Toddlers meet Tetris in the puzzle-based app BeBop Blox (Originator, formerly Callaway Digital Arts, 2013). On the main screen, viewers find twelve blocks (three rows of four), jauntily wiggling to some simple jazzy background music. The squares are designed to look like classic wooden block toys painted in pastel hues and with center cut-outs of easily recognizable forms (train, whale, ducky, elephant).

Click on one to start the puzzle matching game. A platform appears with shadows of the simple shapes that make up the chosen form. A sort of conveyor belt circles around the platform carrying corresponding blocks. Drag each block from the conveyor belt to the platform to re-create the form, then celebrate by tapping the four confetti-shooting cylinders. A gaggle of cute little blob-y monsters (think the minions from Despicable Me) decorate the blocks and frolic around. A “Grown-Ups Only!” screen provides social media links and customer service information.

  It’s all similar to playing blocks, but with an endgame in mind (i.e., forming specific shapes) and a little electronic cheering section. Kids may learn something about spatial relations, and they might be inspired to re-create some of the forms using real toy blocks — or, better yet, to use what they learned about simple shapes to put together their own block creatures, either real or made up.

Available for iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch (requires iOS 5.0 or later); $1.99. Recommended for preschool users.