Category Archives: apps for kids

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Millie Apps!!

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All of the Millie books are FREE for one day only!

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. 🙂

FREE again (for one day only) – Millie Was Here. 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. It is FREE for one day only! 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 for one day only – 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 today only – 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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Spelling Millionaire 2

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Spleeling Millionaire

FREE for a limited time – Spelling Millionaire 2, a fun spelling game for the entire family. This educational app challenges players to spell check 15 rounds of words. The app’s look is similar to the TV show, Who Wants to Be a Millionaire. It includes a host, an audience, a money board, fun graphics & animations, music, and sound effects. The words become increasingly difficult with each round. The more answers you get right, the higher you climb on the money panel. The app features: 4 game modes, more than 2,000 (British & American) words grouped by difficulty, definitions for every word, lifelines – ask the audience and extra time, and more. Kids can play to get a taste of what it would be like to be on a TV game show – a great educational app to make spelling fun for older kids!

Download link: https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/spelling-millionaire-2/id681055403?mt=8&uo=4

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Dinorama

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Dinorama

App of the Week and FREE for a limited time – 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 be great for math but you could also use it to encourage journalling. 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

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Puppet Workshop

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Puppet Workshop

FREE again for a limited time (normally $2.99) –  Puppet Workshop. Kids use their creativity to turn a sock or a glove into a virtual puppet using this educational app. They first choose their sock or glove. Then they create the puppet’s eyes, nose, mouth, & hair from an assortment of buttons, ribbons, strings, etc. The puppet can be placed on a background from the app or a background from your camera roll. Or… your child can also create his/her own background! You can also save a picture of your child’s puppet to your camera roll or it ca be stored in the application. The app includes 20 different socks & gloves, 150+ enhancements, and 18 different backgrounds – enough “stuff” for a whole lot of creating!! Very fun 🙂

Puppet Workshop - Creativity App for Kids - Sebastian Bachorzewski

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Small Science Experiments

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experiments

FREE for a limited time – Small Science Experiments HD. This educational app features fun, easy science experiments for kids to do at home. Each experiment is written up with 4 parts: introduction, equipment, instructions, and explanation. The experiments are also demonstrated in step-by-step videos. There are a total of 25 experiments. Some examples are: make an engine with a candle, turn a tea bag into a rocket, extract DNA from a pear, make a mini jet boat from a chemical reaction. As you can tell from the titles, these experiments need to be done under the supervision of an adult. A warning to that effect is included in the app. The app also includes a quiz with a limited number of multiple choice questions such as: Who invented the first electric battery? and What was the first name of Einstein? Personally, I would skip the quiz. I think kids would benefit more from journaling about their experiments – what they observed, what they learned, etc. Check it out for your budding scientist!

Download link: https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/small-experiments-hd/id586218241?mt=8&uo=4

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Petting Zoo

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Petting

FREE for the first time – Petting Zoo, an adorable app for kids and adults who are kids at heart. 🙂 This educational app combines the charm of Christoph Niemann’s humorous animations with state of the art technology as one scene morphs into the next. The app is simple to use – just swipe and tap the 21 animals to see how they react. The results are delightfully surprising! Kids will discover what an elephant would do in the bathroom, if a dog can breakdance, how monkeys play soccer, and more. This app is suitable for kids of all languages because there are no spoken words. It’s perfect for discussion and predicting what will happen next. A really fun storybook app – creative, silly, and sure to delight!

Download link: https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/petting-zoo-animal-animations/id602773895?mt=8&uo=4

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Wonderopolis

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Wonderopolis

FREE – Wonderopolis, the educational app. Now you can explore Wonderopolis (the website) from your mobile device.

Wonderopolis (Wonderopolis | Where the Wonders of Learning Never Cease) is a fantastic website that provides a daily Wonder of the Day®. An intriguing question is posed each day. There is a written explanation of the answer (which you can read on your own or listen to), vocabulary words (with a word challenge), a gallery of images & videos – all to inspire curiosity and learning about the day’s wonder. Other daily features include a “Try It Out” section which suggests activities based on the day’s question, a “Still Wondering” section which gives additional/related information. and a quiz. There is also a section for teachers/parents called the “Educator Sandbox” which has additional resources and opportunities to connect with the Wonderopolis community.

Using this app/website would be a fabulous addition to a daily classroom routine. Kids could read the daily Wonder of the Day® as part of their independent work time. They could journal about what they learned and/or are still wondering about. A class discussion could be scheduled for later. What a great way to encourage THINKING! Wonderopolis is a fabulous resource to ignite the natural curiosity and imagination of kids!

Download link: https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/wonderopolis/id505247028?mt=8&uo=4

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Halloween Apps

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Even though I am a retired teacher, I still find myself thinking in themes. 🙂 Here is a list of some FREE (with a few exceptions) educational Halloween apps that you may want to download for your kids.

I am going to start with the exceptions – Millie’s Book of Tricks and Treats is currently $.99. The Millie books feature a very cute, lovable dog and kids LOVE them! If you own some of Millie’s other books: Meet Millie and Millie and the Lost Key, you will want this one too. This book presents 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!

Millie's Book of Tricks and Treats - Megapops LLC

Also available for $.99 is the sequel – Millie’s Book of Tricks and Treats, Volume 2, featuring more doggy tricks or doggy treats. LOVE these books!Download link: https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/millies-book-tricks-treats/id569720229?mt=8&uo=4

Carve-a-Pumpkin from Parents Magazine is FREE for the iPhone/iPad. Kids first choose one of 5 pumpkins (orange, white, orange with green, black or orange & bumpy). They can “cut” it by hand or use premade eyes, noses, mouths, and faces. Instead of cutting the pumpkins, kids can choose to decorate them with stickers. In either mode, kids can manipulate the size and orientation of the objects that they add. There is an undo and redo button to change things easily. Once the pumpkins is complete, kids choose a background. The final project can be shared on Facebook. Twitter, & emailed, or saved as a photo. This app would be fun for kids to use as a planning tool for real pumpkin carving.

Carve-a-Pumpkin from Parents magazine - Resolute Digital, LLC

FREE again – Scrap It: Halloween HD for the iPad. You (or your child) can add a Halloween touch to your photos with this app. First take a photo or use an existing one. Using the photo editor, you can crop it and/or add an effect (about 40 filters available). Then its time to get creative – add stickers, change the papers & tiles, add letters & numbers/ribbons/word art, and add & manipulate text using the text editor. Items can be resized, shadowed, sent to the back, sent to the front, etc. Creations are saved in My Scrap Pages. They can also be shared on Facebook, Twitter, Tumblr, via email. They can be saved to your camera roll or printed. I think kids would love decorating pictures of themselves, their family & friends, and the family pet 🙂 You could also create an electronic postcard or invitation with this app. Lots of possibilities!!

Scrap It: Halloween HD - Dirk Bost

Halloween Jigsaw Puzzles is FREE for the iPad. It includes 18 puzzles with the option to purchase more. There are 7 levels of difficulty ranging from 4 to 49 pieces per puzzle. Most puzzle images are appropriate for younger kids but there are a few that are a bit iffy: scary-faced pumpkins, a few skeletons, and a witch in questionable attire. So if your child loves puzzles, check it out and be selective if your child scares easily.

Halloween Jigsaw Puzzles! - Toy Box

Dibu’s Monster Maker Lite is FREE for the iPhone/iPad. Dibu is a little boy who loves monsters so he created a machine to build them – I think this is how Dr. Frankenstein got started 🙂 The Monster Maker has hundreds of combinations of monsters waiting to be made. The lite version has 2 bodies to choose for the base.Then kids add hair, eyes, noses, mouths, hats & horns, tops, bottoms, and shoes. There is also a random monster generator which creates a monster with one tap. Finished monsters can be named then saved, printed, made into a puzzle, or emailed. This app also has a child lock that hides all promotional buttons and disables printing & emailing. And… there is a “parents only” button which gives written instructions for access to the app store. The developer does not want young children to end up there accidentally – how refreshing!

This app would be great to use with elementary aged kids. They could create a monster then write a descriptive paragraph about it. They could create two monsters and do a Venn diagram comparing and contrasting the monsters. Lots of possibilities!

Dibu's Monster Maker Lite - Playtend Apps LLP

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Phonics Tic Tac Toe Interactive Game

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tic tac toe

FREE for a limited time – Phonics Tic Tac Toe for the iPhone/iPad. This game reviews letter sounds (vowels, vowel combinations, consonant, consonant combinations) and syllables in a tic, tac, toe format. There is a lot of great phonics practice in this educational app. I really like that the app varies the placement of the missing sounds – at the beginning, in the middle, or at the end of the word. I also like how the app uses words with the same letters making different sounds. Since there is no sound, kindergarten/first graders might need help reading the questions. However, it would be perfect for independent practice for most second/third graders. Teachers could use it in a learning center, as independent seatwork with a friend, for small group intervention, etc. I only wish it had the option of having the questions read aloud for younger students. That being said, this app is definitely worth downloading!!

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.
  • 1.RF.3/2.RF.3/3.RF.3/4.RF.3/5.RF.3 – Know and apply grade-level phonics and word analysis skills in decoding words.

Phonics Tic-Tac-Toe Interactive Game - Lakeshore Learning Materials

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Math Duel

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Math Duel

FREE for a limited time – Math Duel-2 Player Mathematical Game.This educational app pits two players against each other on the same device which makes it perfect for sharing iPads in the classroom. The app has a split screen interface – students sit facing each other on either end of the iPad. As kids answer math equations, the app keeps separate scores for each student. The best thing about this app is that it is fully customizable (on both sides) which makes it a fabulous tool for individualizing instruction for a wide range of students. Equations can be set with 1 – 5 terms. Largest numbers possible can be from 1 – 100. Negative numbers can be turned on/off. Kids can practice addition, subtraction, multiplication, division or any combination of these operations. Fabulous and fun for daily classroom math practice in multiple grades!

Common Core Standards met:

  • 1.OA.6 – Add and subtract within 20, demonstrating fluency for addition and subtraction within 10.
  • 2.OA.2 – Fluently add and subtract within 20 using mental strategies. By end of Grade 2, know from memory all sums of two one-digit numbers.
  • 3.OA.7 – Fluently multiply and divide within 100, using strategies such as the relationship between multiplication and division or properties of operations. By the end of Grade 3, know from memory all products of two one-digit numbers.

Download link: https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/math-duel-2-player-mathematical/id495077699?mt=8&uo=4