Toca Boca just released a new app Toca Tailor Fairy Tale, and it is FREE.  Toca Boca is known for developing apps with open-ended free play.  I have reviewed their Toca Doctor, Toca Store, Toca Kitchen, and Toca Hair Salon.  None of them disappointed me.  In this new app Toca Tailor Fairy Tale, they bring the old-fashioned dress up play onto iPhone/iPAD, and with so much more!  For example, kids can take pictures of any objects they like and then use them as design patterns for the clothes.  I… Read more

Turtle Trek is the first mobile game created by SeaWorld!  It is designed for kids age 4 to 9.  Using fingers to guide the little turtle through the ocean – catch food and stars, meet friends, avoid predators, …  For each friend the turtle met, kids can learn some fun facts.  Do you know Triggerfish are bottom dwellers? It is designed as a game.  The longer distance the kids can help the turtle swim, the more stars they collect, the more friend stickers they… Read more

Albert is a collection of 20 mini games.  The first 10 games are free.  From turning off an array of alarm clocks to help Albert sleep more, to moving the slippery soap to the bathtub so Albert can have a bath, to calling the dog to stop before he steps over the cliff, … all games are creatively designed with ingenious use of the device’s functions, such as touchscreen, accelerometer, or microphone. In addition to the games, I really like… Read more

Do you like to take your laptop with you when you travel?  Now, if you have a smart phone, be it an iPhone or an Android phone, or if you have a tablet, such as an iPAD, you don’t have to take your laptop with you anymore.  Use LogMeIn, you can remotely access your home and work computers and work on the computer like you are sitting right in front of it.   It is FREE. The introduction from App Store… 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

With the weather getting cold, I started searching for indoor fun activities for kids. I found this interesting app called KidScience. It is an app showing you how to do some science experiments using materials you can find at home. It is a handy app for indoor science learning activity ideas. In the app, you can search for science experiments by “Experiment Name”, “What is in My Pantry”, “Age Group”, “Science Type” (biology, physics, etc.), and “Amount of Time” the… Read more

For so long, I forgot I had Kindle app on my iPhone and iPAD. With the app, I could download a Kindle book from Amazon on my iPhone and iPAD. In fact, Amazon has Kindle apps for all different devices: iPhone, iPod, iPAD, Android, Windows Phone, BlackBerry, Mac, Windows 7, XP, Vista, and Windows8. Here is the website if you need more information on Kindle apps. They are all free. Once you installed the Kindle app on your device, you… Read more

Weird But True is a cool app to have around handy. It is FREE on App Store. Based on the National Geographic Kids magazine and best-selling book franchise, the app has more than 300 Weird But True kid-friendly facts! There are wachy sound effects with each fact. You can also search facts based on your interest: alligator, Mars, waterfalls… Introduction on the App Store: ★Winner of Spring 2012 Parents’ Choice Award ★ New York Times App to Keep Kids Happy… 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

The other day I took my son and his friend to their soccer practice.  During the ride, I overheard the two 4th graders talking about who they will vote for if they can vote.  Their discussion triggered my search of good educational materials about election.  Of course, I started with apps.  I found that quite few news companies have election apps.  They are designed for people to keep track of the poll results and election related news.   I only found… Read more

If your kids study any type of music instrument, you probably have used metronome.  We had one, but it was broken.  Where shopping for a new one, I explored the App Store.  Metronome+ is the third metronome app we used at home, and this is a keeper. The reasons we like this one: The interface is very user friendly.  It is very easy to set the speed. The tempo is very stable. The sound is loud enough for the user to… 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

Creatures of Light is the companion app for the popular exhibition Creatures of Light: Nature’s Bioluminescence. The exhibition was run at the American Museum of Natural History in 2013. Introduction from American Museum of Natural History: The app “offers a close look at some of the extraordinary organisms that produce light. Enjoy interactive animations, photo galleries, and videos that reveal the beauty of this amazing natural phenomenon, how it works, and how scientists study it. Each chapter of the app… Read more