Lazoo art box is a coloring book app created by PBS kids. This app offers a fun and interactive way for children to express their creativity and adds a new twist to a traditional coloring app. Art is a fundamental component of development and allows children to explore their creative side and encourage self-expression. Art can also help developing minds and personalities reach an even greater potential by empowering imagination. Tablets offer a great mess-free option to the world of art… Read more

Today’s app is a fun problem solving app and kids have to learn and use math skills to solve the problems. It is brought to you by PBS kids and is based off the new popular show: Peg + Cat. Peg + Cat is a show produced by the Fred Roger’s company and is targeted at teaching simple mathematics skills to preschool and early school age children (ages 3 to 6). The show is great at teaching children problem solving skills… Read more

Do you have a Thomas and Friends fan at home? You will love this app – Thomas and Friends Watch and Play. This is the first app that lets users watch full episodes of the TV shows on iPad, iPhone or iPod. In addition, kids can watch clips from the show, and play games. When you open the app, you will see 4 parts in the apps: videos from the show, and 3 games. The 3 games are all based… Read more

How can you not love Cookie Monster?  Our four year old laughed out loud through this app as Cookie Monster used his signature bad grammar to express various forms of dismay over his lost cookies. Cookie Monster’s Challenge offers a series of brain-building games designed to challenge and engage children ages 3-5 by practicing self-control, focus, memory, following directions and problem solving – skills that are essential for school readiness. There are 10 mini games in the app. Each game presents… Read more

PBS is one of the most trusted resources in our family so I generally feel like I’m in good hands with any game or activity they come up with for my pre-schooler.  This Daniel Tiger’s Grr-ific Feelings is no exception, based on Mr. Roger’s neighborhood, the whole feel  is gentle and sweet.  What’s so special about this app though is its staying power off screen. The app offers various activities to help kids put names to their feelings and begins… Read more

The Swamp Where Gator Hides is a picture book app executed with lovely depictions of swamp life in the Everglades.  The concept is no frills as book apps for young children should be (says the early childhood librarian who lives deep inside me).  The lovely paintings of the animals are the focus here.  If you touch them they scatter or blink their eyes, but nothing that takes away from artwork and the story. It is a non-fiction about the animals at the swamp… Read more

How often do you do brain exercise? I wish I have done more brain training. Just like our body muscles, our brains need regular exercise to stay sharp. With the fact that we are using our brains every day, which are the best exercises, do we still need additional brain training?  The answer is Yes. Just like our body, the daily functions for brains may not be comprehensive enough to ensure a balanced development. You might have done something creative… Read more

Tower Math is a math game app for kids developed by the same developer who created Stack the States and Stack the Countries, which are by far the most popular apps in our household. When my son turned 3 he knew where every state and every country was on the planet because of those apps. We would hand him a globe and he would proceed to show our adult friends where Chad, Mongolia and Liechtenstein were. So you can imagine our… Read more

Ready-K is a Kindergarten readiness app that charts the progress of your child according to Common Core Standards, so of course we love that!  It’s very comprehensive in helping kids get ready for kindergarten. It covers the following topics: 1. Quantitative language 2. Early literacy (including print awareness, vocabulary, alphabetical knowledge and phonological awareness 3. Visual discrimination (including visual scanning, event sequencing, size comparison, classifying and pattern recognition) 4. Color Awareness 5. Geometry 6. Math and numbers awareness (including number… Read more

The Cat in the Hat is the greatest thing going really. PBS and Random House have turned the Cat into a very smart and entertaining educator. And, naturally, Ocean House Media, in best practices style, has delivered a concise, no frills version of The Cat in the Hat Outside Your Door Collection with 4 apps about nature science just in time for Earth Day. Now this compilation is full of facts: facts about trees, facts about seeds, facts about birds… Read more

Max on the farm is a fun app designed for kids age 3 to 6. There are 4 farm themed educational games in the app, all games have no timers, no scores, kids just play at their own pace. The lite version has plenty contents for you to test it out. The full version has more levels than the lite version. The 4 games in the app are: Find the items: Max made a big mess in his treehouse. Help… Read more

There is a Polar Bear and a Panda Bear named Migo and Pandy who both love to play dress up.  If your kids are in the 2-3 toddler range or in the 3-5 pre-school range, they’re going to love to play dress up with Migo and Pandy too. What is even better, you won’t see all your clothes spread all over the places. They are neatly organized on your iPad. In this sweet, slow moving app there are fewer bells and… Read more

Over the weekend I was playing with a fun app called Fiete. It is a very different kind of picture book for kids of all ages. As the introduction on the App Store says, it is “an alternative to interactive children’s book: in a playful way, with attention to details”. I call it an interactive game picture book. When kids open the app, they will see a friendly sailor Fiete waving to them and inviting them to play. Scroll the… Read more

DuckieDeck Family Photo app is an app that lets kids explore their creative side while creating personalized portraits. Whether it’s creating a face that resembles their own family member, a friend, or someone that only lives in their imagination it is a great app that encourages creativity and lets a child show their expressive side. This app targets skills such as fine-motor development, hand-eye coordination, and expressive art. With the options to choose facial expressions this app can also aide… Read more