Turn you iPhone or iPad into play store for your preschooler and a friend with this app. This app permits your child to choose which items to sell (34 choices), set prices for the items, invite a friend to shop, count money, bag the items, etc. It’s a very cute simulation that teaches: taking turns, cooperation, and basic counting. Toca Boca apps are very popular and usually sell for $1.99. Toca Store is FREE today 🙂
Recommended!
Kids Zoo introduces your child to 45 different animals from 4 different categories: wild, farm, birds, and water. It is very easy to use – just tap. First tap the category you want to explore, then tap an animal. A photo of the animal appears. You can tap the photo for another photo of the same animal. Tap the speaker next to the animal’s name and it is pronounced. Tap the sound icons to hear the sound that the animal makes. There are two sound icons for each animal (one blue and one pink) but no explanation of the difference. The most interesting thing about this app is that there are connections to 30 LIVE webcams at zoos all around the world. You can see the polar bear at the San Diego Zoo, the tiger at the London Zoo, etc. if you connect at the right time. Since these zoos are all over the world, the animals may be sleeping, the time zones may not match up, etc. Another potential issue is the speed/quality of your connection. I was able to connect to several webcams but was not fortunate enough to see any real action. Interesting to explore – if you have a great connection!
This app for the iPhone/iPad is FREE for a limited time.
If you have a young person (3+) in your life that LOVES trucks, this may be an app for you. CreateTruck for the iPhone/iPad includes 18 detailed vehicles such as tractors, graders, backhoes, etc. First, choose your ride. An incomplete version of the vehicle will appear. Then it’s time to create. There are over 50 items in 4 categories (tires, arms, signs, and buildings) for you to add to your vehicle/scene. When you are finished, tap the forward button – you hear realistic engine sounds as the wheels & arms move. You can also save your creation to your garage. A suggestion for future updates would be for the app to include the names the vehicles. I know a lot of little people will love this app 🙂
CreateTruck is currently FREE for the iPhone/iPad.
First Words is designed for toddlers but would also be appropriate for ESL learners or children with language difficulties. It teaches 90 basic words in 6 categories: animals, vehicles, nature, clothes, at home. The illustrations/animations are colorfully done by Coleen Madden, an illustrator of children’s books. It is simple to use – just pick the category, listen to the word, watch the animation, tap the blinking hand for more animated action, then tap the arrow to move to the next word. In an update it would be great if the app spelled the word – highlighting each letter as it goes. That feature would extend the use of this app to a broader group. I would also like to see the capital letter dropped from front of the word – unless the word is a proper noun. This app is visually appealing & age-appropriate – adorable for little ones!
This app is for the iPhone and iPad. I downloaded it earlier this evening for FREE but it is now listed for $2.99. Check out the lite version to see how it works or keep reading my blog to find out when it becomes FREE again (for a limited time).
Highly Recommended!
Download now for Halloween – Buildo Museum is a spooky sticker book for kids. The goal of the Buildo series is to get kids to thinking about creative story telling. Included in the app are 3 scenes inspired by ancient museums with 100 + stickers. Kids can scale, rotate and flip stickers to create a scene for their oral stories. This iPhone/iPad app is FREE for a limited time.
Also FREE for a limited time is Buildo History Sticker Book from the same series.
This iPhone/iPad app is FREE for 24 hours. It normally costs $2.99. This spelling app has 3 levels with more than 200 words. Children are shown a picture of the word that they are to spell. The letters of the word are on tiles – some tiles are placed in the word and the other tiles are under it. The child’s task is to properly place all the tiles in the word. In level one, some of the words are sea, milk, wolf, house, street, fire, fox, koala…. no particular spelling pattern is emphasized. Generally, children’s spelling lists have something in common – short a words, words with ee or ea, adverbs ending in ly, etc. This app presents words in no sequence that would help children generalize about how to spell other similarly sounding words. Another issue I have with the app is that it capitalizes the first letter of every word. Children need to be taught that only proper nouns or words at the start of a sentence should be capitalized. I wish this app presented words more systematically because there is a value to making children think about how to properly place sounds in order to spell a word. Perhaps this app would provide useful practice for older ESL students.
Bubbling Math for the iPad helps students in grades 1 – 4 become proficient in basic math skills – addition, subtraction, multiplication, division. In the Task Configuration section of the app, parents/teachers choose the operations & the levels of difficulty (easy, medium, hard, expert). Descriptions tell specifically what kinds of problems are included in each level. The ability to customize what a child needs to practice makes this app very powerful. Another plus is that the levels can be set differently for each operation. The other powerful section of this app is the “parents section” where a child’s progress is reported by the date, the operations and levels practiced, the number right & wrong, the specific problems missed, and percent correct.
As for the actual game – there are 9 levels that unlock as the child makes progress. There are trophies awarded for doing well. The graphics and music are nicely done. The speed of the game can be adjusted – slow, normal, fast. But…what makes this app stand out is the ability to truly personalize it. Unfortunately, I don’t think the app tracks more than one child’s data. The data can be reset but the results for the first child would be lost. Regardless, this app is great!
Common Core Standards met:
This app was FREE last week but is currently selling for $.99. Keep watching my blog to find out when apps are offered for free.
Highly Recommended!
FREE app for the iPhone/iPad – this interactive read-along is a humorous, modern version of a classic tale. The animations & illustrations are delightful with interactivity on every page – really cute and definitely worth downloading!!
Recommended!
For a limited time, all i Learn With Boing apps are being offered for $.99 and i Learn With Boing: Savannah Adventures is FREE. These apps are geared towards 3 – 6 year olds. All i Learn With apps have the option for children to register so that they can earn rewards to play with on Planet Boing (a FREE central app that goes with the i Learn With series). Parents can also track their child’s progress if the child registers.
i Learn With Boing: Savannah Adventures has three math games: counting, ordering, and calculating. In the counting game, kids are asked to help the meerkat make soup by matching the pictured amount of ingredients with the written numeral (1 – 20). If kids touch any of the items, the total is named. Instead, I wish app counted the items (for kids who still need that) with the option to disable. In the ordering game, kids guide a frog across the pond by choosing the next number (1 – 20). The ordering doesn’t always start at 1 and there is variety in this game. Numbers may be ascending, descending or in a simple pattern (by 2’s or 10’s). In the calculating game, kids add the correct number of ostriches to a truck to reach a total. This game can be played alone or with a friend. Overall, this app is cute and nicely done. It would be fun for young kids who already know their numbers and are ready for some beginning math skills. The i Learn With program is brought to you by the developers of PBS KIDS PLAY and CBC Wonderworld online learning programs.
Common Core Standards met:
Recommended.
The Opposites is currently FREE for the iPhone/iPad. Designed for kids 7+, this app requires the matching of increasingly difficult pairs of opposite words. There are two sections of the app: dictionary and play. In the dictionary section, words are listed next to their opposites. To learn the meaning, students just tap on the word and a definition appears. There are 10 levels with 100+ words per level. In the play section, words are pronounced by a boy or a girl as they appear in bubbles and float towards the top of the screen Kids are to tap pairs of opposites as they appear – which makes the words turn a color then pop. The goal is to match 12 sets of opposites – which completes the level. A bonus round then appears in which the student has 20 seconds to match up an entire board full of opposites. This app starts off simply but becomes quite challenging in the later levels. It could be used for differentiating a lesson and/or for helping students grow their understanding of antonyms.
Common Core Standards met:
Recommended!
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