Category Archives: FREE apps (for a limited time)

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Tap A Tune

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This educational app makes me smile!! It’s an adorable (for the iPhone/iPad) and it’s FREE again for a limited time. Kids 2+ can play their own nursery rhymes (7 included) & holiday tunes (9 included) by tapping the animals as they pop out of holes in the ground. The app has 3 modes: baby mode (plays the tune correctly no matter which animal is tapped), play mode (tap the animals in the order that they pop up), and freestyle mode (tap the animals in any order to create your own tune). There is an option of changing to a keyboard when you feel your child is ready to make that transition. There are also 9 instrument options – piano, accordion, clarinet, acoustic guitar, xylophone, drum, harmonica, harp, and animal noises! When a tune is completed, all of the animals pop out of their holes to dance as the tune replays. The result is sheer happiness!

Recommended!

Tap A Tune - Mindshapes Limited

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Mindshape Limited – Story Apps

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Hold your hats  – today is going to be a record-setting day for FREE educational apps thanks to Mindshapes Limited! They are offering 18 of their story apps for FREE!!

Little Red Hen

Many of these stories are classic fairy tales. They are nicely illustrated, professionally narrated, and can be enjoyed in four modes: read, watch, learn, and play. So here are links to 18 FREE e-books from the Mindshapes. Enjoy 🙂

Rumpelstiltskin Rumplestiltskin - Mindshapes Limited

Princess and the Pea The Princess and the Pea - A Fairy Tale - Mindshapes Limited

The Boy who Cried Wolf The Boy who Cried Wolf - Mindshapes Limited

The Glass Mountain   The Glass Mountain - Mindshapes Limited

The Leaping Match The Leaping Match - Mindshapes Limited

Ali Babba and the Forty Thieves   Ali Baba & the Forty Thieves - Mindshapes Limited

The Ugly Duckling   Ali Baba & the Forty Thieves - Mindshapes Limited

The Snow Queen The Snow Queen by Hans Christian Andersen - Mindshapes Limited

The Tale of Cinderella   The Tale of Cinderella - Mindshapes Limited

Thumbelina   Thumbelina - A Fairy Tale - Mindshapes Limited

Hansel & Gretel   Hansel and Gretel - Grimm's Fairy Tales - Mindshapes Limited

Nutcracker – Ballet School   Nutcracker - Ballet School Stories - Mindshapes Limited

Aladdin –  The Arabian Nights   Aladdin - The Arabian Nights - Mindshapes Limited

The Little Red Hen  https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/the-story-of-the-little-red-hen/id583950594?mt=8&uo=4

The Tortoise and the Hare   https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/the-tortoise-the-hare/id572867513?mt=8&uo=4

Sleeping Beauty   https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/sleeping-beauty-a-fairy-story/id584847816?mt=8&uo=4

Brer Rabbit & the Prickly Patch https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/brer-rabbit-prickly-patch/id578074771?mt=8&uo=4

The Story of the Dog and His Reflection   https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/story-dog-his-reflection/id578072856?mt=8&uo=4

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The Opposites

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FREE again – The Opposites for the iPhone/iPad. Designed for kids 7+, this educational app requires the matching of increasingly difficult pairs of opposite words. There are two sections of the app: dictionary and play. In the dictionary section, words are listed next to their opposites. To learn the meaning, students just tap on the word and a definition appears. There are 10 levels with 100+ words per level. In the play section, words are pronounced by a boy or a girl as they appear in bubbles and float towards the top of the screen  Kids are to tap pairs of opposites as they appear – which makes the words turn a color then pop. The goal is to match 12 sets of opposites  – which completes the level. A bonus round then appears in which the student has 20 seconds to match up an entire  board full of opposites. This app starts off simply but becomes quite challenging in the later levels. It could be used for differentiating a lesson and/or for helping students grow their understanding of antonyms.

Common Core Standards met:

  • 4.L.5 – Demonstrate understanding of figurative language, word relationships, and nuances in word meanings. c.Demonstrate understanding of words by relating them to their opposites (antonyms) and to words with similar but not identical meanings (synonyms).
  • 5.L.5 – Demonstrate understanding of figurative language, word relationships, and nuances in word meanings. c. Use the relationship between particular words (e.g., synonyms, antonyms, homographs) to better understand each of the words.

Recommended!

The Opposites - Mindshapes Limited

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Jack and the Beanstalk by Mindshapes

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FREE again – Jack and the Beanstalk, an educational app for the iPhone/iPad. This interactive read-along is a humorous, modern version of a classic tale. The app has 2 options: Read by Myself or Read to Me. The words are highlighted as they are read to help the emerging reader. The animations & illustrations are delightful with interactivity on every page. Teachers could use this app to compare and contrast this modern version to the classic version! This app is really cute and definitely worth downloading!!

The National Parenting Publication Awards: Honors winner in the Children’s Media/Virtual category.

Jack and the Beanstalk by Mindshapes - Mindshapes Limited

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KIDS DISCOVER – Constitution and Galaxies

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Constitution

Galaxies

2 more Back to School Specials: Constitution by KIDS DISCOVER and Galaxies by KIDS DISCOVER are FREE for a limited time! KIDS DISCOVER has been creating award-winning content for kids for over 20 years. Get the interactive, digital versions of these books for FREE. 🙂

Download links:

Constitution  https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/constitution-by-kids-discover/id668593395?mt=8&uo=4

Galaxies  https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/galaxies-by-kids-discover/id593605368?mt=8&uo=4

 

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Miku’s Picnic and Squiggles – apps by Lazoo

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Miku's Picnic

FREE for a limited time – Miku’s Picnic, an adorable interactive story designed to to support creative thinking. Kids join Bobu, the monkey & Miku, the rabbit on a chase after some jumping beans. The two need help capturing the beans before they bounce away! Along the way kids learn about using their imaginations and creative problem solving as the Bobu & Moku use “Squiggles” to… make a car go faster, make springs to get to the top of a tree, make binoculars to look for the beans, make a rocket zoom to the moon, and more. There are 2 reading modes – “Read to Me” and “Read it Myself” as well as an option to record your own voice as the narrator. The story ends with a link to the FREE Squiggles app for kids so kids can “take a turn” drawing. Super creative and super cute!

Download link for Miku’s Picnic: https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/lazoo-mikus-picnic/id652945863?mt=8&uo=4

Squiggles – This FREE app for the iPad is adorable! Kids are encourages to draw squiggles to create: rain clouds (to water flowers), waves (to help fish swim), wool on sheep, cotton candy, etc. Once the squiggles are drawn, they press GO and the drawings come alive. The app includes an interactive storybook and an animated short which introduces the characters – Bobu, the monkey  & Miku, the rabbit. It also includes 14 drawing pages (just add the squiggles) as well as a blank page for your child to create his/her own pictures. Tools included are stickers, markers, paint, chalk, a ketchup bottle, as well as 10 colors & a mystery color wheel. Work can be saved into the gallery of the parents’ section by pressing the piggy bank. This app is super cute!! It encourages children to be imaginative & creative – one of my favorites 🙂

Highly recommended!

Squiggles! - Lazoo Worldwide, Inc

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KIDS DISCOVER – Cells and Ancient Greece

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Cells

Ancient Greeece

Educational apps – Back to School Special: Cells by KIDS DISCOVER and Ancient Greece by KIDS DISCOVER are FREE for a limited time! KIDS DISCOVER has been creating award-winning content for kids for over 20 years. Get the interactive, digital versions of these books for FREE. 🙂

Download links:

Cells https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/cells-by-kids-discover/id593624778?mt=8&uo=4

Ancient Greece

https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/ancient-greece-by-kids-discover/id643330967?mt=8&uo=4

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Teach Me Toddler

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Teach Me Toddler

FREE again today – Teach Me Toddler, a fabulous educational app for teaching your little one letters, numbers, shapes, colors, phonics (letter sounds), and counting. The app includes parental controls so that parents/teachers can choose which areas they want their child/children to work on. Up to 40 players can be entered and the topics for each player can vary – it’s fully customizable by individual! And… the app keeps track of each child’s performance – perfect for a preschool or kindergarten classroom. Teachers could start by assigning general practice for all then reset the players and customize it to meet individual kids’ needs  – AWESOME!!

Kids are rewarded for correct answers with stickers or coins. Sticker scenes include the beach, reef, pirate cove, city, farm, and playground. Parents/teachers can set the number of correct responses needed for getting a sticker from 1 – 9. Completed scenes can be exported to share. 🙂

One of the BEST thing about this educational app is the appropriateness of the topics. It teaches numbers to 20, counting to 10, upper and lower case letters, 11 colors, 9 shapes, and letter sounds. I was so excited that it taught the hard and soft sound of c!! Download this one today – it is rarely FREE!

TeachMe: Toddler - 24x7digital LLC

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Cutie Mini Monsters

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Cutie Mini Monsters

FREE again for a limited time – Cutie Mini Monsters, an iPhone/iPad app for preschoolers. This educational app introduces kids to number recognition and counting. Kids meet Blushy, Toothy, Golly, Taily, Blobby, Growly, and Snouty. They count the monsters’ body parts – tails, eyes, feet, spikes, etc. The app also includes 9 simple  jigsaw puzzles featuring the same characters. Cute for little fans of monsters!

Cutie Mini Monsters - Paul Smith

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Geo-Me!

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Geo-Me

FREE for a limited time – Geo-Me!, a geography app for elementary-aged students. Kids are introduced to world geography by “Geo-Me”s (cute rounded avatars) who live all over the world! This educational app has music & animations to capture the interest of younger students but it also has multiple types of maps (normal, anthrome, climate, population, & elevation) and lots of interesting facts for older students. Using  the iPad’s location, the app creates a “Geo-Me” to represent the user. Children can then use their “Geo Me” avatars to compare and contrast their location on Earth to other avatar’s locations. There are many opportunities to use the information in this app for a variety of lessons – making a table, Venn diagrams, math word problems… the list goes on! This first version of the app introduces 6 residents of the “Geo-Me!” world – their video stories are included. More characters will join them in the near future. Check it out… Geo-Me! helps kids recognize their location’s uniqueness from and similarities to other locations!

Download link: https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/geo-me!/id654772729?mt=8&uo=4