Tag Archives: apps for kids

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ClassDojo

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ClassDojo is a tool that helps teachers improve classroom behaviors. It is currently FREE because it is in beta form. It works with a smartphone, a laptop, or a tablet. Every student in your class gets their own cute little monster avatar. Kids earn points for positive behaviors and lose points for negative behaviors. As you use it, it automatically logs any data that you input. This data can be used to generate behavior reports to share with parents and administrators. It is very easy to set up and it is fully customizable – you can delete behaviors from the original list and add your own behaviors.Teachers are using it in different ways: to give feedback in real-time, to track behavior, and to generate reports.

If I were still in the classroom, I would enter my class list twice – once for data on work/study habits and the other for data on behaviors. I would make my habits/behaviors match exactly what was on my report cards. Then as I used the app, I would also be gathering data for my report cards. At the end of the grading period, I would just print out the date and enter it on the report cards – how easy!  I would also have the data (in a printed report) to be able to back up any grade on the card.  “As you can see Mrs. Doe, Jane only turned in her homework 56% of the time.”  Instant data would also be available for the RTI process, IEPs or any other team meeting on a child. Wow !!!!

Check out the website for more information: www.classdojo.com

Highly recommended !!

ClassDojo - Class Twist Inc

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Bean Bag Kids present Little Red Riding Hood

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FREE for a limited time – an interactive fairy tale for the iPhone/iPad. Read along with this classic tale presented as a play by the Bean Bag Kids. Tapping the 3D characters, makes them act even better. The app has 3 modes – read to me, read alone or autoplay. Words are highlighted as the story is read so children can read along. Children collect hidden stars on each page to unlock the Bean Bag Kids’ bios. There are also simple 6 piece puzzles at the end of the play. One minor concern that I have is that the font may be difficult to read for little ones. Other than that, it’s definitely cute and worth downloading 🙂

Bean Bag Kids present Little Red Riding Hood - Mundomono

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Starring You StoryBooks

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JibJab has been around since 1999. During the 2004 presidential election their Flash movie, This Land, featured George Bush and John Kerry singing a parody of the Woodie Guthrie song, This Land is Your Land. It became a huge success, received millions of hits, and was featured on several major news channels. The company has continued to make videos but added a commercial site several years ago where you can find 1000+ Make & Share eCards and 500+Starring You videos. Their videos are made for adults so you will want to use the app for your kids rather than explore the website.

Four days ago, JibJab expanded into the children’s market with StoryBots. The initial launch included 5 products – one of them is a FREE iPad app that lets parents make their child the star of an animated book. The Starring You StoryBooks app is replacing JibJab Junior app that I reviewed on August 9. It is very easy to use. Just choose a picture of your child from the photo library, Facebook, or take one with your camera. Place your child’s face in the opening, adjust it to fit the space, and then add his/her name. Make sure you choose the correct gender so that the pronouns are correct. If you have more than one child, you can create books starring each of them. The book has animations on each page. There is not a read along option because your child’s name is inserted in the text. The first book, Dancin’ Feet, is free. After that you may purchase individual books ($7.99) or join the book of the month club ($3.99 a month until you cancel with additional books only $1.99 each). I have been a fan of JibJab for years so I am VERY excited to see them come out with products for kids – fun stuff!!

Learn more here: http://www.jibjab.com/kids

Check out the FREE preview of Monster Games which would be a cute Halloween gift for your child 🙂

Highly Recommended!

Starring You StoryBooks - JibJab Media Inc.

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i Learn With Poko: Fun Counting & Addition

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Toddlers and preschoolers (ages 3 – 6) learn how to count and add numbers with this app for the iPhone/iPad. There are 3 games included: Bowling (counting & adding to 6), Building Blocks (adding to 10), and Poko’s Toys (add toys up to 15). Each game is divided into 3 levels of increasing difficulty. All i Learn With apps have the option for children to register so that they can earn rewards to play with on Planet Boing (a FREE central app that goes with the i Learn With series). Registration also allows parents to track their child’s progress. Detailed reports are generated telling parents the number of attempts for each game as well as the rate of success. The report also allows a parent to compare their child’s progress with other children of the same age. The i LearnWith program is brought to you by the developers of PBS KIDS PLAY and CBC Wonderworld online learning programs.

Common Core Standards met:

  • K.OA.2  – Add and subtract within 10, e.g., by using objects or drawings to represent the problem.

This app is currently $1.99. Keep reading my blog to find out when it is offered for FREE.

Recommended.

i Learn With Poko: Fun Counting and Addition! - Tribal Nova

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Super Stretch Yoga

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FREE today – This app for the iPhone/iPad was designed & created to teach 12 yoga poses to kids but the content can be used by everyone. Each lesson begins with an animated explanation of a pose by one of Super Stretch’s animal friends. Kids learn how movement and breathing make every day balanced. Following the explanation of each pose is a video clip of actual children demonstrating that pose so kids can see what it looks like. Once a child has gone through the 12 poses, he/she gets to share a favorite pose in a Super Stretch team photo. Kids are encouraged to “make NAMASTE part of their day” as they learn to find a balance in their lives. The Adventures of Super Stretch Code of Ethics uses NAMASTE is an acrostic for Nothing is impossible. Always be honest. Make the world a better place. Act with kindness. Share with others. Trust and belief in yourself. Enjoy and have fun. – what a fantastic message!  And… kids learn a healthy way to calm down & relieve stress while building self-awareness, self-esteem & respect for others. Wow!!

More and more teachers are bringing yoga into the schools because of its physical and emotional benefits. This app would be great to use on the Smartboard with the entire class.

Highly Recommended !

Super Stretch Yoga HD - The Adventures of Super Stretch, LLC English version          Super Stretch Yoga Spanish HD - The Adventures of Super Stretch, LLC Spanish version

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Submarine Math Race

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Submarine Math Race is FREE for a limited time. Kids can practice the 4 basic operations – addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division by racing their submarine against various sea animals. There are two modes in this app – play and practice. In the practice mode you can choose the operation and level of difficulty. The child taps the answer to advance the submarine and win the race. After completing 10 problems, a score is given followed by number right vs number wrong (which was not always accurate). Then there is the “try again” screen – sometimes that came up instead of number right vs number wrong, sometimes it came up instead of advancing to the next level of the game or as a new level was supposed to begin. Also, the app is connected to the Game Center so it constantly reminds you to log in – whether you want to or not. I had lots of problems using this app so I cannot recommend downloading at this time.

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Kids Fun for iPhone/Kids Fun for iPad

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There are 70+ activities for your preschooler (ages 2 – 6) in this app for the iPhone or iPad – jigsaw puzzles, matching, coloring,hide-and-seek, dot-to-dot, find the differences, stickers, mixed-up animals, animal sounds, and a section which requires matching an animal with its baby, shadow, diet, or where it lives. The application is very intuitive & easy to use. It can be used by kids all over the world because it contains no words. Connections to Twitter, Facebook and email are included in order to share the coloring and the mixed-up animals pages. Personally, I don’t think it’s necessary for these connections to be built into kids’ apps. If the app permits the child’s work  to be saved into photos, that is all that is really necessary. Then the work can be emailed, messaged, tweeted, printed, posted for Facebook, etc. That being said, this is a nicely done app with lots of fun, educational activities about animals.

The iPhone version of this app is currently FREE. The iPad version costs $3.99.

Kids Fun for iPhone - toomanyscreens FREE for iPhone                      Kids Fun for iPad - toomanyscreens for iPad

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My First Riddle Book

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Answer: the cheetah 🙂

This 36 page riddle book for the iPhone/iPad is FREE today, Sept. 26. It is colorfully illustrated with child-like drawings. All riddles are kid-appropriate. There are two modes – read to me or read to myself. There is also the option of recording your own voice as you read. I have always liked using riddles with kids. They involve clever word play and make kids think “outside the box” to solve them. Riddles require kids to think about how things are connected or how words can be used in different ways. Kids also have to be familiar with figures of speech to appreciate many riddles. When kids are about eight or nine years old, they begin to understand & appreciate the humor in riddles. And…. they love the corny fun!

Thinking and fun combined – recommended!

My First Riddle Book - Fun Classic Riddles for Kids - Brave Tomatoes

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Jellytoons Birthday Countdown

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FREE for a limited time for the iPhone/iPad– Jellytoons Birthday Countdown is 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 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 app  – a prequel to Jellytoons: Bobo’s Birthday Challenge (see review Sept. 16).

Jellytoons Birthday Countdown - Mindshapes Limited

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Geoboard by Math Learning Center

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From The Math Learning Center (a nonprofit organization dedicated to K – 12 education) comes this FREE app that turns your iPhone/iPad into a virtual geoboard. Geoboards can be used as tools to teach mathematical concepts such as polygons, perimeter, area, line segments, angles, congruent shapes, symmetry, fractions, etc. Shapes are created by stretching bands on the geoboard’s pegs. There are 5 colors of bands in the iPhone version and 8 in the iPad version. There is also a tool to fill in shapes. On the iPad version, you can switch from the standard 25 peg board to a 150 peg board to create more complex shapes. This is a great app with the potential to be used in so many ways.

Highly recommended for your virtual math tool kit!

Check out my August 12 review of Virtual Manipulatives for another great app to add to your virtual math tool kit.

Geoboard, by The Math Learning Center - Clarity Innovations