The Archives
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05.17.13CBeebies star Justin Fletcher launches Goldilocks app for kidsJustin Fletcher is one of the most familiar faces in children's entertainment here in the UK, thanks to his CBeebies shows Something Special, Gigglebiz and Justin's House. Now he's launched his first app: Justin's World – Goldilocks and the Three Bears. Released today for iPhone and iPad, it's a retelling of the famous fairytale with a combination of video, animation and interactivity for pre-schoolers. Justin himself provides the videos, telling the story – including getting into character as Goldilocks herself. The interactivity comes with accessible mini-games testing children's counting, sorting, matching and language skills. Continue Reading...
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03.04.1364 Zoo Lane app invites kids to Read Along with Alan"64, 64, 64 Zoo Lane..." If your kids are avid CBeebies viewers, chances are we just put the 64 Zoo Lane theme tune onto your internal jukebox for the rest of the day. Sorry about that... But yes, the 64 Zoo Lane cartoon is fun, with its cheery tales of night-time animals and their friend Lucy. Now there's a book-app based on it, released on iPhone and iPad by Millimages. It tells the tale of Alan the aardvark, with voice narration including the animals themselves. The app is just as much about your child reading the story themself, though, and recording the ...
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12.29.12Rastamouse finally gets an app: Ride da RiddimFrom the moment we clapped eyes on children's TV show Rastamouse, we thought it'd be perfect for apps. Now we'll find out for sure, thanks to the release of Rastamouse: Ride da Riddim. It's an iPhone and iPad game based on the adventures of the crime-fighting cheese-munching mouse and his friends, focusing on his nifty skateboarding skills. "Da likkle orphans are all hungry and Bandulu has run out of cheese," explains its suitably-Rastamousy App Store listing. "So this is your chance to help Da Easy Crew make a bad ting good by collecting as much cheese as possible for Bandulu's famous cheese ...
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11.27.12Cbeebies Magazine App gets a Christmas editionWe were impressed by the CBeebies Magazine App when it was released in September for iPhone and iPad. Now it's getting updated with a second issue. Topically, it's a Christmas edition, complete with a digital advent calendar that's promising new stuff every week between now and 25 December: on the 1st, 8th, 15th and 22nd, to be specific. Okay, no chocolates – you'll need a real-life advent calendar for those – but instead your kids can expect a mixture of digital stickers, colouring, workbooks and a reward chart, as well as stories with favourite CBeebies characters. Continue Reading...
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11.25.12Everything’s Rosie gets Playtime and Bedtime apps for iPadWe'd only just managed to get the Everything's Rosie theme tune off our internal jukeboxes from the last time our kids watched the TV show, and now it's back on there again, spinning around our heads. Why? Because two official Everything's Rosie iPad apps have been released this weekend: Everything's Rosie Playtime App and Everything's Rosie Bedtime App. The Playtime app is a story told by Oakley from the TV show, with animation and sound effects, mazes to explore and a Funny Faces game to indulge your children's creative instincts. Continue Reading...
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11.07.12The Koala Brothers fly onto iPhone and iPadG'day! Children's TV show The Koala Brothers is picking up a following among children well beyond Australia, and now Frank and Buster have their own app. Called simply The Koala Brothers, it's aimed at 3-6 year-olds and serves up a series of 11 mini-games and activities. They include stories, poems, party-planning, parcel-stamping and digital colouring. All the characters from the TV show seem to feature at one point or another, with publisher Immediate Media keen to promote the app's educational value, from literacy and maths to creativity. There's also a parent zone providing information for mums and dads. The Koala Brothers costs £2.99 ...
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10.01.1230 Best Apps for Kids from September 2012 – iPhone and iPadYeah, 30. One for every day in the month. Things were that busy in September, with a blizzard of creative, innovative and engrossing apps for children to write about here on Apps Playground. We've got big names – Toca Boca, Disney, CBeebies, Lego, Winnie the Pooh, Dr Seuss and more – but also some of the best independent children's apps with characters you may not have heard of, but who have great stories to tell, or fun digital play to share. It's been an exciting time, and we're looking forward to bringing you more news, reviews and videos of the best apps ...
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09.17.12CBeebies Magazine (iPhone / iPad review)Our children's love of all things CBeebies (well, most things - sorry Numberjacks) is already well-documented on this site – see our Best CBeebies Apps feature for the proof. They watch the shows, play with the website, and are keen on any apps starring their favourite programmes and characters. So the release of CBeebies Magazine is big news in our household. It's a digital version of the printed magazines that find their way into our real-world shopping trolley on a regular basis, usually due to whatever's stuck to the cover. This being digital, the app will stand or fall on its mixture ...
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09.13.12CBeebies Magazine app available now for iPhone and iPadWe wrote about the BBC's plans to launch a CBeebies Magazine app earlier this month after spotting an ad in one of its magazines. After a short delay, the app is now live here in the UK. "Let your child’s imagination run wild as they develop their literacy, maths and creative skills with over 50 fully interactive puzzles and activities," explains its App Store listing. The app is aimed at 3-6 year-olds, and is based around six 'zones': stickering, colouring, workbook, get moving, story, and reward charts. Characters featured in the first issue include Alphablocks, Bob the Builder, Mister Maker, Waybuloo, Everything's ...
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09.04.12BBC iPlayer app for iPhone and iPad now lets you download showsFellow parents, this is seismic. Well it is if you're in the UK. The BBC has just released version 2.0 of its iPlayer app for iPhone and iPad, with the key new feature being the ability to download shows to your device, rather than having to stream them over the network. Every show you download remains watchable for 30 days on your device, or for seven days after you first hit play. The Guardian reckons that up to 50 hours of shows will fit on a 16GB iPad – although if you've already filled it up with apps, music and other stuff, ...
recent posts
- Justin Fletcher’s Goldilocks app review (iPhone / iPad)
- Wombi offering free apps for kids all this week
- The Jungle Book gets the StoryToys pop-up book-app treatment
- It’s our one thousandth post on Apps Playground!
- Disney’s Where’s My Water? gets a new (female) alligator star
- Bloomsbury launches Pirate and Princess Activity iPad apps
- CBeebies star Justin Fletcher launches Goldilocks app for kids
