Tag Archives: iPad apps for kids

iOS 7 seems to have made looking for iPad apps for kids a bit easier. There’s now a dedicated, and permanent looking, section for Kids apps right off the App Store’s main Featured page.

The section is featured this week, and can also be seen by tapping on More on the Featured page’s top navigation bar.

The new Kids section covers a lot of ground. You can browse by age group, by brand (eg Disney, PBS, and others), and by quick links. Quick links and featured collections on the Kids page include Interactive Kids Stories, Learning Made Fun, Explore the World, and more.

Apps in the section are pulled from a good range of categories – with Education, Books, and Entertainment featuring heavily.

The iPad has always offered a great array of apps for kids of all ages, and it’s good to see the latest version of iOS is helping to make them easier to discover.

Education, iPad App Reviews

Tidy Kids for iPad: Nice New Kids & Family App that Might Even Reduce Screen Time

September 3, 2013 Patrick Jordan 1 Comment

I don’t usually agree to look at apps that are aimed at very young kids, because my daughter is 10 (going on 30 in some ways, and spot on at 10 in others) and I don’t feel like I can give them a fair assessment.

Today I made an exception because Tidy Kids just seems like such a nice idea for an iPad app aimed at 3-6 year olds and families. It’s an app that’s fun, educational, has no ads or In-App purchases, and actually encourages time away from the device screen as the major part of the game.

Oh, and it’s got some stunning plasticine graphics and stop-motion animation too. Even though I’ve got no 3-6 year olds in the house, having spent 30 minutes with the app I’d bet this is going to have great appeal with that age group and their parents.

Continue reading →

Books, iPad App Reviews

Review: A Fact Every Day – 365 Fun Facts for Kids, for iPad

May 14, 2012 Patrick Jordan

A Fact Every Day – 365 Fun Facts for Kids is a simple and entertaining iPad app. As the name suggests, it offers up an interesting fact for each day of the year – and every day a new fact page is unveiled in the app.

The topics covered by the daily facts include animals, nature, people, history, and more. The app’s interface is very basic and intuitive – it should be easy to navigate for even very young children.

Each day’s fact is given a full page to itself. The fact is read out loud, stated in a way that’s easy to understand, and accompanied by an illustration.

Continue reading →

Books, iPad App Reviews

iPad Books for Kids: Cinderella by Nosy Crow

February 22, 2012 Patrick Jordan

Cinderella – Nosy Crow animated picture book is one of many iPad versions of the classic story of Cinderella. In fact, a search for Cinderella in the iPad App Store yields 178 results. Nosy Crow’s version has won much critical acclaim and numerous awards – here’s its App Store page intro:

Created in HD especially for iPad.
Nosy Crow’s Cinderella app lets you play inside the story. Beautiful illustrations, exciting animation, and original music make this a picture book app at its best.

My 8 year old daughter had a couple days off school recently and we spent a lot of time with iPad apps. This one sounded very promising, so we took a look at it the other day.

Continue reading →

iPad Apps for The Little Ones

iPad Apps for The Little Ones – Dr. Seuss Band

December 13, 2011 The Moiderer

This week I was given a code for a new app in the Dr Seuss series for iOS, Dr. Seuss Band.

My daughter has The Cat in the Hat as her favourite film right now. She will watch it a couple of times in a row and laugh often. This means that when I get the opportunity to review the Dr Seuss apps these days I jump at it.

Most of them are book based apps which are ok but of limited interest to the little one. But this week I got a new type of app that is a musical app. It works a bit like Guitar Hero, where you press buttons in time to coloured bars moving down the screen.

Here are some of its notable features:

• 2 Ways to Play – Go for high scores in the Music Game or use Free Play to compose your own tunes.
• 10 Original Songs – Play along with the soundtrack from The Cat in the Hat, Green Eggs and Ham, Dr. Seuss’s ABCs, Hop on Pop and more!
• 5 Unique Horn Instruments – Play Seussian versions of the Trumpet, French Horn, Clarinet, Trombone and Flute.
• 10 Crazy Horn Effects – Customize the sound of your horn by adding fun effects like a Fish Bowl, Train Whistle, Reverb and more!

Continue reading →

Books, iPad App Reviews

Quick Look – Another Monster at the End of This Book for iPad

November 27, 2011 Patrick Jordan 2 Comments

Another Monster at the End of This Book – Starring Grover and Elmo is the sequel to the excellent ‘The Monster at the End of This Book’ eBook for iPad and iOS. My 8 year old daughter and I are big fans of the original (it made her laugh tons) so as soon as I heard about this sequel from the publishers, Callaway Digital Arts, I gladly snapped up a promo code for it.

The theme of the first book, which starred Grover from Sesame Street, was that Grover was terrified of the monster at the end of the book – and did his absolute best to stop you from turning the pages to get to the end. For younger readers and listeners the tension builds a little as you get to the end and discover a very happy ending with the reveal that the ‘monster’ is Grover himself.

In Another Monster at the End of This Book Grover is joined by Elmo to add to the fun. Grover is still worried sick about reaching the end of the book and the monster waiting there, while Elmo is gung-ho to get there.

Continue reading →

General, iPad Apps for The Little Ones

iPad Apps for The Little Ones: Punflay Apps

October 3, 2011 The Moiderer 1 Comment

I have been chatting to @punflaykids on Twitter for a while now. We often say good morning to each other (despite being in different parts of the world) and have a little chat.

Then one day I did a review for this site and updated my own list of recommended apps on my blog and Punflay tweeted me to say “Oh, you review iPad apps, do you fancy looking at some of ours”

“Sure” I answered and headed off to their website to check out what they had.

Wow. These guys really have a lot of very interesting looking apps. I immediately went back with a shopping list of apps for the little one and they sent me a few codes.

Let me just start by saying that these apps are brilliant. They are very close to Duck Duck Moose in being the best apps I have seen for my daughter. She has not stopped playing them since I downloaded them. The thing I love is that, as well as being fun, they are very educational, covering spelling, numbers, shapes, rhyming and spacial concepts like up and down. Within each app there are also different levels so the little one is able to do some fun games (spotting shapes, joining the dots by selecting the next number in sequence, up and down) but some will require her to be a little older (find the rhyming words).

Continue reading →

iPad Apps

iPad Show & Tell: My “Family’ Folder

September 26, 2011 Patrick Jordan 2 Comments

Recently on Google+ I mentioned my Family folder on my iPad, when talking about an app – and since then I’ve had a couple people ask about what apps are in that folder. So in the spirit of show and tell, I thought it might be fun to share what’s in a few of my most-used folders on the iPad, starting with the Family folder.

I’ve got an 8 year old daughter who enjoys iPad and iOS apps quite a bit – so this folder is really dedicated to apps that she enjoys and that she and I and her mom can enjoy together. The contents change often (although some big favorites stick around) and I’ve often got multiple family folders, but right now this is the only one on my iPad 2.

Anyway, here’s a rundown of what is in my Family folder today, in the order that they’ve been auto-arranged within the folder:

Britannica Kids: Dinosaurs: a very good and fun dinosaur reference app. It’s got lots of good facts and figures about dinosaurs, and high quality pictures and videos as well. There are also maps and jigsaw puzzles and plenty of fun elements.

iTunes link – Price: $4.99

Continue reading →

iPad Apps for The Little Ones

Quick Look – Little Farmer for iPad

September 25, 2011 The Moiderer 3 Comments

This is a very simple app that I think might rely a little too much on the pretty hand drawn graphics to sell itself.

Essentially there are two options. One to review the animals and one to pick the correct one out of either 2 or 3 pictures.

Continue reading →

Books, iPad App Reviews

Quick Look: JibJab Jr. for iPad

September 14, 2011 Patrick Jordan 1 Comment

When the guys from JibJab approached me recently to let me know they had released an iPad app I couldn’t wait to try it out. JibJab are deservedly famous and lauded for their excellent satirical animated videos, and now their range of funny animated eCards.

Their iPad app is JibJab Jr. – a storybook app that lets you put your own photos into the face of the lead character in each story. So your kiddo can be the protagonist if you like. Here’s a bit of the App Store page intro for the app:

With JibJab Jr. Books, you can make your child the STAR of the show. In just a few simple swipes, you can create personalized storybooks that feature your child’s face and name. Your child will be enthralled by the great stories, colorful art, and awesome animations in every JibJab Jr. book. Our mission is to enhance the special wind-down time you spend with your child sharing stories at bedtime. So download the app, turn out the lights and take your child on a personalized journey unlike anything they’ve ever experienced before!

Continue reading →

Books, iPad App Reviews

Quick Look: National Geographic’s Weird But True for iPad

September 8, 2011 Patrick Jordan

Weird But True is the latest new iPad / iOS app from National Geographic Kids. It’s based on a popular section in National Geographic Kids magazine and books.

The premise of the app is a simple one, and the interface is basic and easy for all ages to use. It presents over 300 weird but true, and kid friendly, facts. You just swipe or shake the iPad to see a new weird but true page.

Continue reading →