Summer is a good time to visit some parks.  I found an amazing app about US National Parks – Fotopedia National Parks.  In the app, there are over 3000 stunning photos of the 58 National Parks in the USA accompanied with park information.  What is more amazing, it is FREE.  The only catch: It requires an Internet connection (either Wifi or cellular – edge or 3G) to operate properly. Introduction from the App store: Discover first the diversity of the… Read more

Feel Electric! is an app that teaches kids emotions and language skills, which are important building blocks for emotional intelligence. I introduced “ABA Flash Card and Games – Emotion”, which is designed for babies and toddlers. Feel Electric is design for kids 6 and older, or kids who have some basic reading and spelling skills. It is a fun app teaching kids emotion expression skills. The app’s characters are from the cast of the PBS show The Electric Company. Through fun games… Read more

Since I reviewed Stack the States and Stack the Countries, I became a big fan of Dan Russell-Pinson, the developer of the two wonderful educational apps.  Once I found out he just released another app Monster Physics, I knew I have to get one!  Monster Physics is a unique physics app for kids. It is a building app that lets kids play with physics! Kids can build and operate their own machines, moving devices with wheels, joins, ropes, propellers.  After they… Read more

Faces iMake is a creative art app and more.  It lets kids create arts with objects they see every day, such as brush, banana, plates, and buttons.  Kids can re-size, rotate, flip the objects they choose, and then put the pieces together to make a masterpiece.  There is no limit to the imagination. The app was developed with renowned artist, children’s book author and educator Hanoch Piven and is based on the creative workshops he conducted all around the world.  According to Piven, the… Read more

Blokus is originally a board game, and now is available on iPAD.  The game is fairly simple. You link your like-colored blocks to expand your territory.  You have to link them diagonally by their corners, with no sides touched between two pieces.  You want to place as many of your own color while blocking the other players from laying theirs.  Whoever placed more pieces at the end wins the game. You can play by yourself, or by 2-4 players.  When it… Read more

Stack the Countries is the extension to Stack the States app.  To learn about Stack the States, please go to iGameMom’s earlier review. The basic game play of Stack the Countries is similar to Stack the States.  Instead of facts about US states, Stack the Countries asks geography questions about countries around the world: capital cities, bordering countries, flag, landmark, location…  When you answer a question correctly, you win a country piece to put in your stack.  When the stacked… Read more

Cut the Rope: Experiments just released an update today and is FREE for a limited time. It is a perfect addition to iGameMom’s summer app recommendation. Cut the Rope: Experiments is a follow-up to the popular game Cut the Rope.  If you want to know what the original game is about, please go to iGameMom’s earlier review.  The new game features the familiar little monster Om Nom who loves candy, and a scientist who is determined to study Om Nom’s… Read more

Summer is approaching, what are some good apps for summer? iGameMom has some suggestions on cool summer apps for kids – fun and educational. Kids will be away from school for 2-3 months in the summer. On one hand, you do want them to relax and enjoy some down time; on the other hand, you don’t want them forget study completely. School can take breaks, but learning should never stop. Based on this believe, we picked apps that are educational, and… Read more

I had always wanted to write about Fruit Ninja, but there were always something else came up.  Now it is the time.  Fruit Ninja is one of the first games my son and I played together.  We had a good time every time we played. It is a game for all ages, even little babies.  When the game starts, there will be all different types of fruits flying up from the bottom of the screen, you job is to chop… Read more

MindSnacks Spanish is a language learning app.  It does a great job at building the learning into game play, so the learning is fun. When you first start the app, you will have an option to take a Spanish test to find out your level.  You can also skip the test and start at level 1, which is “numbers”.  You will have a list of Spanish vocabulary to study before playing games.  Each word/phrase has a picture and an audio… Read more

This is a book App targeted at kids 6 and up, or kids who are ready to read chapter-books.  It tells the true story of Edson Hendricks: He was bullied at school, but found comfort in an imaginary world where he had machine parts, and no biological organs or emotions.  Later he went to MIT and IBM, and invented “connectionless” network design, which is used in today’s Internet.  While reading it, I felt it is almost like a featured documentary.  In… Read more

I reviewed TeenSphere several months ago.  After a group discussion about social well being apps, I went back to this app again.  I saw significant updates that worth a review update. TeenSphere is an app teens can use to access help and consulting to sensitive and challenging questions they face in everyday life.  Some example questions are “I feel really moody – what’s going on?”, “I feel sad a lot.  Am I depressed?”  The app provides answers to these questions without… Read more

Be Confident In Who You Are is a graphic novel targeted at kids 8-14 years old. It addresses topics such as self-consciousness, stress, bullying, fitting in, body image, and sticky issues in friendships. All these issues are presented in an age appropriate manner. The language, story setting, and the solutions the characters come up are all from real life that kids can relate to. There are 8 chapters in the book, each focusing on one topic. As an app, it has nice… Read more

My son is a good reader. The only problem is he only likes to read mystery or fantasy types. I had been trying to get him read biographies, but he never showed any interest. Amazingly, once he found the Who? Comics and started reading, he could not put it down. Who? Comics is an educational comic book app intended for kids 8 and older. The series includes 29 biographies: Oprah Winfrey, Bill Gates, Hillary Clinton, Steven Spielberg, Joanne Rowling, Barack… Read more