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Fun & FREE Christmas Apps

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toca

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

‘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

friendly Christmas

FREE – Friendly Christmas from the developers of Friendly Shapes. Preschoolers will enjoy meeting Oval, Heart, Triangle, Rectangle, & Square in this cute Christmas story. Kids use shapes to help build a snowman, build musical instruments, help elves in Santa’s workshop, and more. There are three modes: auto-play, read-it-to-myself and play. The app also has puzzles, coloring pages and games. So how can it be FREE? Well, this app has ads placed at the bottom of each page between the backward and the forward arrows. For $.99 you have the option of removing the ads.There are also options to purchase additional puzzles and coloring pages – $1.99 per pack. All in all, this is a nicely done app for little ones to learn shapes, colors, left/right, etc.

Download link: https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/friendly-christmas-funny-shape/id562847602?mt=8&uo=4

gingerbread

Gingerbread  Crazy Chef Cookie Maker  – Kids can virtually bake and decorate their own gingerbread cookies. An in-app purchase of the full version is available. There are also ads along the bottom. TabTale Books has several other free holiday titles that you can download when you open this app if you are comfortable with their model of delivery – ads, upgrades, etc.   Gingerbread Crazy Chef - Cookie Maker - TabTale LTD

boo

Boo, Where Are You?  –  a darling e-book for toddlers about a dog named Sammy and his friend, Boo the cat. Kids tap-the flaps in the story to try to find Boo. Really cute – read on your own story. 🙂 Boo, where are you? - Fleur van Zuilen

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

Ho, ho, ho – “Did That Crazy Santa Claus” and 7 more fun tunes!! FREE for a limited time – Santa’s Merry Band, from the creators of Mibblio. Just like Mibblio, this app is an interactive musical/storybook app for kids. Children read the illustrated story-songs called “mibblets” as they listen to the catchy songs. They can also jam along on a wide variety of instruments. The app has a keyboard along the bottom of the screen with a choice of 8 different instruments. They can also use a tambourine or cowbell to tap along to the beat of the song. Kids will enjoy the 8 different Christmas “mibblets” included in this app. Fun for the holidays!!

Download link: https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/santas-merry-band/id738881884?mt=8&uo=4

Elf

FREE for a limited time – Elf Dance by Jib Jab. This app is incredibly easy to use. Just upload up to 5 pictures of yourself, family, or friends from your device’s camera roll or Facebook. They’ll be transformed into dancing elves in no time and results are super cute! Videos can be shared via email with family and friends. When I was teaching I turned my students into elves and played the videos as class motivators. The kids LOVED them!! Last year, I made the family dog into a dancing elf. 🙂 Spread some fun holiday cheer!!

Santa's home
“He sees you when you’re sleeping. He knows when you’re awake.”  Now you can see what Santa is doing with Santa’s Home, a FREE app. The app is a “LIVE” feed of Santa’s house – the bedroom, the kitchen, the living room, his office/workshop, and the outside grounds. I checked in on Santa a little after 11 PM and he was already in bed snoring. The app even displays the date and time to make it seem more realistic. The app also gives adults the option of can subscribing to Santa’s newsletter. Adults can also help kids send Santa one of their drawings that he will display in his workshop. CUTE!!
Teachers – This would be a fun one to use for creative writing!! It would also be fun for teaching prediction. 🙂
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DIY Nano

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DIY Nano

FREE science app – DIY Nano teaches kids (and their adults) about the nanoscale. Funded by the National Science Foundation and developed by Berkeley’s Lawrence Science Hall, this educational app provides a series of activities and videos about nanoscale science, engineering, and technology. There are 12 hands-on activities in this app. Each one starts with a summary which gives an overview of the activity, the time it will take to complete (prep – clean-up), and the suggested age group. Next, there is a materials list. All items are inexpensive and widely available. Then there is a series of step-by-step directions – with pictures. Finally, there is an explanation of “what’s going on” in the activity. Related videos are at the bottom of the page so that your child can learn more. This app is very well-organized, easy to use, and provides a wonderful introduction to the world of nanoscale science. The best part about the app is that it gives kids and adults the opportunity to learn something new together and how exciting is that?!?

DIY Nano HD - The Lawrence Hall of Science

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Khan Academy

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Khan 2

Khan Academy

Khan Academy – an amazing FREE educational app! Whoever said the best things in life are FREE was absolutely correct. With Khan Academy you can learn almost anything and the app is completely FREE! It has a library of over 4,100 videos which covers a wide range of subjects such as K – 12 math, biology, chemistry, the humanities, and more. You can use the app to review a subject that you have already studied or to learn something completely new! You can watch the videos online or you can download  them to watch offline at your own pace. The videos are subtitled so that you can read along, skip ahead, or go back. If you log in with your Khan Academy account, you can track your progress. The app gives you credit for watching the videos and allows you to see your achievements. Badges and points are earned for learning. Teachers can access their students’ data – as a class or individually. Khan Academy is an incredible resource for all kinds of learners – students, teachers, principals, home-schoolers, adults returning to school, and anyone committed to be a lifelong learner. It is truly one of the best educational apps available – at any price!

Khan Academy - Khan Academy

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Sago Mini – Forest Flyer

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Sago Mini Forest Flyer

FREE for  limited time – Sago Mini Forest Flyer. Young children guide Robin on an adventure through the forest. The fun begins at Robin’s birdhouse where kids ring the doorbell inviting Robin out to play. From there they fly though the forest looking for the yellow markers that trigger 20+ animations. Along the way Robin dances, sings, and plays. Kids can make up stories to go with Robin’s travels. A small caution – one of the animations is the little bird burping after drinking from the pond. Parents can use this scene to have a dialog about using good manners. All in all, the educational app is very cute and fun for little ones!

Sago Mini Forest Flyer - Sago Sago

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Learn the States with Flat Stanley FREE

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flat stanley

If your kids LOVE Flat Stanley (and who doesn’t) you may want to check out the FREE version of this iPad app  – Learn the Sates with Flat Stanley FREE. This FREE version of the app features states in the west coast region. The full version is currently on sale for $.99 and it features all 50 states.

A mail truck has lost its cargo! Kids slingshot Stanley to the proper state so that he can help deliver letters to students. Kids must identify each state by its location and shape. The app uses colored stars to indicate how many states were identified correctly on the first try. If your class is involved in the Flat Stanley project, or reads the Flat Stanley books, you may want to take a closer look at this app.

Learn The States With Flat Stanley Free - Flatter World, Inc.

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What Time is is Mr. Wolf?

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What Time

What Time is it Mr. Wolf? (by Teacher’s Pet) is FREE for a limited time. Make sure you get the correct one – there is another app by the same name by Joy Preschool. This app features a Wilfred the Wolf who spins the clock on the face of the moon 10 times. Kids have to choose the correct answer and drag it under the moon. The wolf giggles and says “well done” if the answer is correct. The app’s setting allows you to choose what interval of time you would like your child to work on – hours, half hours (half past), quarter hours, 10 minutes, or 5 minutes. Answers can be displayed in words, digitally, or mixed. You can also set the number of answers per question.

The Common Core Standards expect first graders to tell time to the 1/2 hour, second graders to tell time in 5 minute intervals (AM and PM), and third graders to tell time to the minute. So, this app would work well for first and second graders but not third graders. I like that this app includes practice with the words  – half past, quarter after, quarter to. It is a difficult concept for some kids to understand. Nicely done!!

Common Core Standards met:

  • 1.MD.3 – Tell and write time in hours and half-hours using analog and digital clocks.
  • 2.MD.7 – Tell and write time from analog and digital clocks to the nearest five minutes, using a.m. and p.m.

What Time is it Mr. Wolf? - by Teacher's Pet - Teacher's Pet

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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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My Story – Book Maker for Kids

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One of my favorite writing apps – FREE for one day (Dec. 2) only.

My Story – Book Maker for Kids is a great educational writing app for the iPad. The cost is normally $3.99 but it Is currently FREE. Kids can easily create an unlimited number of their own books using this app. Each page has an area for writing and an area for pictures. In the picture area kids can draw their own illustrations, take photos, or use pictures from their photo library. They can also record themselves reading their books. Finalized stories can read directly from the app, be published to iBooks, and/or shared via email with anyone who owns an iPhone or iPad.

Watch the video and learn more about this app here: My Story – Book Maker for Kids.

What a great medium for your child to share his/her life experiences with grandparents and other loved ones – take photos of your day (at the zoo, in the park, etc.) and let your child narrate the experience! The voice recordings remain intact when the book is shared. The words can be typed in after your child has provided the narration so that kids make the connection that the words in books are really just “talk written down.”

In the classroom kids can share their stories with friends through iBooks, write and present digital reports, keep ongoing vocabulary books and/or journals etc.

Highly recommended!!

My Story - Book Maker for Kids - HiDef Web Solutions

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Santa’s Merry Band

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Ho, ho, ho – “Did That Crazy Santa Claus” and 7 more fun tunes!! FREE for a limited time – Santa’s Merry Band, from the creators of Mibblio. Just like Mibblio, this app is an interactive musical/storybook app for kids. Children read the illustrated story-songs called “mibblets” as they listen to the catchy songs. They can also jam along on a wide variety of instruments. The app has a keyboard along the bottom of the screen with a choice of 8 different instruments. They can also use a tambourine or cowbell to tap along to the beat of the song. Kids will enjoy the 8 different Christmas “mibblets” included in this app. Fun for the holidays!!

Download link: https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/santas-merry-band/id738881884?mt=8&uo=4

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The Electric Company Party Game: Lost on Prankster Planet

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electric coFREE – The Electric Company Party Game: Lost on Prankster Planet for the iPad. Marcus and Jessica are stuck on Prankster Planet. Kids help them to escape by completing physical challenges, silly brainstorms, and math questions. Based on the PBS KIDS series, The Electric Company, this digital board game puts kids in teams to add, draw, discuss, think, act, problem solve, and dance their way back to Earth. Some of the academic areas covered include: geometry, addition/subtraction, data analysis/graphing, telling time, and coin recognition/value. Love the idea of a virtual board game – all of the fun without any lost pieces, broken boxes, etc.

The Electric Company Party Game: Lost on Prankster Planet - PBS KIDS