I loved gears. We used to play with LEGO and created a lot gear models with it. There are many engineering concepts involved, but when doing it right, it is fun for young children to see and understand those concepts. I am very excited to see now there is an app about gears designed for kids. Crazy Gears is from Seven Academy, who also designed Busy Shapes. The app incorporated many science and engineer concepts in the simple puzzle play… Read more

Kids Awesome 1st Grade Math Premium is a fun math game app designed for first graders. It covers the content from counting and number order to different operations, to telling time and geometry. Although it is designed for first graders, many kids from kindergarten to 2nd and even 3rd grade can benefit from the games. The app doesn’t allow users to skip levels. Kids have to finish one level to unlock the next. I have not get chance to review… Read more

I loved the app Thinkroll. It is a fun physics science game with tons of build-in science concepts. Kids learn science, critical thinking and problem solving while playing the games. Now the sequel Thinkroll 2 is just launched, with similar game set up, but more science concepts, and more challenges and more fun. There are two sets of the games, one set for age 3 to 5, another set for age 5 to 9. Each set has about 120 games… Read more

Disney launched ImagiCademy recently as a series of educational apps for kids age 5 and younger. Currently there are only two apps in the series: Art and Math. I only get chance to look at the art app. It has several creativity components in it. If you are looking for art apps for your toddler or preschooler and your child likes Disney characters, this would be good app to have. There are 5 units in the app. Each unit has… Read more

Noggin is a free app that provides subscription based streaming shows for preschool kids. With the subscription, kids can watch the full episodes of ad-free preschool shows, plus access to other educational videos. You have 7 days free service. At the end of the free trial, you can discontinue the subscription, or the app will automatically charge your iTunes account for the next month. It is a new service from Nickelodeon. The shows included in the app: Allegra’s Window, Blue’s… Read more

ABC Gurus is a fun alphabet app for preschool kids. It teaches both letter names and letter sounds. What makes this app stand out is the incidental learning design. Incidental learning is the learning happens by chance in connection with something else. In this app, kids will be creating alphabet characters, but during the process of creating the characters, they will have lots of opportunities to hear the sound of the letters, thus learn the letter sound unconsciously. This is… Read more

JFK Challenge is a free app from The John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum. It is designed for school age kids to learn the history, particularly the two initiatives by JFK – The Peace Corps and The Space Program, via the combination of multimedia introductions and hands-on games. To start the app, kids can set their own avatar with a picture of themselves. They will watch a brief introduction of John F. Kennedy and the two initiatives. Kids can… Read more

Eli Explorer offers open-ended play to young children. It is an app for toddlers and preschoolers. Kids can freely explore in the forest, on the mountain, and at the cute bunny Eli’s home. I love it for its open-ended play. There is no levels, no rules, just exploratory play. Isn’t this how young children learn? When kids start the app, they will see the little bunny Eli sleeping on the cloud. Kids can wake up Eli by tapping on the… Read more

Medelia is a free app helping kids learn about the history of Mediterranean cities. Kids visit the cities, learn and explore at their own pace. It is a fun way to learn history. There will be more cities included the app, but currently there are 3, and one city is free. When kids just start the app, they can create their own avatars. The created the character will be the one explore the cities. Currently the city that comes free… Read more

I listed iTrace app in the list of Best Handwriting Learning Tools for Kids, but have not had a full review. Today the app is free for limited time. I think it is a good opportunity to share a detailed review. If you are still looking for an app for kids to practice handwriting, this is a good one to use. If you are going to have kids practice handwriting on iPad, I highly recommend a child-friendly stylus. I like… Read more

Highlights is not a stranger to most parents. You can see their magazines in many places, like doctors’ waiting room or other kids places. Now Highlights are bringing their magazines to mobile devices so kids can have the fun on the go, no matter where you take them. I recently had a chance to take a look at the Highlights All About series. It is a magazine-style book series designed for preschool to early elementary school kids. You can have… Read more

I just read the news that LaunchPad the company who created Toontastic app is bought by Google. As a celebration, they set two of their apps free: Toontastic and TeleStory. We reviewed Toontastic, which is a fun app letting kids create their own stories and making them into movies. Toontastic also teaches kids how to arrange the storyline to make the stories more interesting. Different from Toontastic, TeleStory is an app letting kids create their own TV shows with provided… Read more

There is a new Nick Jr. app for iPad and it’s free! This app provides commercial free viewings of Nick Jr. full episodes and short clips as well as fun games. I enjoy television apps because it allows us a way to take videos and TV on the go. No more worrying about CD’s and portable CD players when it’s all held within the device or through a quick online app. Also, when there is that one 5 minute scene… Read more

City Nights is a beautiful picture book for kids on iPad. It depicts the feel of the night in the busy city through a child who is ready to go to bed. Beautifully illustrated and with short rhymes, it is a perfect bedtime book app to read with kids before they going to sleep. The book starts with a child who is ready for bed, and watching the street from the window. “In the city, in the city night, sunset… Read more