Category Archives: FREE apps (for a limited time)

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Kids Zoo

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FREE again – Kids Zoo, an educational app that 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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Oscar Goes to the Zoo

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Oscar Goes to the Zoo

Educational app, FREE for a limited time – Oscar Goes to the Zoo, a “You Tell Me” story. In this story, a cute little dachshund goes to the zoo and wonders what it might be like to be the different animals that he sees there. In the end he discovers that he likes being himself. Cute story!

“You Tell Me” stories are designed with some special features: 1. They incorporate WordWinks into the story. WordWinks are questions and comments written in red italics. To maximize children’s understanding of the story, teachers often add comments/questions as they read aloud. WordWinks are meant to model that teacher voice. 2. They have a “Retell, Record & Share” section. Kids are asked to order 4 scenes from the story then record their own version of the story to share with grandparents or friends. 3. If you register, you can receive a FREE Oscar Goes to the Zoo activity book by email.

If you have a preschooler or early reader, check out this e-book. I love that it emphasizes “thinking about reading.”

Download link: https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/oscar-goes-to-the-zoo/id587648796?mt=8&uo=4

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Popboardz

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Popboardz

Recently updated and FREE for a limited time – Popboardz, a productivity tool that normally sells for $4.99.  Popboardz makes it easy to organize, store, and present information. Each board is a grid with 16 spaces for content so that all of your PDFs, images, videos, websites, can be arranged on one screen. Unlike other presentation tools, Popboardz makes it easy to customize your presentation to meet the needs of your group. Just click on the grid space that contains the example, information, or link that you would like present next! It’s easy to skip around. This app would be fabulous to use in the classroom. A teacher could organize all his/her digital resources for a unit on one board. That board can be saved so it is always ready to present! It is also easy to edit and/or rearrange boards so that lessons can be tweaked as new resources become available. Students could also use Popboardz – to organize information, to present projects, to give reports, and more. What a great educational app!

Download link: https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/popboardz/id563989511?mt=8&uo=4

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Ten Giggly Gorillas

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Ten Giggly Gorillas

FREE again for a limited time – Ten Giggly Gorillas, a cute book to share with 2 – 6 year olds. There are 10 giggly gorillas swinging in the trees. Kids must listen to the story to know which gorilla to tickle under the arm. When tickled, that gorilla giggles until it lose its grip and there is one less gorilla swinging in the tree. The story continues until there is only one gorilla left to tickle. At the end there is a cute surprise! With over 100 interactions plus a hidden toucan on every page, this story is sure to delight your little ones! The educational app also includes a monkey memory game.

Ten Giggly Gorillas story book for children - Wasabi Productions - Wasabi Productions

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KId in Story Book Maker

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Kid in Story

Missed a good one! I went out-of-town for the day and did not get to look at yesterday’s FREE educational apps until this morning. Now $6.99 (but FREE yesterday) – Kid in Story Book Maker, a great app for creating personalized stories that support your child’s learning and social monitoring. It’s easy to make your child the star of the story with this app. One-of-a-kind technology (Locolens™ image detection ) makes it easy to superimpose your child onto the story backgrounds – similar to “green screening.” The app includes 8 story templates for you to customize with your own images, text, and narration. You can also create your own original stories by using the “Blank Story” template. Story templates included are – Faces I Make, Let’s Get a Haircut, Are Monsters Hiding in My Room?, A Day at the Movies, At the Playground, What Will I See in San Francisco?, and When Is It Time to Wash My Hands? The app also makes it super easy to share your creations via email and/or Dropbox. Parents, teachers, and/or language therapists – this app would be fabulous to support early literacy, establish routines, model social behaviors & emotions, and more! Most kids love being the star of their own story!

Download link: https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/kid-in-story-book-maker/id594403164?mt=8&uo=4

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Look Out Larry & Lost Larry

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Look Out Larry

FREE for a limited time – 2 interactive books from Wasabi: Look Out Larry & Lost Larry. Larry is an adorable green lizard and the main character in these two adventures for 2 – 6 year olds.

In Look Out Larry, kids help Larry stay safe and find a cozy place to sleep by helping to protect him from the dangers of the Australian bush – a spider, a snake, a brush fire, etc. At the end, there is an alternative version of the story called Larry’s Dream. Larry dreams of defending himself against the dangers of the bush in some cute & clever ways. The educational app also includes a matching game.

In Lost Larry, kids help Larry find his way home across rivers, over canyons, over a rickety bridge, etc. This is Larry’s third and most ambitious adventure! Kids will love helping Larry make it home. They pet his little green head to put him to sleep once he gets there! Cute educational app!!

Look Out Larry! animated story book - Wasabi Productions - Wasabi Productions   Look Out Larry          Lost Larry interactive story book - Wasabi Productions - Wasabi Productions   Lost Larry

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Toca Hair Salon

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FREE again today – Toca Hair Salon, one of my favorite educational apps for toddlers! Kids go into the salon to groom 6 different characters. They can use the tools in the salon to style their hair – cut it, comb it, make it grow, shave it, color it, etc. Great sound effects are also included in this fun app. Kids or parents can take a photo of the finished creation and save it to their camera roll. If parents wish, creations may be posted on the Toca Boca Facebook page. The developers have also built-in options to turn off sounds, pictures, and news. What a great springboard for creative writing – give a character a whole new look and write a story to go with it. What a fun writing activity for a Wacky Hair Day!!

Toca Hair Salon - Toca Boca AB

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EyePaint Animals

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Eye Paint Animals

EyePaint Animals is FREE again for a limited time. This educational app let your child paint illustrations from Japanese artist, Mitsue Haya, in a very unique way. Kids”paint” using their cameras to capture the colors, textures, patterns around them. To begin, a child chooses one of the 10 included illustrations. He/she taps to select the area to be filled in and the creativity begins! Work can be saved to the photo library for sharing or printing. Easy, fun, and very creative!!

Eye Paint Animals - Curious Hat

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Jellytoons Birthday Countdown

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FREE again for a limited time –Jellytoons Birthday Countdown 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 all of 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 educational app  – a prequel to Jellytoons: Bobo’s Birthday Challenge (see review Sept. 16).

Jellytoons Birthday Countdown - Mindshapes Limited

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Hickory Dickory Dock

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Hickory Dickory Dock, an educational app for the iPhone/iPad is FREE again for a limited time. Your child can learn to read a clock to the nearest hour while playing with an adorable, purple mouse. Kids begin by setting the time on the clock. For each hour there is an exploration that sends the lovable little mouse bouncing, springing and sleeping his way through the nursery rhyme accompanied by catchy music, sounds effects, and fun animations. The explorations in Hickory Dickory Dock simulate principles of physics –  gravity, collision, friction, weight, etc. as kids play pinball with the mouse, balance weights on a set of scales, and bounce the mouse off the walls of the clock. Very cute for preschoolers – a fun way to learn how to tell time with some physics slipped in as a bonus 🙂

Hickory Dickory Dock - Mindshapes Limited