The Oregon Trail is an educational simulation game teaching kids what it was like to be a pioneer traveling west in the 1800s.  It is based on the classic PC simulation game The Oregon Trail, which was created in the 1970s. It is a fun app that kids can play games and learn history at the same time. In the game, kids join a historic wagon train traveling west ward from Missouri to Oregon. To start, kids can choose who they want to… Read more

My son used Brain Quest a lot when he was younger. We both liked it. For some reason those Brain Quest questions are just fun to answer. It is compact and small for easy carrying around. Depends on the time you have, you can answer 20 questions, or you can answer one question.  The questions are all academic, but cover a broad range of subjects, math, science, history, language, etc.  When I found out Brain Quest app, I downloaded it right away. It is… Read more

Does your child need some help on math? Or are you looking for something to help your kids get ahead on math? Either scenario, Mathemagics – Mental Math Tricks is a good fit. As long as the kids have learned the basic two-digit addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division, they can benefit from this app. What you see in Mathemagics app is not something covered in school. It is all about little tricks to help kids think differently and solve math… Read more

Make a scene: Farmyard is a well designed interactive sticker game that fosters children’s creativity.  What I liked the most is the multi-touch feature, which allows more than one kid create an art together.  It is free for a limited time! Introduction from the App Store: Make a Scene Farmyard is a fun interactive game that engages children’s natural sense of creativity. It is aimed primarily at pre-school age children, but will provide hours of entertainment for children (and adults!)… Read more

Solar Walk is an astronomy app from the developer of Star Walk. Instead of exploring the night sky, with this app, you get to tour the solar system. While travelling through the solar system with your finger, you can tap on any planet you are interested in.  This will take you close to it, and you can spin the planet to get a view from any angle. You can select a particular date and time to get a view of… Read more

Does your child like to play in the kitchen, pretending preparing meal?  You may want to check out Toca Kitchen.  It is from the same developer who made Toca Doctor. Toca Kitchen lets the kids explore food and cooking, without mess in your kitchen. When kids start the app, they will see 4 hungry characters: a boy, a girl, a cat, and a bull.  Kids can pick any one of the 4 characters to cook for.  Then kids can open the… Read more

Since I reviewed Stack the States and Stack the Countries, I became a big fan of Dan Russell-Pinson, the developer of the two wonderful educational apps.  Once I found out he just released another app Monster Physics, I knew I have to get one!  Monster Physics is a unique physics app for kids. It is a building app that lets kids play with physics! Kids can build and operate their own machines, moving devices with wheels, joins, ropes, propellers.  After they… Read more

Stack the Countries is the extension to Stack the States app.  To learn about Stack the States, please go to iGameMom’s earlier review. The basic game play of Stack the Countries is similar to Stack the States.  Instead of facts about US states, Stack the Countries asks geography questions about countries around the world: capital cities, bordering countries, flag, landmark, location…  When you answer a question correctly, you win a country piece to put in your stack.  When the stacked… Read more

I had always wanted to write about Fruit Ninja, but there were always something else came up.  Now it is the time.  Fruit Ninja is one of the first games my son and I played together.  We had a good time every time we played. It is a game for all ages, even little babies.  When the game starts, there will be all different types of fruits flying up from the bottom of the screen, you job is to chop… Read more

TeachMe is another app series goes by age level.  It has Toddler, Kindergarten, Grade1, Grade2, and Grade3.  Each grade covers spelling and basic math.  Compared to SplashMath, it is clear that each subject is not comprehensive at all.  For example, 2nd grade math only covers addition and subtraction up to two digit numbers.  There is no coverage of Time, Money, and Geometry.  However, there are things I like about it, especially the Toddler and Kindergarten ones: Parent control: You can keep… Read more

There are so many math apps out there.  It is hard to tell which one is at the right level for my child.  While looking for a math App that is linked with school’s curriculum, I found the SplashMath series. It the series, there is an App for each grade, ranging from grade 1 to 5. All are aligned with state standards.  This takes a lot uncertainty out when parents are trying to decide which app to buy for the kids. … Read more

Oceanhouse Media just released another Dr. Seuss book a few days ago – Horton Hatches the Egg. They are giving a promotion right now. The story: Kind-hearted Horton the elephant is persuaded to sit on an egg while its mother, the good-for-nothing bird lazy Maysie flutters off on a vacation. Horton is teased and taunted by his jungle friends, “How Absurd! Old Horton the Elephant thinks he’s a bird!” He’s captured by hunters, even placed in a traveling circus, but he keeps his… Read more

On my way home, I heard the news that the movie Lorax, based on Dr. Seuss book, was the top film in the U.S. and Canada for a second weekend. In case you are interested in buying the book, I suggest you consider buying the Lorax app instead. It is not just because the App costs $3.99, half the price for the book (just checked on Amazon). The app offers so much more than the paper book. The app is designed… Read more

Bug Games is a collection of fun-filled learning games for pre-schoolers. There are four games in this app, each focuses on a different development area: Bee Word Builder – spelling and phonics Each time you will see 3 letters on top of three sun flowers. You have to drag the letters to the correct sun flower to make a word. Once you put the letters on the right flower, you will hear a phonic pronunciation of each letter and of… Read more