Tag Archives: apps for kids

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Happi 123 HD – A Math Game by Happi Papi

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This iPad app for 4 – 7 year olds was FREE when I downloaded. It is currently $1.99 but through August 31 the developer is doing a buy one get one free promotion. Happi 123 teaches counting, adding, subtracting, number series, and patterns. The lessons do not have to be done in order so kids can choose what they would like to work on. Each level has practice followed by a puzzle to further reinforce the concept. There is also a combination level where all concepts are mixed and timed. Kids earn badges and disguises for Papi the Tiger as they learn. Several languages are included in the game: English, Swedish, Danish, Norwegian, Italian, German. In the settings, parents can reset the game and disable audio help (which makes the problems more difficult but also less confusing). If the audio help is not disabled, the child has to count the objects at the top of the page in order: top row, left to right followed by bottom row, left to right. Otherwise the counting is not in order and might sound like this: one, two, three, four, five, eight, seven, six. Suggestion for the next update  – make counting the objects (along the top) work like the fingers (along the bottom). The fingers count in order no matter which one is touched first. Nicely done!

Common Core Standards met:

  • K.CC.4 – Understand the relationship between numbers and quantities; connect counting to cardinality. When counting objects, say the number names in the standard order, pairing each object with one and only one number name and each number name with one and only one object. Understand that the last number name said tells the number of objects counted. The number of objects is the same regardless of their arrangement or the order in which they were counted.
  • K.OA.1 – Represent addition and subtraction with objects, fingers, mental images, drawings, sounds, acting out situations, verbal explanations, expressions, or equations.

Happi 123 HD - A Math Game for Kids by Happi Papi - Serendipity

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Kapu Forest HD

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The FULL version of this iPad app for 1 – 4 year olds is FREE today. There are 10 mini toys/animals for kids to play with in the forest. There are no time limits or rules. This app promotes free play in what is billed as a digital toy box. Kids scroll through the forest to find animals to play with. Along the way they hear the sounds of the forest. The app is available in English, Spanish, Russian, German, and Finnish but the only written language in the app is the title/parental  controls. There is no spoken language in the app. Although I like the idea of free play – there are many of opportunities to count things. I wish the developers would add counting (verbally) accompanied by the number symbols & the number words. It would be fun for kids to hear/see numbers in the different languages.

Check it out for FREE today 🙂

Kapu Forest HD - Kapu Toys

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ABC Spelling Magic Short Vowel Words

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This FREE app for the iPhone/iPad concentrates on teaching kids to spell short vowel words with 3 sounds. There are 2 ways to play. Word Jumble provides the  child with the letters of the word and the child puts them in order. Moveable Alphabet has the entire alphabet across the top of the page and the child must find the correct letters to spell the word. If a child touches a picture, the app reads the word. If a child touches a letter, the app gives the sound for that letter. Each vowel is taught in isolation but there is also a shuffle option which provides mixed practice. Vowels are printed in blue and consonants are in red so you can reinforce the CVC (consonant, vowel, consonant) pattern. This app does a nice job with the phonics of short vowel words.

Common Core Standards met:

  • K. RF.3 – Know and apply grade-level phonics and word analysis skills in decoding words. Demonstrate basic knowledge of one-to-one letter-sound correspondences by producing the primary sound or many of the most frequent sounds for each consonant. Associate the short sounds with common spellings (graphemes) for the five major vowels.

Recommended!

ABC SPELLING MAGIC Short Vowel Words - PRESCHOOL UNIVERSITY

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Photo Touch Sight Words

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Photo Touch Sight Words is another FREE app for iPhone/iPad from Grasshopper Apps (see August 3 Rhyming Words review). At its simplest level, it allows you to choose grade level sight words for your child to practice (preschool – grade 3). Kids must touch the word that is read – it starts with 3 word choices and increases in difficulty to 10. What makes this app stand out is the ability to customize it to your child’s needs. You can turn on/off individual words. You can select multiple lists. You edit the words to be read in your child’s voice. There is the ability to add additional cards –  but, making the cards match the programmed cards seems to be a challenge. I emailed customer support to ask about this option and about the source of their sight words lists. I will update this post as I receive more information 🙂

Recommended.

Sight Words by Photo Touch - GrasshopperApps.com

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Virtual Manipulatives

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FREE for the iPad, this app contains math manipulatives for teaching fractions, decimals, and percents. Included are tiles/circles divided into halves, thirds, fourth, fifths, sixths, eighths, tenths, and twelveths AND their corresponding decimals and percentages! The manipulatives are color coded across the settings so that 1/2 is blue as is .50 and 50%. Kids drag tile pieces onto the work area to compare fractions/decimals/percentages. In the settings you can change from tiles to circles, make the pieces transparent, and hide the numbers on the pieces. Completed work can be easily saved to photos. Finding equivalent fractions has never been so slick – WOW!!

Common Core Standards met:

  • 3.NF.3 – Explain equivalence of fractions in special cases, and compare fractions by reasoning about their size. Understand two fractions as equivalent (equal) if they are the same size, or the same point on a number line.
  • 4.NF.1 – Explain why a fraction a/b is equivalent to a fraction (n × a)/(n × b) by using visual fraction models, with attention to how the number and size of the parts differ even though the two fractions themselves are the same size. Use this principle to recognize and generate equivalent fractions.

Highly Recommended!

Virtual Manipulatives! - ABCya.com

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Chalkboard Math

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This FREE app for iPhone/iPad Helps kids practice their basic facts for addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division. First kids choose numbers (1-12) to work with, then the math operation/operations. The app generates practice in 2 modes: answer mode (enter the answers & get feedback) or flashcard mode (answer verbally then check). The game has no built-in sounds but there is positive reinforcement written at the top of the page. If a child misses a problem, it shows the correct answer. What I really like about this app is the ability to choose specific numbers to work on. Facts can be practiced in the order they are taught. I also like the ability to choose more than one operation to practice – it makes kids pay attention to the signs of operation and see the relationships between operations. This app is simple but effective – if you loaded this app on your iPhone, kids could easily practice flashcards on their way to after school lessons 🙂

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.

Recommended!

Chalkboard Math - 22nd Century Software LLC

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Princess Piano

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FREE today, this app for the iPhone/iPad usually costs $1.99. Kids help Princess Piano dance her way back to the Cloud Kingdom by playing the songs on the piano as well as they can. The app introduces musical notation one note at a time (starting with c,d,e….) as well as the timing of notes (quarter notes, half notes). Kids are given practice as each new note/concept is taught. There are three modes of difficulty: beginner (keys flash, key/notes are labeled, 60% or better to advance), advanced (keys labeled, 80% or better to advance) and virtuoso (90% or better to advance). As kids advance through the levels they unlock outfits for Princess Piano – which they can use in “Dressing Room.” There is also a “Song Maker” tool for kids to compose their own music. This app is a great introduction to reading music!

Highly Recommended!

Princess Piano - Dented Pixel

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Farm School

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FREE today – Farm School for the iPhone/iPad. Toddlers will learn to identify 12 different animals: pig, cow, sheep, goat, hen, rooster, duck, goose, dog, hedgehog, bee, & wolf. Kids are asked to choose the correct animal (5 choices). If they choose correctly, they get to hear the animal’s sound and see the word written. After getting three correct, kids match animals to their shadows. Another activities in the app include: finding hidden animals, counting cakes, catching apples, & touching wolves to protect the sheep. Simple to use for young learners!

Farm School - Yateland

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Easy Board

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This iPad app is currently FREE but usually sells for $.99. It turns your iPad into a whiteboard with 8 colored markers. Kids can show their work without the messiness of mini-whiteboards, markers, & erasers. Also included are 35 “magnets” offering visual supports with phrases like: help, question, sit down, thirsty, restroom, list, write, etc.  This app could be very useful in any classroom – especially with special needs kids who could benefit from the structure and visual supports. It would be even better if kids could save their work to share with others AND if teachers/students could create/customize their own magnets.

Recommended!

Easy Board - Red Ape Mobile

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Jake’s Never Land Pirate School

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Ahoy Matey! This app for the iPhone/iPad is FREE from Disney. Kids 3+  join Jake and his crew (from Never Land Pirates TV) for pirate classes which include sailing, pirate band, map & spyglass, and pixie dust. In pirate school, kids practice listening & following directions, counting, tracing shapes, and more. You can import your child’s picture and create a pirate – very cute!  Kids can keep track of the levels they have completed and the badges they have earned in the Captain’s Log. This is a fun app  – especially for young fans of the show!

Recommended!

Jake's Never Land Pirate School - Disney