Traveling with kids can be one of two things…an absolute joy, or a terrifyingly stressful ordeal. The best thing a parent can do to prevent the latter is to BE PREPARED. Enter my secret weapon—the iPad. On long bus, train or plane rides, we do as many non-digital activities as possible. But the inevitable point always comes when the iPad is the best solution. My arsenal of Apps always have a real world component, that means whatever activity we do… Read more

Van Gogh and the Sunflowers is Free for today only.  It is an iPAD app, usually $3.99 on App store.  It is based on true events happened to Van Gogh. It tells Van Gogh’s story through a boy named Camille.  Camille and his family became friends of a strange visitor to his small town, although other kids and villagers did not like the visitor.  One day Camille brought this man a gift of bright, beautiful sunflowers. The man was the… Read more

Today’s review is by Iona Burchell, who is a wife and mum of two.  In her spare time she is a freelance writer, and has written for online and print media in a range of subjects varying from education to sport to travel.  You can find her blog at www.redpeffer.me or feel free to tweet @Redpeffer.  Today Iona will share two book apps that are FREE right now.  Let’s find out what they are. Around the World and Dark Night are both picture book… Read more

Did you get snow this winter? Did the kids like playing with snow?  Today I want to share a snow related app: Snowflake Station.  Kids can design and cut paper snowflakes and learn symmetry while playing.  What is even better, it is Free. Note: the app was free when the review was posted, but it is now not free anymore. There are three sections in the app: Trace a Flake, Creation Station, and Make it Snow. In Trace a Flake, kids… Read more

Da Vinci History is a biography book app for kids.  Regualr price $3.99, it is FREE for limited time. Introduction on App Store: Quelle Histoire Editions and the Réunion des Musées Nationaux (the federating body of France’s national museums) are delighted to present to you the da Vinci application. PRESENTATION Discover the incredible destiny of Leonardo da Vinci, one of the most talented artists of the Renaissance. From Verrocchio’s studio in Florence to the court of Francis I, re-live, moment… Read more

Scribble My Story is a FREE creativity app targeted at kids age 3 to 7.  It is a book and art creation platform where kids can imagine, create, and share what they make with their parents. When kids open the app, they can pick one of the 5 pre-written books: All About Me, If I were a Mermaid, My Dino Book, My Pet, I can Fly, My Vacation. They can also pick the Blank Book to make their own audio… Read more

Sofia the First is a TV movie for preschooler on Disney Channel.  Premiered last fall, it received positive reviews.  Now Disney is making it into a TV series on Disney Junior.  In the meantime, Disney Publishing released the first “Sofia the First” storybook app for iOS devices. Sofia is a girl who suddenly became a Princess when her mother married the King. She found there are so much to learn … The story helps young children learn how to adapt… Read more

If you followed me for a while, you probably know Toontastic – the creative app that teaches kids about story telling by letting them make their own movies.  It teaches the concept of “story arch”, the 5 steps of storytelling.  It is a great app.  Young kids can create stories using the app, but they may not be able to fully grasp the “5 steps of storytelling”.  To solve this issue, LaunchPad Toy developed a separate app for younger kids called… Read more

PlayART is a very creative art app.  Using elements taken from the original art works of five master painters: Vincent Van Gogh, Paul Cézanne, Claude Monet, Henry Rousseau, and Paul Klee, kids can create their own master pieces and save the work in the museum within the app.  Some example elements are the sunflowers from Van Gogh, fruits from Cezanne, lily pads from Monet.  Currently there are over 100 art elements in the app.  Kids can choose the elements they… Read more

Squiggles is a creative app for young children.  It is FREE for limited time. Introduction on App Store:  Pictures come to life with “Squiggles!”, a revolutionary new educational drawing app for young children. A child’s simple hand-drawn squiggle can become a bird’s nest, rocket smoke, cotton candy, sheep’s wool, a curly beard, and more! Simply squiggle away to complete Lazoo’s internationally award-winning art. Then hit the GO button and watch drawings soar, pulsate, move, twirl, and multiply. Save your child’s… Read more

Toontastic is an app teaching kids storytelling by letting them make their own animated movies. Different from StoryKit and Educreation, the little figures in the app have moving parts – you will not only see the boy move around, you will see his legs move while he is walking. Another big difference between Toontastic and StoryKit or Educreation is that Toontastic provides guideline of story telling, and does it in a very fun way. When a child is ready to create a… Read more

Do you like felt board? Have you used it before? I liked felt board, except that it was hard to find the pieces you wanted many times. Now with Felt Board app, this won’t an issue anymore. All pieces are well organized, and you don’t even have to worry about losing any. In the Felt Board app, you will find pieces in different categories: background; body and figures, such as faces, different hair styles; clothing; animals;  accessories, like hats, wands… Read more

Educreations is originally designed for teachers. It turns your iPad into a recordable whiteboard. Users can create an animated story, or a tutorial video, with pictures, adding notations on the pictures, recording voices, and, of course, writing on the board. You can use it teaching almost anything. Once you finish recording, you can share it with people of your choice through email, Facebook or Twitter. As a FREE app, it is a great teaching tool for teachers and home-school families… Read more

Have you ever watched “Are you smarter than a fifth grader”?  Do you like it?  Now it has an app with the same name. This is a fun academic family game.  Any one started school can play.  Kids in first or 2nd grade may not be able to answer all the questions, but I am sure, there are some questions they can answer better than mom and dad. There are two ways to play the game: Normal Round and Play… Read more