We’ve only recently taken the plunge into the app world, much to the joy of our active and inquisitive pre-schooler. She, like most of her friends, loves playing apps, and will happily slog along on our games and applications, but would prefer her own.
Possibly the most basic iPad app, Notes, offers us a lot of possibilities. We’ve made up a number of games that we play with her using Notes. We’ll ask her to identify which letter phonetically comes in the 1st, 2nd, 3rd, etc syllable in a word; sounding out and typing words that rhyme; making up stories with those words, etc. She also loves working with numbers, so we’ve been playing simple games with her that include numbers in Notes, like simple arithmetic, and then she finds the number and types it, or finding all the number 3s or letter As in a string, counting them, adding them together, or adding or subtracting things to them. Basic number play. There’s a lot of simple and educational fooling around that can happen within Notes, once one gets started.
Since joining the iPad app consumption world, I’ve begun asking parents what apps THEY like and which ones hold the interest of their kids. Then we try them out. I’m always interested in finding new apps to challenge my daughter, as she works at an app until she’s mastered the different pieces. We get asked about apps too, especially since I work in the gaming world.
Below are a number that we’ve tried and like. They are not exhaustive. We rotate new ones in and delete others, or place some that I think will come back into play (like Caillou and Daniel Tiger) in a "secret" folder on a later screen of my iPad that Ellie doesn't know about - yet.
I do not get paid to do this. I do not test apps for anyone other than my own family's enjoyment. While I do work in the gaming world, this "app stuff" lives in my personal life.
We rarely spend money on apps. If we can find a great free app, we’re all over it. Sometimes though Mini Mercurio “needs” an app with a specific character in it. Generally we’ve been very satisfied with the paid apps we get, because they come highly recommended by people we trust and admire AND they attempt to do things we’re looking for.
FREE Apps (there are a lot of great free apps out there):
· PBS KIDS and Disney Junior – allows one to watch shows like Daniel Tiger, WordWorld, Caillou, Imagination Movers, etc.
· Pirate School – Also called Never Land. Really awesome game that we like to play together. So well done.
· Peep – there are 4-5 Peep PBS free apps. We especially love Trash Stash and Hide & Peep. These brilliantly teach simple skills like sorting and memory games. I highly recommend them.
· Wheels on the Bus, Bus HD (sometimes paid, but we got it through a free offer) and Jukebox have interactive play with music elements attached.
· Playrific – has free and paid elements. We’ve only used the free stuff. Shows educational videos.
· Doodledots – teaches shapes, colors, fruits, and numbers while making pictures.
· Mickey’s Road Rally – silly fun.
· Elmo ABCs – This is a fun way to play with letters, and incorporates video with the play.
· Sparkle Paint and PaintSparkles – Neat musical sounds while finger painting with sparkly paint. So much fun for a three year old!
· Animal Puzzle, Jigsaw, and other puzzles games – these are super fun puzzle games.
· Winnie….Pooh – Wow. It’s so well constructed and fun too.
· Shape…DFree, Kids ABC-Lite, Sorting 2 – they all do what they say they do. Kids have fun learning these skills.
Paid Apps (because sometimes, while rarely, it’s ok to spend some money):
· Caillou, WordWorld, Umizoomi Carnival HD, Sophia the First, Dora & Boots, Daniel Tiger, Mickey Count Along, Thomas Train Activities, Dora Rhyme, Clifford’s Big Birthday – Cost a lot for the name recognition. They do what they say they will. They are extremely polished and allow children to interact directly with the character's world while still learning some skills.
· Endless ABC – this is a seriously good app for teaching kids larger words and making spelling fun. Humongous, Yodel, Opera, Quarrel and many others are covered. It’s a lot of fun to play together. The letter all make their own sound and you can have spelling forward and backward challenges, etc.
· Reindeer Cam – We got this after Thanksgiving and still check in on the reindeer daily. It’s a lot of fun, especially when we catch Santa’s feeding times.
· iBuild ABC – This is a seriously great app. By making them feel like they’re working with tools, they learn how to construct letters. Awesome skill building.
· Agnitus - This app continuously builds on their learning curve as it expands outward, continuing to challenge them. It also tracks them and can give parents weekly updates on the back end.
· DragonBox – This was actually our first paid app. It came highly recommended from a brilliant family that we know, and watching the father demonstrate it on his iPad was somewhat awe inspiring. This is a bit beyond our pre-schooler. It may be more suited to an elementary school student - or an adult. My daughter could easily do the first few lessons, but then got bored or frustrated. She’ll play it with me and get drawn back in though. I - personally - love this game. Everyone should get it really, whether or not one has children. It's fun, and it teaches quadratic equations in a way that it feels fresh and fun.
Are there other games that I haven’t mentioned? Definitely. Please either leave a comment or send me an email with any we should check out, as we’re always looking for great new content apps to try.
