Feel Electric! is an interesting free, universal educational app aimed at helping children learn about and express emotions in a healthy way.

This app features the cast and content of The New Electric Company, teaching children the meaning of 50 emotional words and further exploring these different feelings with a variety of fun activities.

One area of this app is called My Life and consists of three sections, Mood Dude, Mood Tales and Moodosphere.

Mood Dude allows players to change the eyes, brows, mouth, arms, and color of an avatar reminiscent of an M&M character, allowing one to express how he is feeling. It is nice that both happy and sad choices are included as well as many other emotions.

Mood Tales includes ten story makers that also demonstrate emotions, here used as the tone to these short stories that get filled in with the choice of random words – Mad-Libs style – and include images from this hit PBS T.V. show.

Moodosphere allows children to choose three emotions that best describe their current mood do tap to hear and see proper usage of these words.

I really enjoy the vast selection of eclectic emotions included within this app, such as calm, confused, bored, regretful, jealous or proud, as well as how these words are explained as a tap of a finger opens up a glossary of terms, both written, narrated, and with a photo. I think it is great that the narration also expresses the emotion word in use, really bringing home the meaning of these important words.

The My Games section includes three fun arcade-style mini-games that also focus on children learning to express their emotions through words.

Pets Vs. Monsters is a fun game taking place on a baseball field where the player moves a batter back and forth with a finger trying to hit photo images that correspond with the emotion in question. I enjoy this mini-game, but I found this game a little hard as I tried to match up expressions that did not match 100 % with the emotion at hand but were good choices until the correct, most obvious choice was offered.

Prankster Madness is a tilt game where players tilt their devices to move a skateboarder back and forth matching expressive photos to word balls dropping from the sky, missing incorrect words and other objects in the fast-paced, timed mini-game.

Hey, Catch This is another emotion centric arcade-style game, here allowing players to shoot word balls at moving targets with matching expressions.

My Stuff is a section full of photos, music, and video clips from The New Electric Company. This section allows one to decorate the photos from the My Photos with stickers that also express different emotions. It is nice that a large selection of images, music and video clips from The New Electric Company are included, and I appreciate how this media can be accessed without an internet connection.

Fans of this show will love all of this included content, but I think children not familiar with this series may feel that there is a lot of context missing to fully understand what one is looking at or listening to.

Although this may be the case for this section of this app, it is nice that the other areas of this app are accessible to children who may not watch this show on TV, even if the concepts and characters past the basic gameplay may also be over the heads of those not fans of The New Electric Company.

My personal favorite area of this app is the What’s the Word section, a glossary of emotional words used throughout this app. Here, one can study the faces that make up each expression close up, also listening to the explanation of each word expressed in a way that demonstrates each word really well. This is a great area to compare similar yet different words as it pertains to how these expressions are demonstrated on the faces of those who possess these emotions. It would be nice to be able to see these photos blow up to even larger images, and it would be nice to choose words that are similar and be able to compare these images side by side.

Feel Electric! is also part of the website, Military Families Near and Far which aids children in expressing their emotions and keeping in contact with family. This is a wonderful application for allowing children to express their feelings especially while being faced with the challenges of deployed family members.

I would also like to recommend this app to families with special needs children who will gain a lot by the images of expressive faces and verbal cues offered about a variety of emotions. Jessica Ruiz and Danny Rebus, the teen cast members who star in this app as well as The New Electric Company do an outstanding job expressing these emotions in a way that is exaggerated enough for these feelings to register clearly, while still being grounded in reality.

Parents and teachers may also appreciate how this app keeps a log of the various emotions chosen on different days, allowing adults and children to look back and discuss the feelings that were previously felt.

It is impressive that an app of this caliber is free, as it is bright, colorful and a lot of fun, also including some fun, up-beat music used throughout.

Because of this fact, I would think many families would enjoy downloading this app and seeing what it is all about, as I can imagine young children not associated with military families, or those who have special needs, can gain a great deal of new vocabulary words, making this a good app for toddlers who can peruse the emotional faces and new words found throughout the What’s the Word section, making it a great first app where kids will grow into the other sections.

By Age Range, By App Feature, Creativity, Health, Just For Fun, Language, Preschool, Primary School, Reviews, Social, Special Needs, Toddlers

Kids Food Adventure is a very nice universal app that is geared towards encouraging children to try new foods.

The foods included in the application can be searched by season, as one can look at a calendar where each month of the year has seven foods that are in season, and I like how one can pre-select an area of the world – be it North America or Europe – to make the food selections offered, which are accurate in terms of seasonal availability.

This is very helpful as the main goal of this app is to get kids interested in trying new foods that presumably parents will provide for their children. It is also nice that the kids get credit for each new food they try, but liking the food is not necessary as one can mark each new food as “yummy,” “yucky,” or just “so-so,” as tasting these new foods ultimately leads to earning stickers. Children can go back and edit how they feel about these foods as their tastes change as they get used to new and different foods.

One can also choose to discover new foods by type, be it desserts, cheeses, seeds and nuts, or regional cuisine such as Greek or foods found in the Far East. These themed groups of foods are explored as one chooses a sticker that represents these food groupings – a nice way to get kids interested in new foods.

A well-shot photo of each of these foods is included that will enlarge to show detail with a tap, as well as thoughtfully written information which offers insight into nutritional benefits and other fun facts that kids and adults will enjoy.

Note that no narration is included – not an issue really as this app is one that is best shared between adults and children. Foods children may be familiar with, such as strawberries or cherries, are included, as well as some less common foods such as a large selection of fancy cheeses like camembert, or gruyere, or produce such as quinces or physalis.

Each food group is represented here, with a variety of fish being the only meat of any kind within this application. Some families will appreciate this choice, and it is nice that gluten-free, dairy-free, vegetarian and vegan choices are included, but I can imagine that other families may find this app lacking in other animal proteins, as well as possibly be concerned at the expense or availability of some of these foods that are meant to be bought and tasted.

I enjoy the look of this app, with a subtle vintage flair adults may enjoy, as here the background used is a close up of the grain of a wood travel trunk, which is intended to be decorated with the stickers one earns by trying these new foods. The look of this warm-toned stain and tactile wood grain is pleasing to the eye, but this is an item most children today may know nothing about, while parents may appreciate this element. The stickers also have a period feel to them, as they are akin to stickers one may find on a guitar case or as an iron-on patch found on a vintage pair of jeans, a fun detail that I enjoy.

All in all, this is an educational app that adults and children will enjoy sharing together. I have found the fun facts informative, the included photographs lovely to look at, and the month-to-month food choices helpful in coming up with new food ideas.

By Age Range, By App Feature, Health, Just For Fun, Preschool, Primary School, Reviews, Social, Toddlers

Every week can be Shark Week when exploring Discovery Kids Sharks. This very content-rich app for iPad packs in a plethora of information about these aquatic creatures.

Six nicely interactive sections are included that teach kids about where sharks live, the types of sharks that exist, shark features, feeding and family life, as well as a sticker section that one can explore, adding sticker packs that one collects as the discovery challenges are successfully completed.

The question of where sharks live is nicely answered with a world map that is marked with shark hotspots. A tap in the correct space delivers a shark trading card of sorts that can be flipped over to read such details as the habitat in which these sharks live, the food they eat, info about the speed in which they swim, and the size they grow to. They also include a Top Fact about every fish, making each unique. These cards can also be shared by email if one chooses.

Once these sharks are found across the globe, one can partake in a discovery challenge to win a sticker pack. This challenge tests the info absorbed during this section, with element of fun as well.

Here, one must match the shark in question to its corresponding cutout, also answering the question about each specific shark. I appreciate the included puzzle aspect being incorporated, as this allows one to match the outline of each shark, making it possible for children to succeed here even if they do not remember all the answers correctly.

The types of sharks are explored as one goes on an underwater photo expedition, lining up sharks in the sight of one’s underwater camera. These photos are transformed into info cards full of interesting shark facts, the completion of this task leading to a discover challenge where one must match the color, markings and other details that make up shark features and match these skin swatches to a corresponding shark outline.

Shark feeding is accomplished with a fun game: after scrolling though possible choices, choose a shark with a tap and and check out what it likes to eat as well as other facts found within its included info card, tilt the iPad to move the shark around looking for prey, tapping a side button to eat the smaller creature.

The family life of sharks is introduced with a fun peek-a-boo game of sorts as one scrolls through the bottom of the ocean looking for movement or air bubbles coming from behind an obstruction which hides baby sharks. Here one is challenged by matching the shark to the facts offered and to the corresponding head of each shark, allowing kids to use the outline as a further clue. Questions including whether the pup sharks are born alive or if an egg is released are also included.

After each discovery challenge is complete, children will receive five new stickers per stocker pack to add to their underwater scene that one can decorate.

I like how here, one can scroll side to side, creating a lot of space one can decorate and adults will enjoy how these stickers are offered to the players in a small Mylar bag, reminiscent of how trading cards from my childhood were packaged.

There is really a lot of information offered within this app, making it a great educational tool. We enjoy shark week as well, but I worry that sometimes content may be intense for my sensitive son.

This is not a concern here, making it a great choice for shark lovers of all ages, but be aware that this app does not contain narration, making this a good choice for later grade school or younger children provided an adult or older child is willing to read the text out loud.

The look of the sharks and various other illustrations is terrific – very realistic and with the bold colors one would expect from marine life.

Each of these sections has an included video that plays as an intro to the subject matter. These videos look wonderful as well, sometimes including interesting electronic music that really adds to the experience. Other times, the music has a decidedly different tone more reminiscent of that from a horror film or akin to the theme from Jaws.

This choice may be appropriate for the feeding section, although no graphic footage is shown, creating a theme for this section that may be appropriate from the view of the creatures these sharks eat, as to them – these sharks are indeed very scary.

I don’t, however, understand the scary music choices for the videos chosen for the shark features or family life sections, as here the dark tone created by this kind of music does not add to the topic at hand and to me seems like a judgment call of some sort, negative to sharks in general.

The tone created with this negative, slasher-movie-appropriate music, although a very short sample and video, is in great contrast especially in the family video, as here a lovely scene of pups swimming in unison under their momma’s belly are introduced with the use of aggressive music that does not at all illustrate the footage of family love.

The interesting electronic music used in the first two sections makes these video clips wondrous and even a little surreal – fantastic choices to go along with the videos in this app. The other, horror-like music, actually may make these videos less child-friendly to the most sensitive of children, which is the only flaw I found within this application.

I do enjoy everything else this app has to offer. The use of the trading cards that one can refer to later is a great way of organizing the vast amount of information offered within this app, which can also be emailed to a friend if one chooses. Each interactive section is intuitive and fun, as are the challenges.

I did, however, have some problems with the feeding section as sometimes the food listed was not recognized as a correct answer, now leaving the player to use trial and error to find the correct oceanic animal to eat – an issue I hope can be looked into.

Having said this, it is nice that this section not only allows one to tilt the iPad, but one can also tap the fish one is looking to eat as well, or drag a finger for the shark to follow – helpful for those not skilled at tilt games, such as myself.

This would make a great app for families or in an educational setting as the included games go a long way in introducing shark data in a way that stays engaging. I like that these challenges are in no way timed, and one can make wrong answers without any sort of penalty.

The theme music found on the main menu page is fun, upbeat and with a rock influence older kids and adults will enjoy, but I do take some issue with some of the other music used. Even with this issue, this is a very worthwhile app, especially to families that have a young shark lover.

Animals, Art, By Age Range, By App Feature, Creativity, Geography, Health, Just For Fun, Nature, Preschool, Primary School, Reading, Reviews, Science, Social

Llama Llama Red Pajama is a lovely universal storybook application which brings the popular picture book of the same name to life. Enjoy this book with narration or without, and parents who read this story to their children have the option for their storytelling to be accompanied by soothing music and fun effects – or not, and a Spanish translation is also included.

For those who do not know, this is a story is written in rhyme about a young llama and his separation anxiety from his momma after she gently puts him to bed and goes downstairs to do some chores.

This is a favorite book in our family, and for us both a perfect book to read at bedtime as well as a beloved book in my son’s preschool. I love how this story is told from the point-of-view of both the llama and his mama as the llama child attempts to fall asleep as the mama tends to a sink full of dishes and other adult tasks. The llama child then misses his mama and becomes overly dramatic in a way that is very cute and very relatable to my 3.5 year old son.

I really enjoy this app and so does my son. The illustrations also found within the printed version of this storybook are marvelous, as these tender emotions of love, fear and finally contentment are lovingly portrayed in the facial expressions of both mama and child.

Here, simple interactive animations are included as the mama and child move their heads and limbs, bobble-head style, as well as other hotspots that relate to this story, such as popping the bubbles found as mama washes dishes or ringing the telephone. A few times the young llama also speaks, as he whimpers first quietly and then louder for his mama and makes other related sounds which really tug at my heartstrings each time we explore this app.

I do that find these interactions add to the richness of this story without being distracting, and it is nice that all the included music and sounds can be muted while a parent reads this story, if one wishes.

Although extremely popular, this book has also been criticized for being scary for suggestive children, as Llama Llama Red Pajama gets very upset, shown in some very vivid illustrations that we love, but may overwhelm some children.

The mama here has also been accused of acting uncaring to her child as he asks for a drink, and it takes mamma a while to fulfill this request. For me, I appreciate how the story shows this issue from both sides. From the mama’s point-of-view, she is really in the throes of housework and is doing the best job she can juggling her responsibilities, but from the llama child’s perspective, the seconds or minutes he waits for his mama to return are too much for him to bear. It is important to note here that the time frame in which the mama tells the child to wait is open for interpretation and is a nice starting point to talk to one’s child about empathizing about what each of the different characters here is feeling and why.

For us, this book is wonderful as it de-mystifies the activities that parents may engage in when their children go to sleep, as I think my son has put off going to bed for fear of missing something he would like to be part of.

I do tend to wait until my son is asleep to leave the room, but as he sleeps 12 hours a night it is unrealistic for me to stay with him all this time, so after he is out for the night I do leave to take care of other business much like the llama mamma in this story. My son sometimes may wake up after being put down and for him, my not being there has in the past been a trigger for tears.

I really think this book has helped my son with his fears of my not being by his side instantly, as our favorite line of this book is “Mamma Llama’s always near, even if she is not right here” – a very important message for my son to learn, lucky for us, this line became a light bulb moment for him, taking this story in and he has now had fewer issues with separation anxiety himself, knowing that I too am always near even if I am not right there with him at every moment and it may take a minute for me to sometimes get back to him. I have also used the term “no llama drama” to put my son back to bed without effort, something that surprised me as having worked the first time I tried this technique.

Some may want to compare this and other rhyming books like it to Dr. Seuss, the best lyrical wordsmith of children’s literature. As tempting as this is, I avoid this comparison as Dr. Seuss’s sentence structures are often long, fantastical, and for me, sometimes cumbersome to read out loud. Here, Llama Llama Red Pajama is wonderfully simple and easy to read, both out loud to children as well as an easy reader for older kids, making this book a nice beginner book to also read to a younger sibling as the sentences repeat common words to this story, and the sentences are short and easy to speak and read.

I also love the Spanish translation of this book, as this simple style can be enjoyed by new learners of the Spanish language as well as children who don’t speak English as a primary language and who may enjoy the English section as a primer to this language as well.

I do not see this app as taking the place of the beloved printed storybook in our family, but it is nice that with narration, my son can listen to this book when we are out and about, and for this reason, I especially like that this is a universal application.

I do recommend this app as we have enjoyed it very much, as we do the book in traditional form. It is worth noting that I have had no issues with the use of this app as many others have reported, these issues stemming possibly from not updating one’s device to iOS 5 before down loading this story, good to know.

Art, By Age Range, By App Feature, Health, Just For Fun, Language, Preschool, Primary School, Reading, Reviews, Social, Special Needs, Toddlers

Smart Tot Rattle is an interesting app for the youngest members of the family, as this app consists of the high-contrast colors of red, black, white, along with the use of geometric shapes all said to be visually stimulating to babies.

Four themes are included and each contains its own highly contrasting background of circles, checkerboard, stars or stripes, presented in black and white and corresponding to the included themes of balls, kites, stars, and flowers. It is nice that these items in the foreground also contain vivid colors such as blue, green, or yellow, making these items really pop.

A physics engine is used here, making the objects included bounce around the screen with the drag of a finger or by moving the iPhone. Pleasant chime sounds are also incorporated and can be heard with the tap of a finger or when these items bump into each other on the screen, and one can feel vibrations when the device is shaken.

Parents have a few selections to choose from, specifically if they want to include the use of sound effects, and how often (if at all) the motifs will change, ranging anywhere from 10 to 30 seconds, and one can leave the app set to one desired background as well.

The look of this application is indeed engaging: I can see how a baby would be interested in looking at this app. It would make an ultimate distraction for doctors’ offices when vaccinations and the like are given, and I appreciate the developer’s idea from the iTunes description of using this app for tummy-time, especially for babies who are reluctant to spend time in this position – very helpful when traveling as this app packs easier than the activity pads and toys that baby may be used to.

I can also see this app being overly stimulating for some, and I wish the vibrations could be turned off within this app without having to alter the settings of the iPhone itself to do so. This added stimulus seems a bit much, as there is already a lot going on here to look at and listen to.

Personally, I would also recommend the use of “Airplane mode” as a caution when a baby at such a young age may be using one’s iPhone, as well as avoiding a very jarring experience of the phone ringing in the middle of playing with this application.

Whether this app is a good choice for one’s family is a personal decision, but this app is nicely done and worth looking into, especially for those who are intrigued by the use of high-contrast colors for their baby to look at and explore.

Art, By Age Range, By App Feature, Creativity, For Parents, Health, Just For Fun, Reviews, Shapes, Toddlers

Lumi’s Book of Eyes is a charming and educational interactive universal storybook app focused on the different eyes found in animals across the world, as well as those of humans.

I really enjoy this book, told from the point of view of Lumi, a Turkish boy who is the narrator and guide of this story. Here, Lumi offers interesting facts about the eyes of a nice selection of animals, such as the use of crocodile tears to help lubricate eyes when this animal spends time on dry land, or the near sidedness of frogs, allowing them to see unclose, great for catching bugs.

The look of this book is also super-cute and a little special, as the simple, hand drawings of Lumi are juxtaposed with some very vivid animal photos. Tapping these animals will cause them to blink, and do tap Lumi as well, and some simple but lovely animations are included of Lumi reacting to the various facts presented.

This app also touches on the health of human eyes, the need for kids to have their eyes checked before the 1st grade and a positive message about kids wearing glasses. This is a cute and fun app for children in general but will be of a special interest for those who wear glasses themselves or are going soon for their first eye exam, something important for all school-age children. Very nice narration and music are included which I have really enjoyed. The narration can be easily tuned off as well if one chooses.

An eye-spy game of sorts is also included here as well, as the player is given a close-up photo of an object in the shape of a circle, and one must decide if the image in question is an eye or not. This is a really fun game that kids and adults will really enjoy, as different eyes are included here, as well as other objects such as the spots from a butterfly back or even Earth as seen from space.

Given family history, I won’t be surprised if at some point our son needs glasses as his entire family wear them. He may be in his 30’s before he needs them like my husband and me, or still in grade school like another close family member, but either way, this is a thoughtful educational app originally written by an ophthalmologist and is aimed at an international audience. Lumi’s Book of Eyes will also be a hit with animal lovers as the information is interesting, and the photographs are of a really great quality, making this storybook one that is very easy to recommend.

Animals, By Age Range, By App Feature, Health, Just For Fun, Preschool, Primary School, Reading, Reviews, Science, Special Needs, Stories, Toddlers

Bobo Explores Light is a wonderful, content-rich interactive book for iPad that will educate and entertain children and adults of all ages as they learn about various light-related topics, such as the sun, lightning, or photosynthesis.

This app contains such a plethora of information that I honestly find writing this review a little daunting as there is so much worth covering.

This app starts by introducing itself with a thoughtful, extremely well-done tutorial introducing the reader’s very own robot, Bobo, and explaining how this app works – an important feature as this app has numerous topics to share as well as many added features that one can explore as well. A great table of contents is also offered here, stylized with a great use of working gears, and each page is represented by a frame of a film strip, adding to the style as well as content of this app.

With over 100 pages and 21 topics of interest, a well-crafted tutorial is imperative to fully explain all that an app such as this has to offer to insure that readers get the most from this experience, and this tutorial dos the job well, explaining about the various pull-downs one will find on many of these pages – excellent resources that may include videos and other important extras.

Bobo is as adorable as a robot can be, stylized with the body of an old incandescent bulb and a wind-up key in his back, magnet hands, and the continuous tracks reminiscent of a tank. He is friendly and loyal like a puppy as well, following your finger as you tap side to side. Details such as Bobo humming to himself songs such as “Lollipop” make me smile, and I
love the fact that on some of these pages, one can tap Bobo’s antenna to turn on Bobo’s hologram projector. These holograms are the best that I have seen, not specifically in their three-dimensionness, although to some degree offered here, but as they contain the flicker and glow that I would expect from a projected hologram that I especially appreciate. Do move the iPad around to see other angles of these images as well.

Although very thorough in the educational aspect, this app does not shy away from the details and whimsy that are added to keep this app fun and engaging, which is very important for an app with such a large amount of content to keep kids interested until the end. I love how one enters Bobo’s spaceship, and although a completely different shape, the stylized colors used here in green, red, and orange are reminiscent of “Marvin the Martian”- a palette that makes me smile.

Once the reader launches this ship into space, there is a lovely moment of space travel as one speeds to the sun, including the view of the planets – a very nice touch. I love the nuances of a noisy, turbulent journey as I am sure riding in such a ship is. Very soothing music is also included here, all combined to create a memorable experience.

After the ship has reached its destination, children will be introduced to the 21 subjects of this app, with the option of flipping through each page for a more simplistic over-view of each theme or tapping the pull-down tabs, typically found three per page on the top of the screen. These taps contain fun facts, amazing videos, and can go into great depth while keeping the
main pages more basic, great for the youngest children, making this app fit the needs of many ages. I truly appreciate how much science is really being taught here, such as the concept of shadows being places where photons can’t get to as they are unable to bend around objects like sound waves. The whimsy is not lost in this section either, as the main page is home to a very amusing caveman who dines on toasted marshmallows with Bobo, and don’t forget to tap on Bobo’s hologram projector as well for a fun surprise.

In reality there is not enough time or space to enumerate all the amazing details, both fun interactions to tap on and well as those with great educational value. There is a great moment spent with Thomas Edison, with an excellent use of Bobo’s holograms showing Edison’s various inventions as one listens to period music. A fun demonstration about the difference between a toy laser and the real thing, a terrific use of mirrors, and a fish bowl to demonstrate reflections and refraction, demonstrating the principles of geometry will be much appreciated by older children as well. A great laser light show is also included where one can move the sources from which these lights are bouncing, keeping this app very light and fun, as well as highly interactive, engaging, and highly educational.

I would also like to mention that the included video of the auroras are something I have never seen before quite like this, and the use music here truly creates a moving experience.

It is worth noting that although this app is rich with narrated video clips, sound effects and some lovely musical moments, the majority of the text with this app is not narrated – something that did take me by surprise as I expected to have the excellent narration from the tutorial be found within the body of this app as well. Because of this, this app will need to be read to children who cannot read for themselves. Good to know, but do understand that this app is a must-have science app for children of all ages in grade school, with much of the information being of interest to older student and parents as well. I see this app being a huge family favorite and a great app for older siblings to share with younger children as even high schoolers and beyond will learn a lot from this app – as will adults.

The one area of this app that I think kids may find confusing is how the RGB system of colors is touched upon, which may seem odd to children who have focused their attention on the primary colors of red, yellow and blue – not red, green and blue discussed within this app. I would love to see some mention of the differences of RGB vs. the primary colors as I am sure questions will be asked about this discrepancy.

It has been hard to write a review of this amazing app that is not simply a laundry list of favorite moments. I could not feel stronger about the educational value of this app, the quality that each page offers or the whimsy, humor and interactions that will keep kids involved until the end. With so much that this app has to offer, the replay value of this app is quite high and a must-purchase for anyone with school age children.

This app also tackles questions such as where rainbows come from or why the sky is blue in a way that is clear, thorough, and very understandable to satisfy the most curious of children in way that impressed me greatly. This app recreates the experience one may expect to find at a children’s museum of science and is well worth the money one may spend to purchase this app.

Nothing would make me happier than to see more of these apps be created by the developers at Game Collage, and do take a few minutes to read the credits included at the end, as everyone involved with this app has done a great job.

By Age Range, By App Feature, Creativity, Health, Just For Fun, Preschool, Primary School, Reviews, Science, Toddlers

Food Heroes is an application for iPad consisting of activities focused on teaching nutritious food choices with the nice use of colorful and fun illustrations.

A simple matching game is included where the player turns over cards looking for pairs – here with a healthy food theme.

A coloring page is also offered where children can fill in these drawings as well as food themes, with the tap of a color and the drag of a finger. An eraser is offered here. Players also have the ability to control the size of the line used when filling in these pages, and one can save his work as well – always nice options to have.

For me, the best section of this app is the included word puzzle. A list of eight words is included to the right of the screen, and the player must find these words within the grid of letters center screen. This is such a classic kids activity that I am surprised that I do not come across more of these types of word games in applications. The best feature of all is that as one finds these hidden words, very nice children’s narration offers fun facts about each food word discovered, making this nicely educational.

This app is a nice choice for early grade schoolers once they are able to manage the word puzzles. I really enjoy the fun facts used here, as the information offered here is interesting to adults and children alike, and it is great that different words are used each time this word puzzle is played – excellent for re-play value – but I have found a few glitches where words do not offer the fun sentence I have learned to expect here, something I hope that can be worked out in a future update.

Parents will also appreciate the fact that each activity includes music with its own fun and upbeat sound, be it a mild country theme, jazzy, or with a slight Hawaiian flair.

All-in-all, a nice experience, with the word puzzles and info offered, making this app a nice educational experience.

By Age Range, By App Feature, Health, Just For Fun, Matching, Nature, Preschool, Primary School, Puzzle, Reviews, Science

KidsMag Issue 01 is a very nice iPad application for preschool-aged kids, structured much like a magazine would be for their age group. This app revolves around Teo and Bianca, a brother and sister team who teach a lot about some of children’s favorite things, such as a farm or fire station, leading children through more than 50 activities just right for this age range. An index is included, making it easier for parents to select specific games they especially enjoy.

I really like the content of this app. With an impressive amount to look at and interact with, this app really does remind me of a kids’ magazine such as “Highlights” and I found the segment on fire stations to be very informative and well written, as one taps on interactive hotspots and listens to narration about the firehouse. It is nice that these hotspots are highlighted with a hand symbol, showing the player where to tap, making this app extra intuitive for kids who may or may not be seasoned app users. There is also a nice section about Bianca and her trip to the store, again well written as one taps on storyboard-type squares which emphasize the sequencing of her busy day. The text can also be followed at the bottom of the screen, nice for early readers to follow along with. Each of these sections have many related activities to interact with, and I found them each to be thoughtfully executed.

There are many puzzles to complete, characters to dress up, differences to spot and objects to find in this highly entertaining kids’ app. One thing the application does nicely is that these games each have multiple scenes per activity, something not found in traditional magazines, giving the players the chance to shake the iPad to go on to the next scene or wait until they are finished with what they are working on to continue. I like that little or no reading is necessary to enjoy these activities, and a question mark icon can be tapped in case one needs help with the interactions. It would be nice if a button could be tapped to give true clues to some of these activities for when a young player gets stuck, especially while finding the differences between two similar pictures or to spot the hidden pictures section of this app.

I do not like, however, that there are two full page app advertisements included among the pages of this magazine application. I am familiar with both of the apps advertised, also from the same developers of KidsMag. I have no doubt that kids would enjoy these advertised apps, but I have an issue with ads in apps in general, especially here where one can easily mistake the ad as another puzzle to solve and tap on the iTunes link by accident. As an adult, I was confused the first few times I hit these pages, not realizing that I was looking at an ad rather than an activity and I am sure this would confuse a child even more as to what is going on, not the way I want my child to feel, even though most of the time my son uses my iPad without an internet connection and without risk of buying apps unassisted.

In recent weeks iTunes has made it more difficult for accidental in-app purchases to take place, but with stand-alone apps, these accidents can still happen and these kinds of ads make me as a parent unhappy. I really don’t want my son being influenced by ads of any kind, such as TV commercials that make him want toys he does not need or for kids’ apps that we are not looking to spend money on.

I know that when I am impressed with an application, the first thing I do is check to see if the developer in question has any more apps I would be interested in and I certainly do not need to come across these full page apps to get my attention. In truth, these ads leave a bad taste in my mouth, which is unfortunate as this app is all around is wonderful, except these distracting and unwanted advertisements.

I would be bothered a whole lot less if the developer simply had a separate section to see other apps of theirs linked from the info page. I hope in the future these ads can be removed from the body of this application. This is the first issue of this magazine app that is going to be published, and I despite these adds, I really look forward to seeing what the coming issues of KidsMag have to offer. I hope the ads can be at least moved to a more appropriate place as I do not think I am not alone in my dislike of advertisements, especially in paid applications.

Animals, Art, By Age Range, By App Feature, Creativity, Health, Just For Fun, Language, Preschool, Primary School, Puzzle, Reading, Reviews, Social, Stories, Toddlers

Speech with Milo: Sequencing is a nice, universal interactive educational app with both special needs and typically developed children in mind as it teaches the basic sequences of events, helping kids develop the sense of “Beginning” Middle” and “End” – important language skills that help develop complex sentences and storytelling abilities. The illustrations and animations used are very cute, and it is also nice that many options are included to personalize this app to the needs of the player, such as whether or not to use background music or sound effects, as these can be either encouraging or distracting, depending on the child.

I have used sequencing cards with my son and we both enjoy this activity, but it should be noted that I need to clear our kitchen table, cluttered with arts and crafts, completely as these sequencing cards take up a lot of room when spread out. I do like how obviously compact it is to use as an application.

There are a lot of themes to choose from here, and it is nice that an adult can select all or any of these themes to be focused on. The player simply arranges three boxes which contain cute mouse Milo and sometimes friend raccoon Melvin doing such activities as baking a cake, driving a car, or planting a flower in three distinct parts, moving these parts in their correct order into corresponding empty boxes below. When the sequence is complete, one can tap a “play” button to see animation of this sequence in action.

Most of these sequences are good choices as there are very clear answers as to which of these choices comes first, second, or third, but some were not so cut and dry, such as when “getting dressed,” one obviously needs to put on shoes after the pants, but here the shirt goes first, yet there is no wrong answer to shirt vs. pants first being correct. Also, when “making tea,” the correct answer is to get the cups, boil the water, and then pour the tea. One needs cups to pour into, but surely one can boil the water before gathering the mugs to drink from. It is easy to de-select these themes if one chooses to, making this issue a minor one,

A narrator introduces the title of each sequence, and a button can be tapped to hear the name again, but it would be nice if the text under each picture box explaining what is happening in each box could be tapped to hear narration as well. Especially on the iPhone, the boxes are a bit small to be able to see the important details sometimes needed to sequence correctly, so the text becomes very important. I am sure that this app is intended to be shared between adult and child, especially in a special need setting, but if the text could be tapped and heard, this could also be enjoyed when a child is by himself.

I like the use of the animations showing these sequences in action, but it may be more effective to have the narration break down the action back into the three parts, describing exactly what is going on in each animation. I would also like an option to see the letters “A,” “B,” and “C.” which are labeled on each of these picture boxes removed as a player can simply arrange these letters in order to correctly put these picture boxes back into correct sequence.

All in all, this is a very nice app that would suit the needs of special needs as well as typical children quite nicely, as this app is fun, engaging as well as educational.

By Age Range, By App Feature, Creativity, Health, Just For Fun, Language, Preschool, Primary School, Reviews, Social, Special Needs, Stories, Toddlers