Review: 10 top iPad apps for kids this year
- Apps include 'Elmo Loves 123s," 'Bugs and Numbers'
Apps for kids continue to innovate, and they can now be found on most mobile devices from iPads to Android tablets to smartphones and even Kindle Fire and Nook. As this year comes to an end, here is a list of sure-fire app pleasers. While most are for the iPad, some of the apps are available across all platforms.
Snappyant, best for ages 2-4, $3.99, iPad
Filled with charming and hilarious illustrations showing why baby animals think their moms are the best, this book app is perfect for your youngest techie. The baby bear mentions his mom's hugs, so he is seen enveloped in a bear hug where he is squeezed tightly. The hippo mommy excels at hula-hooping, where the mommy frog is a dancer. The pattern of hearing why the mom is the best, followed by a surprising animation, will make your toddler or preschooler giggle.
Sesame Street, best for age 3-5, $4.99,iPad
Elmo teams up with Abby to teach kids about the numbers 1 to 20. Through fun videos and songs from the Sesame Street television show, as well as games and coloring pages, kids learn to identify numbers, trace them, count groups of objects and practice early adding and subtraction. The app also provides parents with information about their child's experience. Elmo and Abby are so likeable that kids have a riot learning numbers while playing with their favorite muppets.
Nosy Crow, best for ages 3-6, $4.99, iPhone, iPod Touch, iPad
Kids meet Parker Penguin when he is just a chick growing up in Antarctica. On each page in the science book app, kids interact with the penguin to learn what his life is like. They help him grow up, hunt for food while avoiding predators, find a mate and protect his egg. When the egg is ready to hatch, kids tap the shell so the new baby chick can break out and the story starts again — with a new star — Parker's son. Presented with rich artwork full of round shapes and accompanied by music that varies when you touch the penguin, this is an intriguing way for kids to learn science.
Duncan Studio, for ages 4-7, $3.99, iPad
This interactive book brings together two things that kids love: narration by Jim Dale (the award-winning narrator of the Harry Potter audio books) and mythical creatures (such as the Loch Ness monster and the Abominable Snowman). Starring a timid little boy who gets up on the wrong side of the bed, this youngster's day is filled with surprising but wonderful interactions with monsters and beasts. He plays hide-and-seek with the Boogey Monster in his closet, flies to school on the back of a Griffin, tickles an Ogre under its arms, tosses rings onto a Unicorn's horn and struts home, surrounded by a crew of dancing zombies. With great interaction, an engaging story that introduces a different beast for each letter of the alphabet and wonderful illustrations, this app will chase away all fears of monsters.
Little Bit Studio, LLC., best for ages 4-8, $2.99, iPhone, iPod Touch, iPad
By playing through 18 games, kids learn early math concepts, including numbers, how to count, comparing sizes and sequence. They even explore early fractions and telling time. The games feature realistic-looking bugs doing things like hiding under discarded items in the junkyard while waiting to be counted, or crawling through an arcade game where kids learn left and right by following onscreen arrows and listening to spoken directions. These educational games are fun, and they adjust in difficulty depending on how your child is doing.
Lazoo Worldwide, Inc., best for ages 4-10, Free, iPad
Faces iMake - Right Brain Creativity
iMagine machine LLC, best for ages 4-up, $1.99 on iPad (also on iPhone and iPod Touch for $1.99 but called Faces iMake - Premium)
This is one of the most creative apps in iTunes because it encourages kids to create faces using unusual collage materials. By thinking outside of the box, kids arrange candy, toys, fruit, musical instruments and more to create fanciful faces. With the iPad version, kids can even upload their creations to FaceWorld, a virtual art gallery. They can also download other people's creations, modify them and then upload them to collaborate with kids from around the world.
Filmundus AB, best for ages 7-up, $1.99, iPhone, iPod Touch, iPad
Pettson the inventor and his talking cat Findus have 37 inventions for you to recreate. Pettson provides you with the parts to his Rube Goldberg-like machines, and it is up to you to drag and drop them into the correct locations. Each invention has an "On" switch so you can experiment to see what happens when you do things. The wacky inventions do things like rocking an old lady to sleep in her chair. Engineering becomes fun with this zany, hands-on building kit.
Disney, best for ages 8-up, $.99 on iPhone, iPod Touch, iPad, Android, Kindle Fire, and $1.99 on Nook.
This physics puzzler stars a secret agent platypus named Perry. Perry earned his fame on the Disney television show "Phineas and Ferb," but you don't have to know the show to enjoy this inventive set of puzzles. In each, you must figure out how to use your finger to create a path for water to get it to some generators so that you can transport Perry to his spy headquarters. In each puzzle, the evil Dr. Doofenshmirtz has placed obstacles in your way, such as lasers that heat the water and turn it into steam. With over 100 puzzles, a semi-aquatic sleuth with an attitude and a hilarious bad guy, there's a lot to love.
Rovio Entertainment Ltd, best for 8-up, $.99 for iPhone, iPod Touch, iPad, Android. HD version is $.99 for iPad, Nook and $2.99 for Kindle.
In a clever mashup, the famous Angry Birds have now morphed into the good guys from Star Wars, and the bad pigs are now Darth Vader and the evil pigtroopers. This version of Angry Birds is still filled with puzzle levels where you slingshot the birds at the pigs who are hiding inside of block structures. Everyone is in costume and the Star Wars music and locations grace the background. The beloved Star Wars themes, with accompanying power of lightsabers, blasters and Jedi powers, breathe new life into this popular app franchise. Losing becomes fun, because a piggie version of Darth Vader laughs at you.
Jinny Gudmundsen is the author of the upcoming For Dummies book iPad Apps for Kids. Contact her at techcomments@usatoday.com.