Water ripples
For grown-ups
A pond to touch
One of the quietest toys in the box: touch the water, watch the rings spread, listen to the plip. There is nothing to finish and nothing to get right.
Settings for grown-ups
About this toy
A shallow pond fills the screen. Each touch drops a pebble: rings of ripples spread out from it, bounce off the edges and cross other rings, and a little colour spreads into the water and slowly fades. Every new touch brings a different colour, so a few taps turn the pond into soft patches of red, yellow, green and purple. It is a quiet, slow toy that suits children from about three, and older children like dragging a finger to draw trails of colour. Left alone, the water settles and the pond stops moving until the next touch.
How to play
Tap the water to drop a pebble. Drag a finger to draw a trail of small ripples and a stripe of colour. Use several fingers to make rings that run into each other.
A good first go
Tap once near each corner and watch the four sets of rings meet in the middle. Then drag a slow circle and see the colour ring spread.
Good to know
The ripples settle within a few seconds and the colour fades over about half a minute, so the pond is always ready for more. With "Less motion" on, ripples are smaller and calm down faster. On slower devices the pond is drawn a little coarser to stay smooth.
How the sounds are made, with the numbers: how the sounds work.
Last updated
What children notice
Rings get wider and fainter as they travel. Two sets of rings pass straight through each other. Ripples that reach the edge come back. A fast drag makes a long wake behind the finger, like a boat. None of this is explained on screen; it is all there to discover by touching.
Ways to play together
- Rain: tap lots of fingers quickly, like raindrops on a pond.
- Colour mixing: drop colour in the same spot a few times and watch the patch change.
- Slow and fast: drag one finger very slowly, then very fast, and compare the trails.
- Wait for still water: stop, watch the pond go calm, then make one single ripple.
Questions children ask
"Why do the rings get bigger?" Because each bit of water pushes its neighbours, and they push theirs. "Where do the rings go?" They bounce off the edge and fade away. "Why does the colour stay?" Because colour drifts slowly, like a drop of paint in a glass of water, while the ripples race off. These are good questions to take to a real puddle or bath next time.
Setting it up
The pond fills the whole screen, so it works in any orientation, flat on a table or held in two hands. Turn the device volume down a little before the first touch; the plip is soft, but it is the only sound, so it stands out in a quiet room. For a calmer pond, switch on "Less motion" in the settings above: ripples are smaller and settle sooner. Wet fingers don't work well on touch screens, so it is best played with dry hands, real ponds being the exception.
Gentle by design
The water is a soft blue and the colours are muted, so the screen never flashes; ripples move outwards smoothly rather than blinking. Each touch plays one soft "plip", and a dragging finger drips at most nine times a second rather than buzzing. When nobody is touching the pond and the water is still, the page stops drawing, which saves battery.
The way the ripples move comes from the same rule real waves follow: each spot of water is pulled towards the height of the spots around it, a little energy is lost every moment, and that is enough for rings to form, spread and reflect. The how the sounds work page has the details of the plip.
Questions people ask
Is there a goal?
No. There is no score, no level and no end. The pond just responds to touch.
What does the round arrow do?
It makes the water perfectly still and clears all the colour at once.
Can two children play together?
Yes. Every finger makes its own ripples and carries its own colour.
Why do the colours fade?
So the pond never fills up. Colour spreads out and fades over about half a minute, ready for new drops.
Does it use a lot of battery?
Only while the water is moving. When the pond is still, the page stops drawing until the next touch.
Can I use a keyboard?
Yes. Focus the pond with Tab and press Space or Enter to drop a pebble somewhere on it.