August 2012
The Archives
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08.31.1220 Best iPhone and iPad apps for kids from August 2012We could easily have picked 30 this month, thanks to a flood of high-quality children's apps on iOS. But we've decided to keep this roundup pegged to 20. There's a varied mix, taking in phonics, fairies, frogs, human anatomy, beards of bees, monsters, superheroes and fridges. Something for everyone. Read on for our pick of the month! Continue Reading...
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08.31.12PBS show Daniel Tiger’s Neighborhood gets an iOS appWe felt guilty for not having a clue who Daniel Tiger was, let alone his neighbourhood. Then we found out he's a brand new show on PBS Kids in the US that doesn't start airing until 3 September. That's alright then. It looks good though: an animated tiger whose show aims to teach 2-4 year-olds about "fun and practical strategies and skills necessary for growing and learning". With music. Anyway, there's an app for him. Daniel Tiger’s Neighborhood: Play at Home with Daniel went live on the App Store last night, and is set in the same house featured in the show. ...
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08.31.12Horrible Hauntings promises augmented reality ghosts and ghoulsWhat's more scary than a book about ghosts including The Headless Horseman, Bloody Mary and the Princes in the Tower? How about an app that brings them to life? That would be Horrible Hauntings, which is available now as separate apps for iPhone/iPad and for Android. The twist being that the augmented reality app works with the print version of the book, which comes out in October. The idea: "Scan the pages of the children's book, Horrible Hauntings, to see and interact with 3D ghosts." Children will also be able to interact with the spectres by moving their phone, touching the screen ...
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08.31.12The Smurfs get a hidden-object game for iPhone and iPadOh, The Smurfs. Isn't that revival over yet? We're not big fans. Even so, if YOU are more enthusiastic about those little blue... whatever they are, then The Smurfs Hide & Seek with Brainy may be right up your street, and possibly your child's too. Released by developer Zuuka, it's a hidden-object game that sees you trying to find more than 280 items hidden within 12 screens full of Smurfs. You can zoom in and out to find them, and there's even a cheat option to help when you're stuck. The Smurfs Hide & Seek with Brainy costs £1.99 on the App Store, ...
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08.30.12Wibbly Pig joins Mindshapes’ Magic Town reading worldWe wrote about Magic Town when its iPad app launched in June this year: it's a virtual reading world that charges parents a monthly subscription for unlimited access to digital storybooks. Now those storybooks include Wibbly Pig. Magic Town's developer Mindshapes announced the news this week, having signed a deal with BBC Worldwide, which owns the rights to the popular cartoon pig. He's probably the most famous brand in Magic Town now, with no offence meant to Elmer, Little Princess, Winnie the Witch and other characters who've been there since it launched. Continue Reading...
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08.30.12Night & Day Studios debuts Peekaboo Fridge and Peekaboo FriendsPeekaboo Barn was one of the first hit children's apps, having been released in December 2008 a few months after Apple launched its App Store. Now developer Night & Day Studios is taking its Peekaboo franchise further with two new apps. Peekaboo Fridge is a standalone app based on fruit, vegetables and other foods. Healthy ones: sorry, no deep-fried Mars Bars or Haribo Tangfastics here. It's all about the carrots, eggs, bananas etc. Continue Reading...
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08.30.12Penguin launches Ladybird: I’m Ready for Phonics appAs the parent of a five year-old, phonics remain a thing of wonder to me. One minute, letters are alien beings to my son; the next, he's reading signs left, right and centre, and demanding to know what 'No Smoking' means. Much of his learning comes from square bits of paper with "letter sounds" printed on, supplied by his school. As his geekparent, I'm firmly in the market for a decent phonics app. The problem: there are hundreds of rubbish ones. Perhaps Ladybird: I'm Ready for Phonics is the answer. It comes from a trusted source, Penguin Books, with a £4.99 price ...
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08.30.12Make A Scene apps get Polar and Jungly on iPadThere's a burgeoning genre of 'sticker' apps for iPad, offering children a way to make scenes with characters, and offering parents a chance to NOT have to scrape sticker-goo off the table/walls/ceiling (delete according to adventurousness of children) afterwards. One of the companies making these apps is Innivo with its Make A Scene series, which has two new apps for iPad this week: Make A Scene: Polar Adventure and Make A Scene: Jungle. The settings may be very different, but both apps work in the same way: more than 50 digital stickers to place onto themed backgrounds to, yes, make scenes. Eskimos, ...
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08.30.12Tomo ABC Town gets wordy (and blocky) on iPadSometimes a new children's app appears from nowhere on the App Store and makes us jump for joy. Tomo ABC Town is one of them. Released by developer Thats Junior, the app is described as "a block type interactive and entertaining toy using surrounding objects that kids can relate to". It's free, so we downloaded it to have a look. The main section of the app involves dragging bits of letters from the bottom of the screen to their outlines in the middle. Complete the word, and they're unlocked as "item blocks" on the main screen. Continue Reading...
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08.29.12Dandelion book-app is about beating the bulliesNot literally beating the bullies, obviously. Two wrongs etc etc. Dandelion is a characterful-looking book-app for iPhone and iPad that has bullying as its main theme. "Dandelion is an interactive, magical children's story which encourages kids to use their imagination to ward off bullies as our protagonist, Benjamin Brewster makes his way through 'The School for the Misguided'," explains its App Store listing. "The experience is unlike any other, allowing users to physically blow dandelions from the screen!" Well, there are a fair few apps encouraging kids to blow into the microphone to make things happen, although admittedly this may be the first ...
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