When I received There’s a Map on My Lap to review, I was excited. My 6 year old enjoys Dr. Seuss, and we read many of the stories from Cat in the Hat Learning Library when she was younger. In fact, There’s a Map on My Lap was one of our favorites in the series, and we have the print book in our home library. Just like the original book, this app version of the title brings both simple and complex… Read more

Need to help your Kindergarten/Reception, 1 or 2nd Grade/Year 1 or 2 child with their addition facts? Teachley Addimal Adventure involves fun and learning with the help of captain Memo and the Addimals to help your child save the additional day! The app has been created by former teachers and experts in children’s learning to produce an app focusing specifically on the fundamental single digit addition skill. The premises involves the hero Captain Memo and his Addimals, ably assisted by the children… Read more

Kids Picture Dictionary is just like the app name suggested a picture dictionary app for early readers.  It can also serve as a sight word flash card app for younger kids. The layout of the app is very simple.  When kids open the app, they see pictures of words arranged in alphabet order.  Tapping on each letter opens up the words that start with the letter, one by one.  Each word is shown with a big picture illustrating the word… Read more

Toca Builder is another app from Toca Boca. It is a Mindcraft-like building app for kids age 5 and up, slightly older than a typical Toca Boca app’s target age.  It is free for limited time on App Store. Like other Toca Boca apps, it is all about free play, there is no goals or scores.  Kids simply get in the app and start building.  There are 6 builders in the app, each has a unique skill set and own… Read more

Do your kids play music? Or do you plan to have your child learn music or any instrument?  If the answer is yes, Music Learning Lab is a great app to get them started.  It teaches music theory in a fun way and all in bite-size lessons at kids’ level.  I wish we had it when my son started his piano. There are 4 sections in the app: Learn, Play, Create and Trophies. You want the kids start from Learn… Read more

Last year I introduced a multimedia insects encyclopedia: Meet the Insects – Forest Edition. I was very impressed by the app. I am glad to find out the same developer NCSOFT now has another insects app out: Meet the Insects – Water and Grass Edition. This one focuses on insects living near water and in grassland. Not surprisingly, this one is just as wonderful as the Forest Edition, with beautiful photograph and art works, high quality videos, smooth transitions between sections. It… Read more

Fix The Factory is a new free app from LEGO. LEGO calls it a puzzle game, but I view it another cool game app teaching kids about programming. The story of the game features a humanoid robot fixing the factory, where battery packs are dropped in all the wrong places.  The players’ jobs are to write instructions in code blocks to guide the robot move to the right spot, pick up the mis-placed batteries, and put them back to the… Read more

Do you like iSpy type of game? I did not like it much till I found a couple very nice iSpy type apps like Little Things Forever, something beautiful and fun.  If you have played Little Things Forever, you may agree it is designed for older kids and adults, preschool kids might find it too difficult.  I am happy to introduce today’s app, which is also a beautifully illustrated iSpy app, and it is particularly designed for young children age… Read more

Puzzingo is a set of educational puzzles for toddler and preschool age kids.  We introduced one of their apps Kids Puzzles Puzzingo.  PUZZINGO Food Puzzles Game for Toddlers & Kids is another one from them, and it is free for limited time. Upon entering the app, kids are asked to break a gift box to see the puzzle pieces that they can pick from to decide which game they want to play – it could be refrigerator, dining room, or… Read more

Learning how to tell time is a challenge for children. Tic Toc Time from Seven Academy offers a different approach. It initially teaches that the day can be divided into time periods. This paves the way for the introduction of the clock as a tool for telling time. A fun-loving family of beavers will guide you through an app full of amazing graphics and lively music. It is not  obvious to the child playing the ‘games’ but they are in a precise order, each getting slightly more complex. There are six main sections (each with multiple levels)… Read more

Today I want to share a series of math apps – iLiveMath series.  It is very unique in a way that it combines math with another subject, such as animals, oceans, transportation.  It helps kids connect math with the real world and see how math are used in real life. There are several apps in the series, including Oceans, Animals of Africa, Animals of Asia, Speed, Ford Cars, Farm Fresh, and Entomology.  Each app has three levels, covering grade k… Read more

Last year my 6 year old daughter started learning chess both at home through playing with us and at school through an afterschool enrichment program.  Learning and playing chess encourage concentration, improve cognitive abilities and rational thinking, it is a great game for kids. Just because it requires concentration and staying power, so it was not necessarily her first choice of activity at home. I was lucky if I could convince her to play once a week, and I could see that… Read more

Today we have another math app went free – Bugsy’s Math Quest.  It is a game that helps reinforce multiplication and division facts.  It is not a teaching app, but a game app that helps kids improve speed and accuracy. Like other Bugsy apps, it features the hamster Bugsy.  The game setting is similar to Bugsy in Math Kingdom.  The difference is Bugsy in Math Kingdom only covers Addition and Subtraction, while Bugsy’s Math Quest, covers Multiplication and Division. Kids… Read more

Sometimes, when I have an app to review and I want input from my kids, I have to gently nudge them to try it.  That was not the case for this app.  As soon as I had it downloaded, my son began making music videos. With Rok Out Concert, kids have four characters to begin their band.  Parents can buy four more but don’t worry, the app’s security measures for preschoolers ensure that your child will not purchase them without… Read more