Category Archives: apps for kids

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Hiding Monsters

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Hiding Monsters

FREE for the month of October – Hiding Monsters, an interactive book for kids 2+ for the iPhone/iPad. Kids play hide and seek with a group of friendly monsters in this interactive e-book. Narrated by Tom Kenny (the voice of SpongeBob SquarePants) and illustrated by Melanie McCall, this book is adorable! Your child will love reading through the story and finding where the monsters are hidden. And the best part is that the hiding places change every time you read the story. Really cute!!

Download link: https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/hiding-monsters/id527412776?mt=8&uo=4

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Magic Stickers!

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Magic stickers

FREE for a limited time – Magic Stickers!  This educational app is the latest from Lazoo, the creators of Squiggles & Let’s Color. Magic Stickers includes 8 animated scenes plus 50+ animated stickers that move and interact with the scene. A bread roll or a bus? Sandwiches or mountains? Ice cream cones or flying creatures? Kids are encouraged to be imaginative and creative. After putting together a scene, kids hit the “Go” button to watch the scene come alive. The app also features a sticker-making tool that allows kids to create and save their own stickers. Magic Stickers is based on Lazoo’s “Hands On! Mind On!” curriculum – designed to support and celebrate creative thinking. Another GREAT educational app from Lazoo – a brand that encourages the imagination of children!

Download link: https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/magic-stickers!/id653471372?mt=8&uo=4

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A StoryBots Halloween

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StoryBots

A StoryBots Halloween is currently FREE! Cast up to 5 members of your family in this cute & catchy animated Starring You® Video. It’s easy to cast your family members as a vampire, a ghost, a werewolf, a mummy, or Frankenstein’s monster. Just take or upload a photo, position the face, then name your character. In no time you and your kids will be dancing with the StoryBots like the “Boogie” Man! If you’d like, you may share your final creation via email, Facebook or Twitter. VERY cute and fun!

Download link: https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/storybots-halloween-starring/id701184040?mt=8&uo=4

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Millie Apps!!

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Sale extended! All of the Millie books are still FREE.

I am a HUGE fan of these apps – they are adorable. After personally looking at 1200 – 1500 apps, the Millie stories are still among my favorites! They make me smile. 🙂

Millie Was Here – Millie’s first adventure is currently FREE. This award-winning interactive book for kids has been one of my favorites since I started my blog. The story follows Millie on her first adventure. Millie (a lovable dog) has super powers, loves bacon, and is a master of disguise. I love everything about this app – the narration, music, interactivity, and Millie – the super cute star of the book. The story is available in 11 languages. The app automatically sets itself to the language of your device – how cool is that!

Millie Was Here, Book 1: Meet Millie - Megapops LLC

Millie

Millie and the Lost Key is the second book in the Millie series for the iPhone/iPad. Millie, the adorable adventure-seeking dog, is at it again. This time she travels (by cab) to a dark and mysterious island (Central Park) in a quest to find the ultimate treasure – the key to endless bacon. The story is adorable, the interactivity is great, and there are hidden stickers for kids to collect as they read the story. Kids love Millie and her stories!

Millie & The Lost Key - Millie Was Here, Book 2 - Megapops LLC

Millie3

Also FREE – Millie’s Crazy Dinosaur Adventure, the third book in the Millie series for the iPhone/iPad. Millie’s adventures continue when she goes to a birthday party for a stuffed cat and it leads to a hair-raising journey back in time. Another fun story!

Download link: https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/millies-crazy-dinosaur-adventure/id695161183?mt=8&uo=4

Also FREE and just in time for Halloween – Millie’s Book of Tricks and Treats, volumes 1 & 2. The Millie books feature a very cute, lovable dog and kids LOVE them! These apps present a series of silly tricks and treats featuring Millie – nothing scary for little ones. Every time you read it, the randomly generated video clips change so the book is always different.There is also scratch-off picture & hidden sticker on every page. Love this series!

Download for Volume 1: Millie's Book of Tricks and Treats - Megapops LLC

Download for Volume 2: https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/millies-book-tricks-treats/id569720229?mt=8&uo=4

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Curious George at the Zoo

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Curious George at the Zoo is currently FREE (again) for iPhone/iPad. Designed for preschoolers, this educational app has kids helping Curious George wake, clean, and feed animals in the zoo. Introduced by the Man with the Yellow Hat (of course), the app then asks your child where he/she would like to go. But, buyer beware  –  there is only one section of zoo (Sunny Safari) included with the initial purchase of the app – normally $.99.

There are 5 animals for kids to learn about in this app – the hippo. giraffe, lion, parrot, and elephant. First they wake the animal up, then they clean it and feed it – fairly simple activities. Also included are age-appropriate video clips about each animal. Kids can play a game (Safari Showers) and collect stickers.

I have always loved Curious George books – the stories are timeless and can be enjoyed by kids from preschool through first/second grade. The simplicity of this app makes it most appropriate for Curious George’s youngest fans (2 – 3 year olds). I am disappointed that kids are given “a choice” of where they would like go in the app when there is only one area available without additional purchases. Choices are presented in a cute pop-up book but 3 out of 4 pages are covered by a huge “tap here to purchase” button. It feels similar to having the candy in the checkout line of the grocery story. That being said, if you have 2 – 3 year old that loves Curious George, you may want to download this app.

Curious George at the Zoo for iPad - Houghton Mifflin Harcourt

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Find the Synonym

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FREE  – Find the Synonym is an app designed for the iPhone/iPad. It is listed as a game app rather than an educational app but it would be great for kids in upper elementary school/junior high. A word is shown with its part of speech and definition. You are challenged to create a 4 – 7 letter synonym of that word using the letters provided. Points are awarded based on the length of the word, the time involved, whether clues are used, and/or if any mistakes are made. Badges are earned as the game is played. It’s simply designed  – not a lot of bell & whistles but it is heavy on content. There are a total of 1600 synonyms in the app. After you find 250 of them, the antonyms are unlocked. There are 700 antonyms in the app.

I realize that this app was not necessarily designed for kids but it is educational. More flexibility in the settings would make it more suitable for classroom use. I could not find a way to restart the game. The game picks up where it left off & points are cumulative, so only one person can play. Also, having access to both synonyms and antonyms would be a plus. Regardless, I am sure that teachers will come up with creative ways to use this resource. 🙂

Recommended!

Find The Synonym - FreshLogo

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Voice Translator

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Voice Translator

FREE again for a limited time – Voice Translator for the iPhone/iPad. This educational app translates your spoken word into another language –  33 different languages are available! Just speak into the app then the app translates your words and speaks them back to you in the other language. What a fabulous tool for traveling!! The app also has a voice-to-text translation with the ability to send it via email or SMS. Two other options are text-to-voice and text-to-text mode. I used my limited knowledge of foreign languages to test it and it seemed to work. I would be curious to hear from users (who are proficient in both languages) as to how accurately it translates. VERY cool with lots of applications in the world of education!

Voice Translator™ - Smart Loft

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Walter’s Flying Bus

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Walter's Flying Bus

FREE for a limited time – Walter’s Flying Bus, a story inspired by the real-life dreams of Walter and his friends (orphaned, special needs children in Uganda.) Walter finds an abandoned bus. With his friends and a little work, the engine soon roars to life! This e-book is inspirational – a celebration of the talents & beauty of every child. It is narrated in English, Spanish and Luganda (a primary language of Uganda). The educational app also includes mini-documentaries of the real-life children featured in the book. According to the developer  – “ONE HUNDRED PERCENT of after-tax profits from App sales go to efforts helping orphans with special needs, including advocacy, care, and adoption assistance grants.” Nice story with a great message!

Walter's Flying Bus - Chosen and Dearly Loved, LLC

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Zoola Baby Animals

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zoola

What does the fox say?

Find the answer to that question with Zoola Baby Animals, a FREE educational app for babies. Your child will learn to recognize 30 different adult animals and their babies. The app names the adult animal (only) but it gives the sounds for the adult & the baby (when their pictures are tapped.) It’s easy to use for little ones – they just tap the arrows to move back and forth. Or, they can tap the grid and see thumbnails of all the animals in the app. Adorable pictures that little ones are sure to enjoy!  The full version (400 photos/sounds of mommy, daddy, and baby) is ad-free and available for purchase.

Download link: https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/zoola-baby-animals/id471706389?mt=8&uo=4

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Sushi Monster

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Sushi Monster is a FREE educational app for the iPhone/iPad developed by Scholastic. It helps kids practice, reinforce, and extend their knowledge of math facts. There are 12 levels of play – 7 addition levels and 5 multiplication levels. A chef places numbered plates of sushi on the counter. Kids have to combine the numbers on the plates to reach the target number (worn by the sushi monster). If the combination is correct, the monster gobbles up the sushi. If it is wrong, the monster throw a tantrum. Each round has 14 target numbers. Successfully completing one level unlocks the next. As kids progress through the levels they are expected to extend their thinking beyond the basic facts. At each level a strategy is provided to help kids succeed. This educational app provides a lot of practice and kids will love the silly sushi chef!

Common Core Standards met:

  • 3.OA.7 – By the end of Grade 3, know from memory all products of two one-digit numbers.
  • 3.NTB.3 – Multiply one-digit whole numbers by multiples of 10 in the range 10–90 (e.g., 9 × 80, 5 × 60) using strategies based on place value and properties of operations.

Great for math fluency – highly recommended!

Sushi Monster - Scholastic