BrainPOP has been around for more than a decade as a website.  The content is geared for grades 4+ but I used a lot of the movies in my third grade classroom. It was truly one of my favorite websites. There are over 750 lessons covering science, social studies, math, art & music, etc.

Now you can download the BrainPOP app for FREE and your child can learn something new every day.  After watching each movie there is a short interactive quiz. If your child can’t get enough of this engaging app, there are two subscription options: $1.99 per month will get you four movies and quizzes each day and full access is $6.99 per month.

Highly Recommended!

Also available for FREE (as of today) is BrainPOP Jr. Movie of the Week. Every week Annie and Moby (two lovable characters) help 5 to 9 year olds learn about a different subject. There is also a quiz and activities to accompany each animated movie.  BrainPOP Jr. has been on the web since 2006 delivering content for younger students in science, social studies, reading, writing, math, and more.

Highly recommended!

There are several apps with this name. This review refers to the FREE one by Mind the Kids Ltd.

This app gives kids step-by-step visual and verbal instructions for 12 drawing episodes. Episodes teach how to draw things such as a dog, a princess, and the space shuttle. In the “I am watching” mode, kids can use paper and pencil. In the “I am drawing” mode, the program verbally explains as it draws in red lines for the child to draw over on the iPad or iPhone.  Then the red lines disappear leaving only the child-drawn image behind. There is an option to color and add additional details or background to your drawing. Drawings can be emailed or saved in your photos.

A couple of issues – I think it would be difficult to use this program on anything smaller than an iPad. I also wish there was the option of a blank sheet so that kids could create their own original drawing. It is possible to create your own drawing but… you have to go into an episode and basically ignore the instructions to do your own thing.

All in all, it is somewhat limited but it is also FREE and fun.

As the name implies, this app is a card matching game along the lines of concentration. It has a cute little tiger on the front so I downloaded it for free one day just to check it out. I was hoping to find all sorts of cute little animals for kids to match up. Instead the cards have an odd assortment of items to match – like shoes, jewelry and wine glasses (hmmm). The app times you & keeps score as you progress through several levels. In addition, as you successfully complete a level, you are given verbal praise such as awesome, cool or to easy (not to be confused with too easy which actually is the correct homonym).

There doesn’t seem to be a free version available any more –  just the $2.99 HD version. I am not sure I would download again it for free let alone $2.99.  Matching games are good for kids but there must be better versions on the market.