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Nighty Night! HD – Winter Special

nighty winter

FREE today – from the developers of Nighty Night, a special winter edition of this bedtime story. If you already have Nighty Night, this app is the same except for the winter setting and the singing snowman.

This interactive bedtime app for kids 1 – 4 years old is by the same developer that produced Little Fox Music Box (see review June 28). Like the Little Fox app, the artwork is beautifully done by Heidi Wittlinger, an Oscar nominated artist. Kids help put animals to bed by clicking off the lights and telling them goodnight. The story can easily be changed to 7 different languages (without going into the general settings of your iPad or iPhone). This app is really lovely and it has been successful internationally (according to iTunes Preview). Adorable, must-have for toddlers!

Available as in-app purchases: two additional sets of animals (3 in each) for $.99 a set and a Jingle Bells video featuring all of the animals for $.99.

Nighty Night! HD - Winter Special - Shape Minds and Moving Images GmbH

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I Think I Can – A Magic Ink Book

FREE for a limited time for the iPhone/iPad – I Think I Can, Magic Ink Books rendition of the classic tale. The setting is Christmas Eve and a train is delivering holiday treats to kids on the other side of the mountain. A little switcher engine helps save the day! Kids can choose Read to Me (male or female narrator) or Read it Myself. Throughout the story kids use “magic ink” on the pages to reveal beautiful colored illustrations. Verses to a train song and secret animations are also found within the story. There is also an option to email the train song to friend but I found this option to be distracting to the flow of the story. A nice story for the holidays – enjoy it (and 5 other Magic Ink Books) while they are FREE  🙂

I Think I Can - A Magic Ink Book - Magic Ink Books

The 5 additional Magic Ink books that are also being offered for FREE right now – check them out!

A Frog Prince – Magic Ink Books     A Frog Prince - Magic Ink Books - Magic Ink Books

Tinker Bell & Friends  – Magic Ink Books     Tinker Bell & Friends - Magic Ink Books

The Little Mermaid’s Surprise – Magic Ink Book     The Little Mermaid's Surprise - Magic Ink Books

Magic Ink  – The Wonderful Wizard of Oz     Magic Ink - The Wonderful Wizard of Oz - Magic Ink Books

Cinderella – Magic Ink Books     Cinderella - Magic Ink Books - Magic Ink Books

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Arthur Christmas Movie Storybook

FREE for a limited time for the iPhone/iPad – Arthur Christmas Movie Storybook. The story explains how Santa delivers all those presents in one night by showing Santa’s secret high-tech operations at the North Pole. However, one present is accidentally left behind and Arthur, an unlikely hero, is called upon to deliver it. This interactive storybook features original content from the movie. Kids swipe across selected pages to make the characters/scenes come alive – very cool feature! The book has 3 options: read to me, read to myself, and autoplay. Also included are story-related, interactive activities: lull the lions, snowy Arthur, and wrap the bike. Download it today before the price goes back to $3.99.

Arthur Christmas Movie Storybook - zuuka incorporated

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Build and Play – Construction Play Scene

Build and Play – Construction Play Scene for the iPhone/iPad is FREE for a limited time. This app has two components – a memory game and an area to create construction scenes. Kids will have fun building their own constructions scenes with the 30+ stickers of bulldozers, pile drivers, dump trucks, and people who operated them.  Sound effects of moving vehicles add to fun! The app is simple to use  – just tap and drag the stickers into the scene. I like that it is open-ended which promotes creativity. If you have a little one who loves to play with trucks, check it out 🙂

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The Tooth That’s on the Loose!

The Tooth is on the Loose is an e-book for the iPhone/iPad. It is currently $1.99 but I was able to download it on a FREE day. The setting is the old West and a shifty, wiggly, little varmint named T.B. Wiggly is on the loose. Kids will be delighted by this legend, narrated by Sheriff Tex. The language is rich and fitting to the genre of the story. The story is illustrated in a cartoon-like style with animations, sound effects, and hidden activities throughout the tale. Coloring pages are also included. A really fun story for kids who are ready to lose a tooth!

Keep following my blog to find out when apps become FREE.

The Tooth That's on the Loose! - SachManya LLC

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Hickory Dickory Dock

Hickory Dickory Dock for the iPhone/iPad is FREE 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

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Mad Libs

Over 120,000,000 Mad Libs have been sold to date. MadLibs.com gets 50,000 visitors per month. And now, Mad Libs is a FREE app for the iPhone/iPad with over 3,000,000 downloads. Mad Libs are stories with words left out. 21 stories are included with this app. A reader selects a story but doesn’t tell what it is about. Writers (the other players) give words to fill in the blanks in the story. The reader calls out the type of word needed for the blank  –  adjective, noun, collective noun, verb, verb ending with ing, etc. Once all the blanks in the story have been filled, the reader reads the story aloud. The result is usually a silly, funny story. Kids love Mad Libs and in order to play, they have to know parts of speech. Mad Libs are a great classroom activity when you have 10 minutes before lunch, at the end of the day, waiting for a guest, etc.

Mad Libs - Penguin Group USA

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Christmas Apps

FREE Christmas apps that you may want to download. Happy Holidays 🙂

Where is Santa Lite – Santa Tracker is FREE for the iPhone/iPad. The app keeps track of where Santa is and how long it will be before he arrives at your home. When using the “Where is Santa” page, it scans the world every 60 seconds to locate Santa and report on his activities. For instance, “Santa is in the North Pole and he is helping Mrs. Claus in the kitchen.” When using the “My Home” tab, it shows the location of your house and tells how many days, hours, minutes, and seconds it will be before Santa arrives. Beware – there are ads at the bottom of this app that are easy to click and will take your child to the app store. Teachers could use the app to make up math problems with the information given. Have kids convert days into weeks, days into hours, figure out the exact time he is scheduled to arrive, etc. Kids could write a story about what Santa is doing on a particular day, illustrate a timeline of what Santa has been doing for a week, etc. – lots of cute possibilities. Parents can use this app with kids to check on Santa daily – cute way to count down the days to Christmas!

Where is Santa Lite - Santa Tracker - Super Kiddo Studio

‘Twas the Night Before Jasper’s Christmas is FREE e-book for the iPhone/iPad. Jasper the dog and Smiley the cat are the stars of the classic tale. Kids can read the book to themselves or read along as it is narrated. In the read along mode, chimes let kids know when to advance to the next page. Background music (We wish You a Merry Christmas) can be turned off or on. The pages are not interactive but they are cutely & colorfully illustrated – appealing to kids. And, at the end of the story is a matching game. Beware – there are ads at the top of each page that are easy to click and will take your child to the app store. Cute FREE book – worth downloading 🙂

Twas The Night Before Jasper's Christmas (FREE) StoryChimes - Siena Entertainment, LLC

 

From the developers of Toca Boca apps comes this FREE gift for the holidays: Toca Hair Salon – Christmas Gift. Kids can go into the salon to groom Santa and/or his favorite Christmas tree, Topzy. They can use the tools in the salon to style their hair – cut it, comb it, make it grow, shave it, color it, and drag decorations into it. 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 Santa a whole new look and write a story to go with it. Thanks to the developers for a gift that inspires kids to be creative 🙂

Toca Hair Salon - Christmas Gift - Toca Boca AB

And if your child LOVES the above app, you may want to look into Toca Hair Salon which usually sells for $1.99.

It works the same way but it has 6 characters and  more tools than the Christmas version. Great creative fun!!

Here’s the link:

Toca Hair Salon - Toca Boca AB

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Snow Globes 3D!

FREE for Thanksgiving – Snow Globes 3D! for the iPad. Get this fun interactive e-book to start the holiday season. Kids explore 7 different snow globe scenes with interactive surprises that are activated by tapping. And…when the iPad is tilted, snow floats around the scenes! Kids visit New York City to help light the giant Christmas tree . They also search for animals in a snow-covered forest, visit Santa & the elves while they load the sleigh, fly through the air with Santa & his reindeer, and more. The book can be read in 2D or 3D. In order to view the book in 3D, red/cyan 3D glasses are needed. The 3D glasses from a movie theater will not work. There are also 3 options for reading: read to me, read to myself, and autoplay. Nicely done app  – sure to delight your little ones 🙂

Snow Globes 3D! ~ 3D & 2D interactive storybook - See Here Studios LLC

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Three Little Piggies – Interactive Story Book with Animations

FREE for a limited time – the full version of Three Little Piggies, an interactive version of a classic tale for your iPhone/iPad. This e-book is brightly illustrated with cute animations and interactivity on every page. Kids tap objects in each scene to interact with the story. They can also bend the iPad from side to side to start the animations. There are three reading modes: autoplay, read to myself, and listen & play. Cute sound effects and professional narration complete the package. And best of all – no characters meet their demise. This version has a happy ending so it is great for little ones. Worth downloading!

3 Little Piggies – Interactive Story Book with Animations - Kids Academy Company