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ABC Music

ABC Music

FREE for a limited time – ABC Music, an educational app that teaches kids about 50 musical instruments in an engaging way. The words are arranged on a ABC grid. If you tap on a word, the app brings the word up on a full screen. The full screen includes fun facts, interactive scenes, and links to a featured You Tube videos about the instrument. Of course, internet access is required to watch the videos. Even though children cannot link from the featured videos to the You Tube website, there is an option to disable the videos in the settings. I did not watch every video in the app but the developer claims that they were all tested for appropriateness. The app can be used in English, Spanish, or dual language mode. All in all, a great app for introducing kids to musical instruments!

ABC Music - Peapod Labs LLC

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Go There Square: A Stella and Sam Adventure

stella & sam

Recently updated, Go There Square: A Stella and Sam Adventure is FREE today! Stella and Sam apps are based on the television show and the bestselling picture book series by Marie-Louise Gay. The books have been translated into fifteen languages & have sold over one million copies. Stella and Sam find magical places with the help of their go-there-square. Kids go along to pop musical bubbles, collect dandelions and build a bridge out of flowers. Beautifully done and fun for preschoolers!

Here is a link to my earlier review of another Stella and Sam app – Draw Along with Stella & Sam (currently available for $1.99) – Draw Along with Stella and Sam for iPad « appydazeblog. Very creative – loved it!!

Other Stella and Sam Adventures that are available on iTunes for $2.99 each include:  Into the Snow We Go, Rainy Days and Rainbows, Backyard at Twilight, Cocoons and Caterpillars. All Stella and Sam apps are also supported in French. With the current update of Go There Square you can easily change from English to French/French to English in the app’s settings. Great educational apps for kids!

Go There Square: A Stella and Sam Adventure - zinc Roe

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How to Draw

There are several apps with this name. This review refers to the 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.

How to draw - Mind the Kids Ltd

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Counting Dots

Counting Dots

FREE again today – Counting Dots, a counting app for young iPad users. Kids learn to recognize/count numbers by popping colorful dots in this simple but visually appealing game. The app has three settings – counting by one, fives, or tens. There are also settings for sound, hinting, and enabling vibrations (iPhone only). The app is advertised as helping kids count from one to a million. I counted by ones to 20 and by tens to 100  – didn’t quite make it to a million. 🙂 This app is by the same developer that did Rain Dots (see my March 1 review). Recommended!

Counting Dots - Helping kids count from one to one million! - Ellie's Games, LLC

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Musical Paint

Musical Paint

FREE for a limited time – Musical Paint a creative, multi-sensory app for the iPhone/iPad. Kids are welcomed into an art museum by a friendly blue walrus with a French accent. There is also an ensemble of  lively musicians (underwater animals) at the museum. Kids are invited to paint a picture on a canvas. Each color is a musical tone so when the kids paint, they are painting music! If the child chooses to save his/her painting, it is hung in the museum – a very cute feature. They even get to sign their work!! Kids can also share their paintings via email. What fun it would be for kids to send Grandma a picture of their masterpiece that is in a museum!! The app also has a lesson plan section for teachers & parents. Nicely done app for younger kids!!

Musical Paint - Building Blocks Media LLC

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Math Evolve

Math Evolve

FREE for  limited time – the full version of Math Evolve, an app that combines math practice (addition, subtraction, multiplication, division) with an arcade-style game that kids will enjoy playing. Math Evolve has 12 levels, 19 different enemies, and 6 challenging bosses that can be played on 3 difficulty settings. The app has 2 modes: practice mode and story mode. In practice mode, a parent or teacher can choose which math facts to practice and monitor a child’s progress. In the story mode, kids embark on math adventure across three environments: microscopic, ocean, and space. The difficulty of the math and the difficulty of the game can be set independently which makes the game fun for all ages. The app supports up to 5 players. Statistics are kept in the player history section so parent/teachers can evaluate how kids are progressing. This app would be great for independent practice in a classroom. It has customizable practice built into a fun game AND it collects statistical data – awesome!

For more information go to http://mathevolve.com.

Common Core Standards met:

  • 1.OA.6 – Add and subtract within 20, demonstrating fluency for addition and subtraction within 10.
  • 2.OA.2 – Fluently add and subtract within 20 using mental strategies. By end of Grade 2, know from memory all sums of two one-digit numbers.
  • 3.OA.7 – Fluently multiply and divide within 100, using strategies such as the relationship between multiplication and division or properties of operations. By the end of Grade 3, know from memory all products of two one-digit numbers.

Math Evolve: A Fun Math Game - Zephyr Games

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ABC Interactive Flash Cards

ABC Interactive

FREE for a limited time – ABC Interactive Flash Cards. Kids are introduced to the upper and lower case letters of the alphabet. The letter and a word starting with that letter are pronounced, for example…. A for apple. There is an animated picture to go with each word. The app also has a chalkboard for kids to practice writing the letters. If you are looking to “mix it up”, here is another alphabet app for toddlers. This one, however, does not have stroke-by-stroke instructions for letter formation.

ABC Interactive Flash Cards - Alakmalak

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Word Mic

Word Mic

FREE for a limited time – Word Mic, an app that can be used to chronicle your child’s progress as they learn to read! It video records your child reading any book in PDF format. Videos can then be shared/saved via Dropbox, Google Drive, Facebook, YouTube or email. This app is SO simple to use: import book in PDF format, type in your child’s name, record your child reading the book, create the video by hitting save when done, then share!  The app also has an “Import a Book” section which has 28 beginning books and 5 sets of sight words in its Free Book List. There are so many uses for this app – to chronicle and evaluate reading progress, to share progress with family and friends, to create and record your own material, etc. But perhaps the best use for this app is to record your child’s voice when he/she first starts reading – so special!! And… grandmas & grandpas everywhere will be able to share the joy of your child learning to read.  🙂

WordMic - Focustrain LLC

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Cutie Mini Monsters

Cutie Mini Monsters

FREE for a limited time – Cutie Mini Monsters, an iPhone/iPad app for preschoolers. This 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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Leo and the Windy Day

Leo and the Windy Day

FREE for a limited time – Leo and the Windy Day, an interactive story for the iPad. Leo’s wish that his bike could fly comes true. Kids join Leo, his friend Mira, and his hamster Mr. Snibs on a midnight adventure to rescue Leo’s kite from the top of the church tower. Kids can use their fingertips to bring the animations in the scenes to life. Their fingertips also activate musical notes in the same musical key as the soundtrack. The app is professionally narrated by Lyndsay Abbott or it can be read alone. Nicely done!!

Leo and the Windy Day - Lakeland Graphics