Guide for parents
Learning by doing: Try it in Discovery books
Reading how an airplane steers is one thing. Moving the rudder yourself and watching the nose swing is another. Some pages in Wonder Teller’s Discovery books end with Try it: a small activity that turns the page’s idea into something a child can move, watch, and try again.
Learning by doing
Young children learn a lot with their hands. They stack, pour, push, and pull, and they watch what happens. Try it brings a little of that to a book page.
On a page about how an airplane steers, Try it shows an airliner with three sliders: Ailerons, Elevator, and Rudder. Slide the ailerons and one wing rises while the other dips. Slide the rudder and the nose swings left or right. The page’s words say what each part does; the activity lets a child see it happen.
The video below is that page, played the way a child meets it. You can also try it yourself on our home page, with no account.
Seeing a change happen, with your child in charge
When a child makes the change, the result means more. They choose how far to move a slider, then see what that did: the wing dips a little, or a lot.
A short line under the picture says what is happening in plain words, such as “The rudder swings left, so the nose swings left, like a boat’s rudder.” The words change as the picture does, so seeing and reading go together.
Sliders and buttons are big enough for small fingers, and the picture has a written description that screen readers read out.
Words, pictures, and voice together
A Discovery page is one big picture with numbered details. Tap a number and its short explanation opens, read aloud while the words light up, so a child can follow along before they can read every word alone.
Signed-in readers can also have Try it read its task, and each new instruction after the child acts, aloud.
Why Try it waits until the numbers are opened
Try it stays tucked away until every number on the page has been opened. Then it pops in beside the page title. By then your child has heard what the ailerons, the elevator, and the rudder are, so the activity has something to build on.
Wonder Teller remembers, on each device, which pages each child has already unlocked, so coming back to a page doesn’t mean opening every number again.
Exploring together with “what happens if…?”
Try it is a good moment to sit next to your child. Ask a question before they move anything: “What do you think happens if the elevator tips up?” Then let them try it and see.
Show me plays a short demonstration, and Start over puts everything back the way it began, so there’s no wrong move. Your child can try the same thing as many times as they like.
No points, no timers, no ads
Try it isn’t a game to win. There are no points, no timers, and no levels to beat. A child can stay as long as they like and go back to the book whenever they’re ready.
As everywhere in Wonder Teller, there are no ads, ever.
Questions parents ask
Which books have Try it?
Some pages in Discovery books, the illustrated explainers in the library. Not every page has one: Try it appears where moving something helps explain the idea.
Do we need an account to see it?
No. The Try it demo on our home page works without an account.
Does Try it work on a phone?
Yes. On a phone held upright it suggests turning sideways for a bigger picture, and your child can choose to keep it upright.
Does it make sounds?
Some activities make simple sounds that follow what your child changes. They start only after your child touches the activity, stay quieter than the reading voice, and a Sound button turns them off.