The best thing about apps is it only take 5 seconds to download – perfect for last minute activity and gift ideas.  Valentine’s day is tomorrow.  No matter you have plenty activity ideas or are still looking more, it never hurts to have couple more, especially when they are FREE.  Here are 6 FREE Valentine apps for kids.  All are educational.  They are the results of several week’s search.  Some were posted before, some are new.  Hope you will have fun with these apps as I do. Disney… Read more

Valentine’s Day is next week.  I found an educational Valentine app – First Words Valentine.  It is a free app teaching kids about letters, how letters relate to words, and how to spell words.  It is designed for toddlers, with limited words, but all are Valentine related. When kids start the app, they will see letters spread out on the screen.  Their job is to move the correct letter to the suggested spot to make them into a word, such… Read more

I don’t know why I have not shared PBS Kids video app.  Maybe because we’ve been using it too much, I have assumed everyone should know about it.  But if you don’t know about the app, it is a free app from PBS Kids.  With the app, kids can watch any of the PBS Kids videos from the top PBS Kids and PBS Kids Go television series.  Some of the shows included in the app: Curious George, The Cat in… Read more

Today I want to share another discovery of some free book apps from ABCmouse.com – The Aesop’s Fables Series.  I reviewed a book app The Aesop for Children from Library of Congress.  That one is for older kids, who can read by themselves.  The series from ABCmouse.com are designed for younger kids who have just started learning to read. Currently there are 4 titles in the series: The Tortoise and the Hare: how a tortoise win a race against a hare… Read more

Valentine day is a couple weeks away.  What are you going to do with your kids?  Are you going to give them gifts?  I have two books today that are perfect valentine gifts for the kids and great for reading on Valentine’s Day. Cooper’s Big Bear Hug: A sweet young bear wants to find a way to show his mom how much he loves her. He asks for ideas and finally he found the best way …  This is one… Read more

I reviewed several apps from ABCmouse.com, including the 3 Zoo Sets and Grand Canyon.  Now they have a Beginning Reader Series: Word Families, helping kids learn phonics via word families.  Currently there are 6 titles in the series. All the apps are free. What a great resource of early literacy for kids! This is a series introducing “young learners to the joys of reading through stories that emphasize word families, ie. groups of words with the same ending sound, such as… Read more

Puzzingo is a fun puzzle game for toddlers and preschoolers.  There are so many puzzle apps out there, I pick this one out because it is a little different – it incorporates the language learning into the puzzle play.  While playing, kids develop their fine motor skills and learn word recognition at the same time. It is a free app with In-App Purchase options for more theme packages.  Come with the free download, there is one package with 5 themes… Read more

Animal SnApp: Farm is another great book app from Nosy Crow.  Some other apps from them are: Rounds: Parker Penguin, Rounds: Franklin Frog, and Bizzy Bear Builds a House. Designed for kids aged 2 to 5, it is filled with endearing characters and interesting stories. When kids start the app, they will see a mis-matched animal picture: the top is from one animal, and the bottom is from a different animal. By sliding either the top or the bottom, kids… Read more

Today’s app is Rounds: Parker Penguin.  It is the 2nd app in the Rounds series from Nosy Crow. It is designed for kids 3 to 6 years old. With similar design to their first app, Rounds: Parker Penguin teaches kids the life cycle of a penguin: from birth to parenthood. When reading the story of the penguin Parker and his family, kids become an integral part of the little penguin’s growing up.  With ingenious use of the technologies available for an app… Read more

How do you keep kids entertained during the busy holiday season? Sometimes a fun app is not a bad idea. You don’t them play low quality games though, so you want have some good games for kids on your iPad, and when it is needed, they are there. This is another free app with a holiday theme. A fun one for toddlers. Introduction on the app store: This FREE Christmas edition of Bo’s Matching Game offers toddlers and preschoolers more… Read more

Today’s Best Educational Apps for Kids list is Best Pre-school Math Apps.  I try to include apps addressing the pre-school math from different angles, using different approaches, since each child is different, one app works for this child, may not work for another.  Also young kids have short attention span, so it is a good idea to have several apps addressing the same topics handy, so you can rotate them. Remember to child-proof your iPAD/iPod/iPhone before hand it to your child. For… Read more

Trucks – Byron Barton is a book app for kids age 2 to 5.  It teaches kids all different types of trucks: bread truck, garbage truck, newspaper truck… With the distinctly colorful illustration, short sentences, and clear professional narration, it is a perfect book for kids who just start reading.  The realistic background sound effect is another good feature that help kids learn about the trucks. The developer of the app is one of my favorite, Oceanhouse Media.  Like all… Read more

Wombi Toy is a game app for kids 3 to 6 years old.  The setting of the game is a toy assembly line operated by a robot. Each time the Kids pull the lever to start the conveyor belt, they will get a broken toy.  The kids’ job is to figure out what is wrong with the toy and fix the toy. There are about 20 different toys. Each toy’s fix is considered a mini-game. It could be painting the… Read more

I found this book app from Oceanhouse Media’s news release.  This is one of the less known book from Dr.Seuss.  In the book, Dr. Seuss reminds children that no matter what their struggles may be, they should always be thankful.  It is a powerful message, delivered in classical Seuss style with rhymes and silly words. “Think of poor Ali Sard!  He has to mow grass in his uncle’s back yard, and it’s quick-growing grass, and it grows as he mows… Read more