The Archives
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05.24.13Dot-to-Dot Adventure on iPad lets kids of all ages get puzzlySomething we often wonder: why aren't there more good dot-to-dot apps for children? Touchscreens are very suitable for the idea of tracing lines from one point to the next, after all. Developer GiggleUp is trying to plug the gap with its latest release, Dot-to-Dot Adventure. It includes 35 interactive dot-to-dot puzzles with a range of characters and objects to reveal, but it also throws in some educational ideas. "Learn about numbers - progress from traditional counting to skip counting in multiples of 2 to 12," explains its App Store listing. "All about letters - know the alphabet inside and out by practising ...
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05.23.13Wubbzy’s ABC Learn & Play app gets alphabeticalWe're losing count of the number of apps available based on children's TV character Wubbzy. Now developer Cupcake Digital has released its latest effort: Wubbzy's ABC Learn & Play. The title gives a big clue about the content: pre-school literacy skills. Or, as they describe it: "An alphabet teaching adventure that promotes the fundamentals of reading and writing in three entertaining ways". The three: tracing the letters of the alphabet; playing letter-related mini-games; and playing with creative colouring pages and music videos, all based on Wubbzy and friends. Continue Reading...
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05.13.13My First 101 Words app uses video to teach words to toddlersWatching a toddler expand their vocabulary day-by-day is a wonderful thing – especially given that every new word learned is a new word that's not "No. Nonono. NO!" My First 101 Words is a marvellous idea: an app designed to teach toddlers 101 words, but using video and actions rather than just letters and voice narration, as many of apps of its type do. It stars a boy called Abe and a girl called Myrelle, who act out the 101 words with appropriate objects, with the words also displayed on-screen as writing. The design is kept clean and simple, so there are ...
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05.13.13Grr! Kids get alphabetical with the Alphabeasties iPad appWe could probably run a standalone website just about alphabet-animal apps, since there are so many available. Alphabeasties is the latest, and thankfully it's got much to recommend it. Based on a book of the same name, this offers 26 beasties – one for each letter of the alphabet – with activities, digital colouring, dot-to-dot and stickers to ensure 3-6 year-olds have fun while practising their letters. What we like about Alphabeasties is its strong typographical element – see the elephant made of E's (and e's – the app covers lower and upper case) in the image above for an example. Alphabeasties costs ...
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04.22.13Meet Wombi Apps’ Shape, Letter and Number MonstersBack in 2011, Swedish developer Wombi Apps launched a fun educational app called Color Monster, featuring a friendly beast teaching children their colours. Now, in 2013, he's got some friends. Wombi has launched three new apps in the series: Shape Monster, Number Monster and Letter Monster. You can probably tell what they're each teaching from the titles. Shape Monster is a chef, who tells children what shape foodstuffs he wants them to pass him from the bottom of the screen. Circles, diamonds and even hexagons are among the tasty treats. It's currently free for iPhone and iPad, and free for Android. Continue ...
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04.02.13Set sail with the Tomo Seaport app for iPhone and iPadThe marvellous Tomo ABC Town remains one of our favourite children's apps from 2012, so we're pleased to see a new app from its developer Thats Junior. The app is called Tomo Seaport, and it wants to get children exploring a colourful seaport populated by penguins, sharks, walruses and a jellyfish rock'n'roll band. The main gameplay involves dragging letters of the alphabet into suitably-naval words: anchor, crane, ship and so on. For every five words completed, a new character or item is unlocked for the main seaport scene, where everything can be tapped on to get animations and sounds. Continue Reading...
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03.12.13Macrophonics free phonic alphabet app for iPad is sure to raise a giggle or twoWe have to admit that we hadn’t heard of the animated short film MACROPOLIS until we spotted this free app, Macrophonics, on the App Store. We’re sorry we missed it - the film, shot on the streets of Belfast, won the Best Animation award at the 2013 Irish Film and Television Awards. Now the stars of the film, CAT and DOG, feature in this new app, helping to introduce kids to the phonic alphabet. First, tap the screen to choose a letter. Tap the letter and the word to hear how they sound, then tap to see a short, stop-motion animated skit ...
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02.28.13Alphabet Animals: A Slide and Peek Adventure brings ABCs to life on iPadBased on Suse McDonald’s book of the same name, Alphabet Animals: A Slide and Peek Adventure is a beautiful book-app from Auryn, with gorgeous illustrations. Covering the full alphabet from Alligator to Zebra, your child can ‘pull the card' to reveal the letter and make the animal move, and tap each image to hear the animal and letter name. The added features on the app are accompanying music (which you can choose to mute) and a game where your child can spell out their own name using the animal pictures. We think this app is best suited to younger children who are just ...
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02.07.13Endless Alphabet might just be our favourite ABC kids’ app everWe wrote about iOS app Endless Alphabet when it came out last month. Since then, our two children have been hammering it on our iPad, so we thought we'd write about it again. It deserves it. As we said then, the app is published by Callaway Digital Arts, and features a bunch of colourful monsters teaching phonics and words, with a different word for every letter of the alphabet. They're not the obvious ones either: Bellow, Hilarious, Juggle, Portrait, Rainstorm and Yodel are all in there. The main activity involves dragging individual letters into place in each word, with the fun being that ...
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02.07.13Faces iMake – ABC gets wordy on iPadFun fact: An app called Faces iMake was the subject of the third ever article on Apps Playground, back in September 2010. Now it's got a sequel, of sorts, called Faces iMake - ABC. Released today by developer iMagine Machine, it's an educational app focused on, yes, the alphabet. It has a word for every letter, with illustrative pictures made from household objects: plates, bananas, balls of wool, eggs etc. Every time your child plays, the objects get scattered – it's their job to put them back together again by dragging and dropping them into place. All this, accompanied by what sounds ...
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- 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
