Since I posted best science apps for kids, I received several recommendations on Bobo Explores Lights, an app teaching kids science of light.  I contacted Game Collage, who designed the app, for a review copy.  I am so grateful they sent me one and I am very impressed with the app – the art, the interface, the content, the animation, the flow of the content, … everything! Designed for children ages 4-12, Bobo Explores Light covers 21 light-related topics, like… Read more

Oceanhouse Media have pulled out another Dr Seuss app from their creative hats. Everyone’s favourite cat in a hat makes an appearance, along with an astoundingly large extended rhyming family including I Can Lick 30 Tigers Today, King Looie Katz about the king of cats, The Glunk that Got Thunk about a little girl who likes to think, as well as The Big Brag about a couple of show offs, The Zax where we meet two stubborn characters, Too Many Daves-in… Read more

On iGameMom, we have reviewed a couple book reader apps.  You can think a book reader app as a book library or book store, where you can find many books, and pick which one you want to read or purchase.  Recently, Bethany from No Twiddle Twaddle told me about an app from Sylvan Dell.  As soon as I looked at the app, I felt in love with it right away.  In Sylvan Dell, all the books are science and math… Read more

Do you have a lot pictures on your phone? Today I am sharing two collage apps I have been using, plus one I just discovered. All apps are FREE. They are all very easy to use. You can use them yourself, or you can use them with your kids and create some family picture collage together. I am sure the kids will have fun and the collages can easily become mother’s day gifts. There are tons of collage apps out there, if you have one you… Read more

Does your child like games?  Would he/she be interested in make games of his/her own?  Hopscotch is a FREE app allowing kids to create their own games and animations.  Even if the child has not shown much interest in programing, it is still worth a try on this free app.  Why?  Here is the information on App Store Hopscotch introduction: “By the year 2020, there will be a projected 1.4 million computer jobs but only 400,000 Computer science students. Computer… Read more

When people think about apps, they usually think they are for screen activities. In fact, many apps are used for screen free activities. Today we share some fun apps designed for kids to have screen free activities. All are educational activities too. These are great tools to break kids from screen and have them start moving. These can be used for the yearly Screen Free week, as well as any week of the year! Apps Encouraging Kids Screen Free Activities… Read more

We have reviewed 3 book apps in the Human Body Detective (HBD) Series.  As I found out, HBD series also offers learning activities designed based on the apps, and the activities are aligned with school curriculum. Our reviewer Piwi Mama reviewed the materials. Today she is sharing her experience with the curriculum as part of our “Off Screen with App” features. The Human Body detectives (HBD) series tells stories of two sisters, Merinn and Pearl, as Human Body Detectives. After reading a… Read more

Today we are reviewing the third title in the Human Body Detective (HBD) series by Dr Heather Manley. During their first trip Merrin and Pearl visited the Digestive system.  It the 2nd book, they went through the Immune system. Today’s title is ‘A heart Pumping Adventure’.  Merrin is reading about the Heart in her science book and becomes concerned about her Dad’s health. Suddenly, she and her sister Pearl are traveling down a rushing red ‘river’ on something that looks like a red… Read more

Do you know you can watch Disney TV shows on the go for FREE?  No subscriptions needed.  With the free apps, Watch Disney, Watch Disney XD, Watch Disney Junior, you can watch the Disney shows on your iPAD, iPhone, or iPod, or any Kindle devices.  You can also watch them on your computers.  All you have to do is to download the apps and start watching the shows.  There are some limitations: It is only available in the US and… Read more

Storytelling is a great skill to have.  Not only it fosters imagination, it also trains kids logic thinking, helps kids improve self-expression skills, thus better social interaction.  I have reviewed several story telling apps, such as Toontastic and Toontastic Jr, Educreation, Scribble my story.  Today I am going to share another one we’ve been using recently – Story Wheel.  Story Wheel is like a writing prompt for young kids who are not writing yet.  When kids open the app, they… Read more

A while ago I introduced Mindsnacks Spanish app.   Now they have a kids vocabulary app with similar game settings. Different from typical ways that English is taught at school, the app groups words by context.  The first lesson is all about animal life, so you see the words: omnivore, carnivore, herbivore, fauna, scavenger, voracious.  Kids can jump into games right away, or they can choose to take the lesson first.  In the lesson, they will see a cute picture illustrating the meaning… Read more

Last week the Piwi kids and I reviewed the first title in the Human Body Detective (HBD) Series by Dr Heather Manley. The main characters are young sisters, Merinn and Pearl, ie. Human Body Detectives.  They show kids 6-12 year olds how their bodies work, and how they can stay healthy with good choices in nutrition and exercise.  In addition to the app, they also have a website and curriculum go with the apps.  We will have a review of the immune system curriculum posted soon.  Today we are sharing… Read more

Mystery Math Town is developed by Artgig Apps, who also developed Marble Math.  It is a math app for elementary school kids, but it is more than math.  The story of the game is to help a little ghost rescue the fireflies that are hidden in Mystery Math Town. Kids have to solve math problems to unlock rooms while searching for fireflies. By collecting fireflies, kids move up game levels and earn talking portraits of the townspeople for their gallery… Read more

Over the next few weeks the Piwi kids and I will be reviewing the Human Body detectives (HBD) series for iPad.  There are 3 titles based on the Award winning (printed) books written and illustrated by Naturopathic Doctor, Heather Manley. Young sisters, Merinn and Pearl are Human Body Detectives. After reading a lot about anatomy they both are able to use their imagination to go on adventures inside the body to solve medical mysteries. The HBD series aims to teach… Read more