Category Archives: FREE apps (for a limited time)

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My First Riddle Book

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Answer: the cheetah 🙂

This 36 page riddle book for the iPhone/iPad is FREE today, Sept. 26. It is colorfully illustrated with child-like drawings. All riddles are kid-appropriate. There are two modes – read to me or read to myself. There is also the option of recording your own voice as you read. I have always liked using riddles with kids. They involve clever word play and make kids think “outside the box” to solve them. Riddles require kids to think about how things are connected or how words can be used in different ways. Kids also have to be familiar with figures of speech to appreciate many riddles. When kids are about eight or nine years old, they begin to understand & appreciate the humor in riddles. And…. they love the corny fun!

Thinking and fun combined – recommended!

My First Riddle Book - Fun Classic Riddles for Kids - Brave Tomatoes

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Jellytoons Birthday Countdown

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FREE for a limited time for the iPhone/iPad– Jellytoons Birthday Countdown is for toddlers (18 months +). It’s Bobo’s birthday and his friends – Flo, Inky, Max, Noodles, Pip and Rex are invited to his party. Kids have to help the friends get to the party on time by waking up Max, feeding Rex, helping Flo down from the sky, finding Pip, helping Noodles wrap a present, and cheering up Inky. The activities help develop fine motor skills, shape matching, and logic & observation skills. The characters are happy, googly-eyed little blobs – just looking at them makes you smile. The animations are colorful and cleverly done. I think little ones would enjoy this app  – a prequel to Jellytoons: Bobo’s Birthday Challenge (see review Sept. 16).

Jellytoons Birthday Countdown - Mindshapes Limited

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eggzoo

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FREE for a limited time – eggzoo an iPhone/iPad app for toddlers.Kids tap the screen to interact with 4 egg-shaped animals called eggmals. Kids learn the meaning of verbs as they touch, talk to, and sing with the eggmals. Verbs taught are smell, shake, sleep, catch, hit, chase, laugh, jump, spin, play, eat, and fly. The eggmals teach the verbs by acting them out. After three times, kids can record their voice saying the verb and the eggmal responds appropriately. Kids do not have to pronounce the verb exactly to trigger a response. There is also a song for each character that incorporates all three verbs taught by that character. The app is cute for very young kids but it only teaches 12 verbs so it is very short.

eggzoo - CJ Educations

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Marbleminds Phonics

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In this app for the iPhone/iPad (which normally costs $2.99) kids practice phonics in four different ways: picture to letter (choose the beginning letter for a picture), letter to picture (find the pictures that start with a letter), memory (match letters to pictures), and sounds like (choose the letter for the sound). In the game mode, all four methods are mixed and kids earn marbles as they play. This app provides some good practice for kids with letters/sounds for over 150 pictures.

Be aware of a few issues that will hopefully be addressed in the next update. The sounds of c and k can be the same. When c is followed by a,o, or u it makes a k sound. In the app when looking for words that start with the k sound, the correct answers were kettle, kangaroo and kettle but other choices included cat and candy cane – too confusing!  Also, vowels can be tricky. When looking for the short i sound, one of the correct answers was iron which is incorrect because it has a long i sound. When looking for the short o sound, two of the correct answers were orange and onion – neither make the short o sound. Even though this app has some mistakes, it is better than many of the other phonics apps that I have seen.

Common Core Standards met:

  • K.RF.3 –  Know and apply grade-level phonics and word analysis skills in decoding words.a.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.

Keep reading my blog to find out when apps go FREE. There is a lite version of this app that you can try.

Marbleminds Phonics - Iskandar, Inc.

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Froobles Phonics

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This phonics app for the iPhone/iPad was FREE the day I downloaded it but is currently $.99. In the first two activities, kids line up the same three pictures to spell 3-letter words or to find words with the same short vowels. In the third activity, kids line up pictures of words from the same word family – a bit more challenging. There is a reward chart with the ability to set goals. The app is simple to use and colorful but there is limited sound in the app – a swiping sound, a “yeah” when a match is made. A phonics app without sounds seems like a missed opportunity to me. The letter sounds are not pronounced. The word is not pronounced after it is completed. Perhaps an update will included more sound.

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ABC Mouse.co – Ham with Jam, Hen in the Pen, Big Pig & Little Pig, To Run is Fun

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These apps for the iPhone/iPad are from the ABC Mouse word family beginning reader series. I chose to downloaded The Hen in the Pen to review the series. Each story emphasizes words from a particular word family. There are also easy sight words in the stories. There are several ways that the books can be read: Read to Me, Read with Pause, I Can Read It, and Hear the Words. I really like the Hear the Words option. It allows the child to read alone but tap any word that he/she gets stuck on. There are parent tips on the title page that explain word families and sight words for beginning readers. There are also parent tips throughout the books. The illustrations are colorful and support the text so that kids can use picture clues as they read. The story lines are very simple. But, that is not a negative thing because these apps are more about the process of reading than the actual story. When my son was an early reader, he loved books like these because he could read them “all by himself” and that alone makes them worth downloading 🙂 And…. they are currently FREE.

Common Core Standards met:

K.RF.3 – Know and apply grade-level phonics and word analysis skills in decoding words. c. Read common high-frequency words by sight (e.g., the, of, to, you, she, my, is, are, do, does). d. Distinguish between similarly spelled words by identifying the sounds of the letters that differ.

Recommended!

ABCmouse.com Ham and Jam - Age of Learning, Inc. Ham with Jam     ABCmouse.com The Hen in the Pen - Age of Learning, Inc. Hen in the Pen     ABCmouse.com Big Pig and Little Pig - Age of Learning, Inc. Big Pig & Little Pig     ABCmouse.com To Run is Fun - Age of Learning, Inc. To Run is Fun

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Kids Zoo

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Kids Zoo introduces your child to 45 different animals from 4 different categories: wild, farm, birds, and water. It is very easy to use – just tap. First tap the category you want to explore, then tap an animal. A photo of the animal appears. You can tap the photo for another photo of the same animal. Tap the speaker next to the animal’s name and it is pronounced. Tap the sound icons to hear the sound that the animal makes. There are two sound icons for each animal (one blue and one pink) but no explanation of the difference. The most interesting thing about this app is that there are connections to 30 LIVE  webcams at zoos all around the world. You can see the polar bear at the San Diego Zoo, the tiger at the London Zoo, etc. if you connect at the right time. Since these zoos are all over the world, the animals may be sleeping, the time zones may not match up, etc. Another potential issue is the speed/quality of your connection. I was able to connect to several webcams but was not fortunate enough to see any real action. Interesting to explore – if you have a great connection!

This app for the iPhone/iPad is FREE for a limited time.

Kids Zoo - Zhan Tian

 

 

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CreateTruck

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If you have a young person (3+) in your life that LOVES trucks, this may be an app for you. CreateTruck for the iPhone/iPad includes 18 detailed vehicles such as tractors, graders, backhoes, etc. First, choose your ride. An incomplete version of the vehicle will appear. Then it’s time to create. There are over 50 items in 4 categories (tires, arms, signs, and buildings) for you to add to your vehicle/scene. When you are finished, tap the forward button – you hear realistic engine sounds as the wheels & arms move. You can also save your creation to your garage. A suggestion for future updates would be for the app to include the names the vehicles. I know a lot of little people will love this app 🙂

CreateTruck is currently FREE for the iPhone/iPad.

CreateTruck - ToysTap

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Zoola First Words

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First Words is designed for toddlers but would also be appropriate for ESL learners or children with language difficulties. It teaches 90 basic words in 6 categories: animals, vehicles, nature, clothes, at home. The illustrations/animations are colorfully done by Coleen Madden, an illustrator of children’s books. It is simple to use – just pick the category, listen to the word, watch the animation, tap the blinking hand for more animated action, then tap the arrow to move to the next word. In an update it would be great if the app spelled the word – highlighting each letter as it goes. That feature would extend the use of this app to a broader group. I would also like to see the capital letter dropped from front of the word – unless the word is a proper noun. This app is visually appealing & age-appropriate – adorable for little ones!

This app is for the iPhone and iPad. I downloaded it earlier this evening for FREE but it is now listed for $2.99. Check out the lite version to see how it works or keep reading my blog to find out when it becomes FREE again (for a limited time).

Highly Recommended!

ZOOLA First Words - Best kids Apps

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Buildo Museum

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Download now for Halloween  – Buildo Museum is a spooky sticker book for kids. The goal of the Buildo series is to get  kids to thinking about creative story telling. Included in the app are 3 scenes inspired by ancient museums with 100 + stickers. Kids can scale, rotate and flip stickers to create a scene for their oral stories. This iPhone/iPad app is FREE for a limited time.

Buildo Museum Sticker Book - JAJDO AB

Also FREE for a limited time is Buildo History Sticker Book from the same series.

Buildo History Sticker Book - JAJDO AB