December 2011
The Archives
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12.22.11My Day With WH Words app aims to help children with autismSomething that's been under-reported in 2011 is the way apps are becoming an important resource for parents of children with autism and other special needs, especially when they act as a tool to help those children develop their communication skills. My Day With WH Words is the latest example. It's available for iPhone and iPad (and Android too), and is described as "a social story and speech tool for autism, Down Syndrome and other special needs" on the App Store. "My Day with WH Words includes a social story about talking about one’s day, and a simple visual support for 'WH' ...
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12.22.11Tap A Tune teaches your kids to play music… with animals!I've seen the noise my cat makes when whacked on the head by a small child. It's not musical. Thankfully, the physical contact in Mindshapes' new app Tap A Tune is entirely virtual. It sounds better too. The app aims to get your children playing nursery rhymes and Christmas carols by tapping a selection of animals, learning about rhythms and different instruments as they go. The animals pop up at the right time for their note, so kids aren't expected to be musical geniuses. The instruments include piano, accordion, clarinet, guitar and traditional animal noises – judging by our sons' glee at ...
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12.19.11Gone Wishing is a beautiful iPad storybook appThere are lots of big children's brands jostling for attention on iPhone and iPad, but one of the things we love about the App Store is the way other apps appear from nowhere, bursting with creativity and attention to detail. Gone Wishing is the latest. It's a book-app by Slovenian company Fi Production with a storyline about "a tiny genie with a giant secret". Cue a fantasy world that's beautifully realised with illustrations, animation and interactivity. Not to mention virtual drums and trumpets - always guaranteed to go down well with children. We think they'll connect with the character of Jacob, a ...
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12.18.11Karaoke kid-apps for Twinkle Twinkle and Old MacDonaldKids love to sing songs, and adults love to hear them do it, bar the odd hungover morning when the sound of your toddler belting out Jingle Bells is not what the doctor ordered. Now there's a new series of apps that aim to turn popular nursery rhymes into karaoke for kids. They're called Nursery Rhyme Karaoke, and two are available so far: Twinkle Twinkle and Old MacDonald. The idea: sing along to the songs, while tapping on the farm / sky scenes to find interactive elements. Oh, and you can record your singing to play back to yourselves too. Both apps ...
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12.18.11Collins Big Cat apps help your child create their own storiesHere's something we feel strongly about: iPads shouldn't just be devices children read on: they should be devices that they do on. Apps can stimulate their creativity, not just hone their reading skills. Two new iPad apps from Collins Education are right up our alley in this respect. Collins Big Cat: Around the World Story Creator and Collins Big Cat: It Was a Cold, Dark Night Story Creator are pricey - £7.99 each - but push all the right creative buttons. On one level, they're both book-apps. Around The World follows two children to India, Africa and China, while It Was a ...
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12.18.11The Tale of Peter Rabbit gets an official book-appThere are, it's fair to say, a few Peter Rabbit apps floating about on Apple's App Store. Publisher Penguin has released an official version though, which is the one Beatrix Potter fans will want to go for. On one level, the publisher has kept absolutely faithful to the original book: a literal replica of the pages, complete with its instantly recognisable illustrations. Turn the pages and read the story - or have it read to you by narrator Rosemary Leach. That's not to say there aren't any appy extras. There are four interactive scenes to explore: Peter's burrow, Mr McGregor's toolshed, the ...
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12.18.11Grimm’s Hansel and Gretel pop up for a new iOS book-appIrish company Ideal Binary's background is in console games, but their focus nowadays is on using their skills to make fun, interactive book-apps for iPhone and iPad. The latest in their series of apps based on the Grimm Brothers' fairy tales is Hansel and Gretel. For 39 pages, it's a digital book, albeit a beautifully presented one. However, 11 double-pages open up to reveal pop-up scenes with characters to tap on and quick mini-games based on the storyline. Swiping and tilting lets you take a look at these 3D scenes from different angles, too. Your child can choose to be read the ...
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12.18.11Paddington Bear gets his sticky paws on iPad and iPhonePaddington Bear has a special place in our family, since the books were some of the first we read to both our children at bedtime, in the days before they were old enough to want to read and look themselves. Now there's an official Paddington Bear app for iOS from HarperCollins. The story will be familiar from Michael Bond's original book, as will the illustrations, which have been faithfully recreated with a pinch of animation to update them for the apps world. Two very modern features stand out. First, you can record your own video reading of the story, or indeed readings. ...
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12.18.11Toca Kitchen lets your kids get virtual with their cookingOur two year-old has just got into saucepans. Literally, sometimes: he puts a big one on the floor, steps into it and then jumps out onto the nearest rug, beanbag or brother. But he also enjoys pouring his bag of plastic vegetables in and pretending to cook. No wonder he loves Toca Kitchen. It's the latest release from Swedish developer Toca Boca, whose apps have kept children around the world captivated in 2011. In this one, you're cooking food for four characters: a man, a woman, a cat and something we thought was a horse until we re-read the app description and ...
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12.18.11Bizzy Bear on the Farm offers animal antics on iPhone and iPadIf we had to pick our very favourite book-app of 2011, Nosy Crow's Cinderella would be a strong front-runner. Now the company has followed it up with an app based on an existing 'board book' series. Bizzy Bear on the Farm is a new story that involves helping Bizzy look after a farm, taking care of various chores. They include picking apples, collecting eggs, feeding pigs and chicks, exercising a horse, and driving a tractor. It's aimed at 2-4 year-olds, with the idea being that they use the app alongside you. It has the now-standard choice of a mode with voice narration, ...
recent posts
- Jörgits is an iPad sci-fi storybook for kids about global warming
- Dot-to-Dot Adventure on iPad lets kids of all ages get puzzly
- Symmetry School iPad app teaches geometry to kids
- Ben & Holly’s Little Kingdom brings Magic School to iOS
- Disney’s Perry gets new Where’s My Summer? mobile game
- Five iPad apps trying to teach programming skills to kids
- Wubbzy’s ABC Learn & Play app gets alphabetical
