It's rainy, not snowy, in Boston right now, so I thought I'd take the opportunity to explore the winter wonderland that is LumiKids Snow (Lumosity Labs, 2015; iOS and Android).

Opening the app, you're taken to a landscape of white and icy teals, where a friendly seal waits on a small ice floe. Tap to access a game starring the seal, or swipe either direction to play any of five other winter-themed activities alongside cute kids and critters. Three of these — ice fishing, toasting and sharing marshmallows, and having a snowball fight — are more silly winter fun than educational activities. But the other three are the type of "brain training" game found in Lumosity's app for adults. (It's challenging and fun; I recommend it for grownups!)

In the first of these brain games, the seal and his friends play hide-and-seek. The challenge? To remember where each seal is hiding, even when their ice floes start to move.



Another game invites you to create increasingly complex systems of ramps, bouncy castles, and catapults for penguins to reach floating balloons (so they can fly, natch).



Both of these start off simple, but get incrementally more difficult as you proceed through them and return for subsequent visits. In the last brain game, you practice writing capital letters (letter names and sounds provided) by directing kids' sleds. There is no text to read or directions of any sort, but figuring out what to do is part of the process. A locked parents' section offers some usage tips.

Bright colors against the wintry background, cheerful music and silly sound effects, and visual humor (for instance, the ski-jumping penguins wear safety goggles) make this an engaging way to practice a variety of skills. Fun for an indoor snow day activity. There are several other LumiKids apps — Park, Beach, and Backyard — and I'm looking forward to giving them a spin as well.

Available for iPad (requires iOS 7.0 or later) and Android devices (requires Android 4.0 and up); free. Recommended for preschool users.