Category Archives: apps for kids

0

Play Lab

|

Paly LabPlay Lab is another educational app from the developers of Play 123, the #2 FREE educational app in the U.S. Kids 2+ learn about shapes, colors, and numbers in a playful way. The app includes 6 interactive games with the option to purchase 12 additional games. Kids will enjoy making a robot with shapes, blasting walls by tapping numbers, turning a wheel to create colored bubbles, and more! The language of the app can be set to English, Japanese, Korean, or simplified Chinese. Just go into your iPad’s settings > apps > Play Lab. The app is simple but appealing & engaging. It is definitely worth downloading – your little one will be delighted!

https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/play-lab/id520743222?mt=8&uo=4

0

Princess Piano

|

FREE today, this app for the iPhone/iPad usually costs $1.99. Kids help Princess Piano dance her way back to the Cloud Kingdom by playing the songs on the piano as well as they can. The app introduces musical notation one note at a time (starting with c,d,e….) as well as the timing of notes (quarter notes, half notes). Kids are given practice as each new note/concept is taught. There are three modes of difficulty: beginner (keys flash, key/notes are labeled, 60% or better to advance), advanced (keys labeled, 80% or better to advance) and virtuoso (90% or better to advance). As kids advance through the levels they unlock outfits for Princess Piano – which they can use in “Dressing Room.” There is also a “Song Maker” tool for kids to compose their own music. This app is a great introduction to reading music!

Highly Recommended!

Princess Piano - Dented Pixel

0

Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs Movie Storybook

|

Cloudy

FREE again for a limited time – Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs Movie Storybook, a narrated educational app based on the book/movie of the same name. Kids join Flint Lockwood & friends in this educational app. Flint invents a machine that turns water into food to help turn the town into a thriving “food tourism” destination. Eventually the food mutates until a tornado formed of spaghetti and meatballs threatens the town! The app also includes an activity book – available for only $.99 as an in-app purchase. Nicely done!!

Download link: https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/cloudy-chance-meatballs-movie/id703020863?mt=8&uo=4

0

Gappy’s First Words

|

gappy

FREE today – Gappy’s First Words. This educational app has beginning readers constructing 200+ three-letter words – 174 of the words following the cvc pattern. There are also 37 three-letter sight words included. Kids start with basic letter and sound identification then progress to making words. As they work through the app, kids earn parts to redesign Gappy’s house – with over 700 possible combinations. Parents can disable the music, change letters from upper case to lower case, and control the number of word lists used in the settings. I like that the app varies which letters (beginning, middle, end) of the words are missing in the easy levels. In the medium level, two letters are missing and in the hard level, all letters are missing. Kids are gradually learning to spell – nicely done for little readers. 🙂

Download link: https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/gappys-first-words/id614840334?mt=8&uo=4

0

Prancing Dancing Lily

|

Prancing Dancing Lily

FREE for a limited time – Prancing Dancing Lily, an interactive story about a cow who doesn’t quite fit into her herd in Wisconsin. Lily loves to dance so she decides to travel the world looking for a dance that fits her perfectly. She eventually returns home and inspires her herd to dance in a conga line. Lily becomes the next lead bell cow – following in the hoofsteps of her Grandmoo and Mamoo. Very cute story!

Prancing Dancing Lily - Fat Red Couch, Inc.

0

2 PlaySquare WordWorld Apps: Happy Birthday Dog & A Christmas Present for Dog

|

PlaySquare’s WordWorld apps are billed as Touchable Television. Children (ages 3 – 6) play and learn words and letters as the play in Word World. In the first FREE appisode, Happy Birthday Dog, Dog thinks that everyone has forgotten his birthday. Kids are engaged in the story as they help gather things for a birthday party to surprise Dog.

There are so many wonderful things about this app. It is colorful and engaging. Early literacy skills (letter recognition, letter sound, word building, word recognition) are developed throughout the story. The characters are funny and lovable. But the best part is of the app is how the developers (media experts from Nickelodeon, Sesame Workshop, LeapFrog, and MIT) have used the letters of the word to form the object being spelled – very clever! I LOVE this app!!

Watch the video from the developers @ http://playsquare.tv/

Highly recommended

PlaySquare presents WordWorld's Happy Birthday Dog - PlaySquare, LLC

Also FREE for a limited time, A Christmas Present for Dog. Something is wrong with Dog’s Christmas present. Kids help save the day by completing activities in 13 interactive scenes. Another colorful and engaging app from Playsquare!

Download link: https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/playsquare-presents-wordworlds/id775143502?mt=8&uo=4

0

ABCmouse.com – A-Z Music Videos

|

a to z

FREE – A to Z Music Videos. This educational app has 26 animated videos  – one for each letter of the alphabet. As kids watch the videos, they earn tickets to unlock other videos. There is also an option to purchase tickets to unlock videos more quickly. The videos are top-notch! They help children learn letter names and sounds AND develop vocabulary. Every video is produced in a different musical style, so kids are also introduced to a wide variety of musical genres. This app is a must-have for preschool, kindergarten, and first grade teachers – a perfect introduction to the letters of the alphabet!

Common Core Standards met:

  • K. RF.3 – Know and apply grade-level phonics and word analysis skills in decoding words. Demonstrate basic knowledge of one-to-one letter-sound correspondences by producing the primary sound or many of the most frequent sounds for each consonant. Associate the short sounds with common spellings (graphemes) for the five major vowels.

ABCmouse.com 26 A-Z Music Videos - Age of Learning, Inc.

0

Hands-On Equations 1 – The Fun Way to Learn Algebra

|

hands-on

FREE for a limited time – Hands-On Equations 1 – The Fun Way to Learn Algebra. This educational app introduces algebra to elementary and middle school students. Dr. Henry Borenson developed and received a patent for Hand-On Equations after teaching math to both low-achieving & Math Olympiad students in New York City. His Hands-On Equations program uses physical game pieces on a balance to represent algebraic equations. Hands-On Equations, Level 1 consists of 6 lessons and a review lesson. Each lesson begins with a video introduction that is followed by two examples and ten exercises. In the first lesson, students use a guess-and-check strategy to figure out the value of pawn that makes the sides balance. In lesson 2, students place the game pieces on the balance scale to represent both sides of the equation. Each lesson becomes more challenging. This method is fantastic for young students who are learning algebra as well as older students who have struggled with algebra. The visual representation of the equations will help all students understand key concepts of algebra. Check it out while it’s FREE. If you like what you see, Hands-On Equations 2 and Hands-On Equations 3 are available for $3.99 each. 🙂

Download link: https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/hands-on-equations-1-fun-way/id505948222?mt=8&uo=4

0

MathLands – Kids Logic Game & Brain Builder for Math and Critical Thinking

|

MathLands

All I can say is WOW! MathLands is a completely FREE educational math app that makes kids THINK! Kids have to use logic, problem solving skills, and critical thinking to solve multiple levels of 6 different puzzles. Each puzzle is timed, has hints available, and has a section that tells the history of the puzzle. Kids can choose to start over. They can try again to get a better score or they can try again to get the BEST score. The app reveals the best possible score for each puzzle and challenges kids to achieve at that level. There is also a Math Comics section – problems are written in comic strip form. Kids solve the word problems by using the interactive manipulatives on the page. In a word full of math apps that stress practice and drill, this app is like a breath of fresh air. LOVE it!!!!

MathLands - Kids Logic Game & Brain Builder for Math and Critical Thinking - Mamanijo

0

BuzzMath Middle School

|

Buzz Math

FREE with an option to upgrade to premium features – BuzzMath Middle School, a math practice app for 6 – 8th graders based on the Common Core State Standards. All you need to use this educational app is an iPad 2 or higher and an internet connection. The app has 2800+ problems arranged by topic – number sense & operations, fractions & decimals, geometry, measurement, data & probability, patterns, algebraic equations, and more. Parents can register their kids individually or teachers can register their classes. Teachers who register are given a class code to distribute to their students. Once students register with the teacher’s code, the teacher can make a class assignments. The teacher also has the ability to make assignments specific to individual needs. And, as the students work, their data is being tracked and reported! Wow, individualized practice across all of the math strands, all of the work graded and reported – what’s not to love? 🙂

Download link: https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/buzzmath-middle-school/id593186620?mt=8&uo=4