Are your kids tired of memorizing words for school? Do you feel like trying something new to spark their interest in learning new words or spelling? You may want to try this fun app — Guess the Word with Art. It is not designed for student or any school curriculum, but it is fun to play. Players guess the word based on the letters they get and the picture they see. Each picture is original art and is funny in… Read more

I remember when I was young I liked tracing pictures on comic books or picture books. It was soothing for me. Now thinking back, it also taught me drawing and most importantly the portions between parts of a picture. Tracing Paper is a simple app that lets you do just that — pick a picture from your device’s photo albums, and the app gives you an translucent canvas on top of the chosen picture for you to trace it. It… Read more

Algebra is an important part of math, and it marks a new stage of math thinking. It requires more abstract thinking than the type of math kids learn in elementary school. That is why most schools won’t start algebra till 7th or 8th grade. Does it mean that kids in elementary school can’t grasp algebraic thinking? The answer is no. Younger kids can still gain the type of thinking that’s needed for algebra study. An perfect example is DragonBox Algebra… Read more

Homes by Tinybop is the 3rd app from the developer’s Explore’s Library series. Like their first two apps Human Body and Plants, it is open-ended exploratory app. There is no verbal or written instructions, no set goals. Kids come in the app explore homes from around the world. Through exploring the homes, kids will learn and discover world culture and life. Before kids start using the app, I highly recommend setting up a profile for each child. You can do… Read more

We have been using OverDrive for a while. I really like it. It saves trips to the library and brings the library books to your mobile devices and computers. You can borrow digital books to read or audio books to listen. You can even borrow videos to watch. It is a free app works on almost all devices: Apple, Android, Windows devices, PC and Mac computers. I have mostly used the app on my iPad and iPhone. But you should… Read more

I love historical movies and TV shows. I was excited when I got an opportunity of free set of DVDs to review Little House on the Prairie. If you are in the US, you probably already know the book series and the TV show. If you are not from the US, the Little House is a book series by Laura Ingalls Wilder, about American frontiers’ life in the late 19th century. It depicts the life of the Ingalls family, the… Read more

Four Letters is a free app of fun word games. It is not for young children, but it is a fun one for school age kids who have certain vocabulary already. All words in the games are 4 letter words. Think it will be easy? Try it out. It is fast paced fun vocabulary game that the family can play together. You can even set up a competition among family members. The game play is quite easy. The player is… Read more

Winky Think Logic Puzzles has a series of fun logical and critical thinking games for kids. It starts with fun shape and color matching, but gradually goes into complex puzzle games full of obstacles that require reasoning, observation and spatial cognition skills to solve. It is a fun game for the whole family. It is currently free for limited time. The games are roughly grouped into 3 skill levels, with over 180 puzzles in total. The first level is very… Read more

When kids start learning math beyond counting, they start to encounter math concepts that they need understand precisely the meaning, or they may have trouble. For example, they need know the meaning of “Angle”, and the differences between “Acute Angle”, “Obtuse Angle”, “Right Angle” and “Straight Angle”. It will be helpful if the kids have access to these math terms at home when they need help. Math Dictionary is a free online math dictionary designed for kids to look up… Read more

LeafSnap is a free app developed by Columbia University, Maryland University and Smithsonian Institute. It is a tree leaf identification guide that helps users identify trees with the leaves. You can snap a picture of the leaf, and the app will compare the image with the database, and tell you what tree is the leaf from. It is a fun app to have for your walking in the park. The most fun part of the app is the Snap part… Read more

Medelia is a free app helping kids learn about the history of Mediterranean cities. Kids visit the cities, learn and explore at their own pace. It is a fun way to learn history. There will be more cities included the app, but currently there are 3, and one city is free. When kids just start the app, they can create their own avatars. The created the character will be the one explore the cities. Currently the city that comes free… Read more

I remember one of the early games my son played was Oregon Trail. It is a history simulation game for kids to role play as a pioneer traveling west along the Oregon Trail in the old days. My son learned so much by playing the game. It is a fun way for them to learn the history first hand. Those visuals, pictures, and games really bring the history to life, help the kids to understand what was going on in… Read more

I just read the news that LaunchPad the company who created Toontastic app is bought by Google. As a celebration, they set two of their apps free: Toontastic and TeleStory. We reviewed Toontastic, which is a fun app letting kids create their own stories and making them into movies. Toontastic also teaches kids how to arrange the storyline to make the stories more interesting. Different from Toontastic, TeleStory is an app letting kids create their own TV shows with provided… Read more

Are you comfortable to let your kids watch news on TV or news website? If not, how do your kids stay updated on what is going on around them, in the community, in the country, and in the world? I have reviewed some child-safe news resources, and today I found one more great news resource for kids: Youngzine. It is a free website of news articles for kids. Youngzine is a website created due to the fact that it was… Read more