Category Archives: educational apps for kids

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Cozmo’s Day Off

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Cozmo’s Day Off is an adorable interactive storybook for the iPhone/iPad. It has a FREE lite version that you may preview before you purchase the full version ($3.99) but today, the full version is FREE!!

In the lite version the menu page and the first page are fully interactive. Purchasing the full version unlocks every page – totaling over 100 interactions. This app tells a cute story about a little green alien’s day in read-along rhyme. The pitch of the narrator’s voice can be changed – which is a fun feature. There is also a record option which allows kids to record themselves reading the book. After recording, the pitch of their voices can be changed. They can slow their voice way down (making it deeper) or speed it up (making it higher) – both make them sound like aliens. I think kids would LOVE this feature and it would provide quite the incentive to read the book on their own. I can hear the giggles now. 🙂

Here’s the link to the full version: https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/cozmos-day-off-childrens-interactive/id409177911?mt=8&uo=4

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Dino-Store

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dino-store

FREE for a limited time – Dino-Store, a funny interactive story for early readers. Leo and his father go to the store to get eggs and chose a carton of HUGE ones. 12 baby dinosaurs hatch out and that’s where the fun begins! Kids can choose to follow along or read on their own as they enjoy the cute illustrations and fun interactions. And…the story line leaves it open for a sequel! This book would be great for teaching story sequence or as a springboard to writing about the dinosaurs’ further adventures.

Dino-Store Storybook - Bluemarker

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Factor Samurai

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Factor Samurai

FREE again for a limited time – Factor Samurai, a fun game to practice multiplication/division while looking for prime factors. The goal of the game is to cut falling numbers down to their prime numbers. So if the number 14 is on the screen, it would be cut once to become 2 and 7. If the number 18 is on the screen, it would be cut twice – first to 3 and 6 and then the 6 would be cut to 2 and 3. The game has three levels – grasshopper, apprentice, and master. The speed of the falling numbers increases in each level. Once a player has cut 3 numbers that are already prime, the game is over. The score (showing how many numbers were cut down to their prime) is displayed! There is an option to play the game through the Game Center. This educational app is fun – a game that helps kids with an important math standard!

Common Core Standards met:

  • 4.OA.4 Find all factor pairs for a whole number in the range 1–100. Recognize that a whole number is a multiple of each of its factors. Determine whether a given whole number in the range 1–100 is a multiple of a given one-digit number. Determine whether a given whole number in the range 1–100 is prime or composite.

Factor Samurai - Third Rail, LLC

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Marco Polo Weather

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marco polo weatherOnly $.99 – Marco Polo Weather, an app that teaches young children about the wonderful world of weather. Kids experiment with and learn about nine different weather conditions: sunny, partly cloudy, cloudy, rain, thunderstorm, snow, blizzard, tornado, and hurricane. They can also choose four different wind speeds and/or adjust the temperature. As they make changes, they will discover how a change in weather changes their environment. They will also identify how weather affects their daily lives – how they dress, their activities, etc. The app has three characters that respond to the weather choices that are made. Kids can dress them in warm clothes when it’s cold, give them umbrellas when it’s wet, and more. They can also add flowers, birds, a snowman, etc. to a scene and to see how the weather affects them. This app is perfect for early learning classroom because it helps young children learn through discovery and experimentation! No wonder it was an App Store Editors’ Pick in nineteen countries and named as one of the Best of 2014.

Direct Link: https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/marcopolo-weather/id905425870?mt=8

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SpeakaLegend, SpeakaZoo & Winston Show

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speakalegend

From the creators of the Winston Show & SpeakaZoo comes a new app called SpeakaLegend which is FREE for a limited time. Kids befriend and speak to 10 different legendary characters: Big Foot, Loch Ness Monster, Mermaid, Fairy, Cyclops, Minotaur, Dragon, Jackalope, Sphinx and Unicorn. The app uses speech recognition technology so that kids can have actual conversations with the characters. They become world explorers on a magical quest to find and speak to the Unicorn. Check out this ingenious and fun app from ToyTalk – great for helping kids with conversational language. Before children can speak with the characters, parents are required to give permission via email. Read more about Toy Talk’s privacy policy at: ToyTalk | Legal | Privacy Policy.
Download link: https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/speakalegend/id908466608?mt=8&uo=4

Here are my earlier reviews of other Toy Talk apps.

speak a zooFrom the creators of the Winston Show comes another great interactive app – SpeakaZoo, the only zoo where the animals talk with you. This educational  app is currently featured as one of the “Best New Apps” by Apple. The SpeakaZoo houses 20 different animals from 4 different habitats. Each one has a lot of character – a fast-talking octopus, a porcupine that needs a hug, an angry beaver, a sleepy bear, etc. And each character has a lot to talk about. The animals ask kids questions then “listen” to their answers. The conversation continues when the animal responds to what the child just answered – fun!

Parents are asked to create an account with a valid email address so that they have full control over all account information and content for children under 13. From the ToyTalk privacy policy FAQs: “ToyTalk apps involve characters that interact with users. When children use ToyTalk apps, audio recordings and photographs of such interactions are captured as part of this use. We may add the ability to capture video in the future. In that case, we will update this FAQ to describe how we use those recordings too.” Read more at: http://www.toytalk.com/legal/

Download link: https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/speakazoo/id850553929?mt=8&uo=4

winston

The Winston Show is an adorable app for kids 6+. Winston (a self-proclaimed, yellow fellow) and his sidekick Ellington have created the first talk show starring you! Special guests include Blackbeard the Pirate, Marie Antoinette, and the Blue Whale. Kids visit 6 different studios within the app. In Studio 1, they become a contestant on a quiz show called Win with Winston. Studio 2 features Fireside Chats on a variety of kid-friendly subjects such as magic and chores. In Studios, 3 kids can choose to become the star in two movies: Squabble Among the Stars or Winston Sly, Private Eye. They battle colorful characters (such as Lewis & Clark) in Studio 4′s You vs., another game show. Studio 5 is the Costume Department where kids can play dress-up in an assortment of costumes. And finally, Studio 6 features the Writing Room where kids choose the path of a story. This app is fabulous for helping kids with conversational language because the characters listen and talk back! It’s quite ingenious and could be really fun – for kids and adults. Adults will love seeing kids interact with Winston and friends. And, they will understand all of the jokes. 🙂 Delightful!!

From the ToyTalk privacy policy FAQs: “Users under 13 are only authorized to use ToyTalk apps under their parent/guardian’s account. As a result, we do not knowingly collect emails or other contact information directly from children under 13. ToyTalk apps involve characters that interact with users. When children use ToyTalk apps, audio recordings and photographs of such interactions are captured as part of this use. We may add the ability to capture video in the future. In that case, we will update this FAQ to describe how we use those recordings too.”  Read more at: http://www.toytalk.com/legal/

Download link: https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/winston-show/id669541931?mt=8&uo=4

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Stickyboard 2

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stickyboard-2-ipad-appFREE for a limited time – Stickyboard 2, a giant whiteboard with a never-ending stack of sticky notes. If you are looking to capture ideas in your classroom or at your next meeting, check out the electronic version of this classic organizer. Unlike their paper counterparts, these sticky notes don’t fall off or get lost. And, they are more environmentally friendly. The app also feature Magic Arrange which makes arranging and rearranging the notes much simpler. Entire boards can be emailed as PDF files – great for sharing ideas. Check out this fabulous tool while it’s FREE!

Download link: https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/stickyboard-2/id466102928?mt=8&uo=4

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Curious George at the Zoo

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Curious George: Zoo Animals for iPad 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. Then you can decide if you want to purchase the remaining zoo sections.

Curious George at the Zoo for iPad - Houghton Mifflin Harcourt

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Kalley’s Machine Plus Cats

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kalleyFREE today – Kalley’s Machine Plus Cats, one of USA Today’s Ten Top Kids Apps of 2014! It’s a cute interactive story based on the drawings of a four-year-old girl named Kalley who wants to save her father from commuting to work every day. She invents a machine that she hopes will eliminate their need for money. Then her father can continue to work from home and be with her. Since they couldn’t actually build the machine, Kalley and her father turned her idea into an adorable interactive app which kids will love. It’s full of touchable controls (cranks, sliders, dials, levers, switches, buttons) that put kids in charge. What does they machine do? It smashes, inflates, shrinks, molds, and more. The story has two modes: Read-to-Me which is narrated by Kalley and her dad and Touch-to-Read which reads the words when they are touched. The story also includes many cats – just for fun! Super cute and super creative – not only is this app fun to read but it would also be a great addition to an elementary unit on simple machines.

Direct Link: https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/kalleys-machine-plus-cats/id905722643?mt=8

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Mr. Sandman

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mr sandmanFREE for a limited time – Mr. Sandman is a beautiful, interactive bedtime story for the iPad/iPhone. The story does a nice job of addressing a common fear of childhood. It is about a young boy who is afraid of the dark. The sandman appears and the boy drifts off to sleep. In his dream, he meets an owl who shows him wonderful & magical things about the dark. The app features incredibly beautiful artwork and dreamy music – perfect to set the mood for the story. But the most wonderful thing about this app is the way that it transitions from page to page. Kids move the story forward in a variety of unique ways. They help the sandman sprinkle the sand, say “Shhh” to calm the frogs, scratch the owl’s belly, touch the moon, and more. Each page transitions to the next page in a uniquely delightful way. And, the app can be switched different languages – nine in all. Mr. Sandman is wonderful – don’t miss it! 🙂

Download link: https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/mr.-sandman/id511273529?mt=8&uo=4

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Mystery Math Museum

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FREE today – Mystery Math Museum, a fun & educational app from Artgig Studio.  Kids help a friendly ghost rescue fireflies hidden in the museum. Along the way, they use their math skills to unlock doors rooms and passages. The app permits multiple players with the ability to customize math skills for each player. Kids practice addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division by building equations. This app has lots of “kid appeal” – bonus challenges, fun rewards and a very cool interface. Highly recommended!!

Download link: https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/mystery-math-museum/id640754583?mt=8&uo=4