Category Archives: apps for kids

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Tellagami

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Telegami

Currently FREE, Tellagami (rhymes with origami) is a unique storytelling app. Short stories called gamis are easy to create. First you select and customize a character by choosing his/her skin tone, eye color, hair color, and clothing. Then you choose an emotion – happy, sad, surprised, angry, scared, silly. Next you choose a background from the app, from your photo library, or create one by using your camera. You are now ready to create your gami. You can record your gami in you own voice or choose the text button to type in what your character will say  – the limit is 450 characters. Gamis can be shared via email, messaging, Facebook, or Twitter.

This educational app is fabulous!! Its uses are only limited by your imagination!! Kids can use gamis to introduce themselves at the beginning of the year. They can customize gamis to look like themselves and be reporters, scientists, teachers, etc. They can create the character (and setting) from a book they are reading. They can message or email a parent to explain what they are learning in class. Teachers could use gamis as interactive exit slips. The list is endless. Kids will LOVE creating gamis!

Tellagami ™ - Tellagami Inc.

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Geography Drive USA™

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geography

FREE for a limited time – Geography Drive USA™, a fabulous geography app for up to 3 players. This educational app teaches kids about the 50 U.S. states – their shapes, capitals, nicknames, postal abbreviations, flags, key symbols and more. As kids travel on a cross-county adventure, they stop in each state to answer trivia questions about national rivers, mountains, parks and time zones, important trails and railroads, major U.S. cities, landmarks, and attractions. When they answer questions correctly, they unlock airports and fuel stations – essential to stay in the game. The more you know, the further you go. 🙂

Additional fun features include: a visitor center with state brochures and regional & national maps, a game-based newspaper with headlines that recognize player achievements, trophies waiting to be claimed & displayed, and the ability to customize and upgrade the players’ cars. There are also 4 bonus games included. Love this app – it’s the perfect blend of fun and learning!

2013 Gold Parents’ Choice Award, 2013 Children’s Technology Review Editor’s Choice Award, and featured on Fox News.

Download link: https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/geography-drive-usa/id579100969?mt=8&uo=4

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littleBIG History

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FREE for a limited time – littleBIG History, an educational app that bills itself as ” a brief history of everything ever.” The app is organized as an interactive timeline that starts with the Big Bang and goes through modern times placing humanity within the larger context of the cosmos, earth, and evolution of life. It currently includes 90 categories, 700 pictures, and 1300+ events (links to Wikipedia) with plans to add more. There is also a search option within the app. Check out this cool educational resource today. 🙂

Download link: https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/littlebig-history/id543049472?mt=8&uo=4

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WWF Together

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wwf

Named Runner-Up App of the Year!

Apple Design Award 2013 Winner and named by Apple as 1 of 10 Apps That WOW – WWF Together. This beautifully designed, FREE educational app for the iPad was originally released last January by the World Wildlife Federation. The app features 8 endangered species – giant pandas, marine turtles, polar bears, elephants, tigers, bison, whales, and snow leopards. The unique and engaging features of this app includes: stories about these endangered animals with playful interactive elements, fabulous high-definition videos and image galleries – featuring photos by renowned environmental photographer Morten Koldby, cool facts about each animal, and a 3D interactive globe that tells how far you are from 60 different animals around the world. Everything about this app is wonderful – including the music. You will fall in love with the magnificent creatures presented in this app.  Additional stories about other species will be added regularly – AWESOME app !!

Highly recommended!

WWF Together - World Wildlife Fund

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Fractions – by Brainingcamp

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fractions

FREE again – Fractions by Brainingcamp, an excellent educational app for teaching fractions. The app covers 7 topics: introduction to fractions, equivalent fractions, common denominators, comparing/ordering fractions, adding/subtracting fractions, multiplying fractions, and dividing fractions. Each topic includes: a narrated lesson (with visual models), virtual manipulatives for kids to explore, practice questions to check understanding, and a challenging game for additional practice. Kids earn badges as they work through the components of each topic.

WOW – I love everything about this app. The lessons are wonderful. The manipulatives are designed to promote understanding of the concepts presented. The practice questions give students and their teachers a check of their understanding. And, the challenging games helps kids further master the topic. It would be a fabulous for grades 3 and beyond!

Common Core State Standards met:

  • 3.NF.1. Understand a fraction 1/b as the quantity formed by 1 part when a whole is partitioned into b equal parts; understand a fraction a/b as the quantity formed by a parts of size 1/b.
  • 3.NF.3 – Explain equivalence of fractions and compare fractions by reasoning about their size. Understand two fractions as equivalent (equal) if they are the same size. Recognize and generate simple equivalent fractions, e.g., 1/2 = 2/4, 4/6 = 2/3).
  • 4.NF.3 – a. Understand addition and subtraction of fractions as joining and separating parts referring to the same whole.
  • 5.NF.3 – Interpret a fraction as division of the numerator by the denominator (a/b = a ÷ b).

Highly Recommended!

Download link: https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/fractions-by-brainingcamp/id471353363?mt=8&uo=4

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Imagination Box

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FREE for a limited time – Imagination Box, a creative art app for kids. What child doesn’t love creating with play dough? Hours of creative play awaits your child and there is no mess to clean up! It’s perfect for a trip to the doctor, a ride in the car, etc. The app includes 62 pieces of play dough (in 9 colors) including uppercase letters, numbers, and shapes. There are 12 backgrounds available for your child’s creations. Or, you can use your own photos as a background. Make a hat for the family dog or a play dough mustache for grandpa – how fun! There are also 10 markers available in the app adding even more possibilities for creativity. The app could also be used as a take-along “design center” for play dough. Kids could design their creations on the iPad, then actually recreate it with the real stuff. So many possibilities… get it today! 🙂

Download link: https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/imagination-box-colors-shapes/id698092635?mt=8&uo=4

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Adding Apples

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FREE For a limited time – Adding Apples from the creators of Subtracting Sardines. This educational app is geared for preschoolers/grades (K-1) and it meets Common Core Standards for kindergarten and first graders in the area of addition. Kids add (up to 18) using apples. The apples are displayed on a keyboard with domino-like keys – numbers on the left/pictures on the right. The child chooses an addition problem and the apples appear at the top of the screen. If a child chooses 6 + 7, 6 green apples appear then 7 yellow apples appear. As the child counts the apples to find the answer, they are wrapped in purple paper. Children earn gold coins as they work through the problems. This nicely done app helps kids understand the beginning concepts of addition.

Common Core Standards met:

  • K.OA.2  – Add and subtract within 10, e.g., by using objects or drawings to represent the problem.
  • 1.OA.6 – Add and subtract within 20, demonstrating fluency for addition and subtraction within 10.

Recommended!

Adding Apples HD - Operatio

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PJ’s PJs -Giraffe!

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FREE today – PJ’s PJs- Giraffe!, an adorable app from Ink Robin Inc. From England comes the story of Percival Jenkins, a little boy with approximately 329 pairs of pyjamas. Choosing the ones to wear is the most important decision of his day. When he puts them on, his adventures begin. In this interactive tale, he chooses to wear his giraffe pyjamas. Kids learn what it’s like to be a giraffe as they travel to Africa with Percival. Cute illustrations add to the appeal of this educational app – a fun addition to your digital library! Other titles are also available in this series.

Download link: https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/pjs-pjs-giraffes!/id776058142?mt=8&uo=4

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Toca Hair Salon 2

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Toca Hair 2

5,905 reviews can’t be wrong so you don’t want to miss this one. Toca Hair Salon 2, a creative educational app, is on sale for only $.99. This app is the sequel to the original – Toca Hair Salon. In this app, kids go back into the salon to groom NEW characters in this app. Using the tools in the salon, they cut hair, comb it, curl it, straighten it, make it grow, shave it, color it, etc. Great sound effects are also included in this fantastically fun app. Kids or parents can take a photo of the finished creation and save it to the camera roll. If parents wish, creations may be posted on the Toca Boca Facebook page. The developers have also built-in options to turn off sounds, pictures, and news. What a great springboard for creative writing – give a character a whole new look and write a story to go with it. Use this app to inspire creative writing on Wacky Hair Day!!

Toca Hair Salon 2 - Toca Boca AB

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Dinorama

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DinoramaOn sale for $.99 – Dinorama, an educational game app. Kids learn about money and time management as they build and maintain their own dinosaur theme parks. They start with one dinosaur and a few visitors. As they earn money, kids can add additional dinosaur displays, a popcorn stand, a photo booth, etc. They are in charge of everything – buying food, keeping the park clean, selling popcorn, hiring employees. Kids learn to save for unpredictable events: rainstorms that affect ticket sales, crop shortages that raise food prices, and flat tires that maroon valuable tourists. Interactive features include: feeding the dinosaurs with your finger, hiring a tour guide to learn more, popping popcorn, inflating balloons, photographing visitors, and more. There are many fun things to do! There’s even a virtual bank where kids can earn interest. It’s no wonder that this educational app was named New & Noteworthy by Apple, an Editor’s Choice of USA Today, an Editor’s Pick of Common Sense Media, and rated 5/5 Awesome by MacLife Magazine. Very cool, very fun, and educational!!

Teachers – this app would not only be great for math but you could also use it to encourage journal writing. Have kids keep “the books” and write daily entries about the status of their parks. They also could make up ads for their parks. There are lots of possibilities for integrated learning. 🙂

Download link: https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/dinorama/id611016610?mt=8&uo=4