The Archives
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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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05.23.13Grimm’s Bookshelf app offers playable fairytale demos for childrenWe've written about many of the fairytale storybook-apps from publisher StoryToys, most recently its pop-up take on The Jungle Book. Now it's bringing them all together in one app. It's called Grimm's Bookshelf, and is pitched as a way for parents and children to sample all of StoryToys' apps in one place, playing a free game from each storybook, buying apps that they like the look of, and launching every StoryToys app that they own from within the app too. The company says it'll use the Bookshelf app to let parents know about promotions, discounts and new/future apps as well. The games ...
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05.23.13Disney Junior Appisodes brings TV shows to iPhone and iPadThere are dozens of Disney apps available for iPhone and iPad, many of them games or storybooks. The latest one, Disney Junior Appisodes, is much more about TV shows. Aimed at pre-school children, the app brings full-length episodes of shows on the Disney Junior channel to iOS devices, offering mini-games and interactivity around them. The app includes one episode for free: Mickey Mouse Clubhouse Road Rally, with others available as in-app purchases for £2.99 apiece. Initially, that includes Mickey Mouse Clubhouse – Mickey and Donald Have a Farm and two Jake and the Never Land Pirates episodes: Hide the Hideout and Captain Hook's ...
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05.22.13PetitRocket Mission to Mars app blasts off on iPhonePerhaps by the time our children are grown up, they'll be able to travel to Mars for their holidays on passenger-spaceships. For now, they'll have to make do with iPhone app PetitRocket Mission to Mars. It's a fun, well-crafted app that starts by taking a photograph of your child using the iPhone's front-facing camera, thus making them the astronaut peering out of the app's little orange rocket. It then blasts off, and they steer it to Mars by tilting the device left and right to follow a dotted line – with no penalty for doing it wrong, which is an important touch ...
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05.22.13Video: Justin Fletcher’s Goldilocks and the Three Bears appWe reviewed Justin's World – Goldilocks and the Three Bears earlier this month. It's the first app by CBeebies star Justin Fletcher, released for iPhone and iPad. Here's our video review so you can see the app in action, with its combination of video and interactive scenes to tell the famous fairytale. What do you think of it? Let us know by posting a comment.
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05.22.13Little Rooster book-app gets ‘experimental’ on iPad and AndroidIt sounds like MOME TechLab in Hungary has been looking at as many children's book-apps as we have. Their aim, though, has been to use that knowledge to make their own. "After having analysed dozens of interactive book titles in the app stores, we prepared for 6-8 year old kids an interactive version of a well-known Hungarian folk tale, published by László Arany," explains the app store listing for the result: Little Rooster and his Diamond Halfpenny. Released for iPad and Android, it's described as an "experimental interactive book" with highlighted words and characterful monochrome illustrations. It's also free, making it worth ...
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05.20.13Justin Fletcher’s Goldilocks app review (iPhone / iPad)Every year, a new crop of children encounter Justin Fletcher for the first time through his shows on CBeebies: Something Special, Gigglebiz and Justin's House. He's probably the most familiar face on children's TV here in the UK, and now he's making the leap onto iPhones and iPads with a planned series of 'Justin's World' apps. Starting with Goldilocks and the Three Bears. Released last week, it sees Justin telling the famous fairytale through a mixture of video and mini-games, including dressing up as Goldilocks AND the three bears. Continue Reading...
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05.20.13Wombi offering free apps for kids all this weekWe've enjoyed many of the apps released by Swedish developer Wombi over the last couple of years, so here's some good news: they're giving away some freebies this week. Wombi says it'll make one of its apps free every day from Monday 20th May to Friday 24th, starting with the very-tasty Wombi Ice Cream, which gets your kids creating (virtual) icy treats. We don't know what the other four will be, but Wombi says it will announce them every day on its blog, Facebook and Twitter profiles, so keep an eye on those.
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05.20.13The Jungle Book gets the StoryToys pop-up book-app treatmentA new version of Rudyard Kipling's story The Jungle Book has popped up on the app stores for iOS and Android... literally. The Jungle Book is the work of StoryToys – the latest classic tale to be turned into a virtual pop-up storybook by the developer. Mowgli, Baloo, Bagheera and the nefarious Shere Khan are all present and correct with 3D animated scenes, music and sound effects, and some simple mini-games to keep children interested. Continue Reading...
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05.17.13Bloomsbury launches Pirate and Princess Activity iPad appsBook publisher Bloomsbury has released a pair of new iPad apps for kids that promise piracy and princesses in equal measure. Bloomsbury Pirate Activity and Bloomsbury Princess Activity have similar features: puzzles, digital stickers and colouring, mini-games and animation, designed to appeal to kids with a yen for yo-ho-ho action and/or dressing-up fairytales. (Yes, you could say that the Pirate Activity app is aimed more at boys and Princess Activity at girls, but we know a fair few girls who'd rather play with pirates than princesses, and vice versa for a number of boys.) Continue Reading...
recent posts
- Five iPad apps trying to teach programming skills to kids
- Wubbzy’s ABC Learn & Play app gets alphabetical
- Grimm’s Bookshelf app offers playable fairytale demos for children
- British Red Cross to launch Baby and Child First Aid app
- Sago Sago launches its second app: Sago Mini Forest Flyer
- Disney Junior Appisodes brings TV shows to iPhone and iPad
- Kodable Pro app teaches children to code on iPad
