Natural History Museum and the Children’s Museum of the Arts. The contest runner-up will win an Apple iPad! Both are pretty sweet prizes if you ask me. Click the image below to enter to win!