“Pre-K Safari” is an amazing education app, teaching letters, numbers, shapes, and colors. Each activity has a safari theme and is great for kids who love animals. The music has an African beat, the sound quality is high, and I find it relaxing to listen to. Each game is narrated by a friendly hyena who gives praise for the correct answer and lets the player know when the answer is wrong but is always kind and encouraging. You can also track your child’s progress with an achievement screen.

I don’t think I ever taught my son how to use this app. All the activities are very intuitive, and he picked it up very quickly on his own. My son knew all his letters, numbers, shapes, and colors by just over 2 years, and I give this app and ones like it credit for helping him learn these things without any struggle whatsoever. As an adult, I find this app enjoyable as well. The colors game is taught by touching different colored butterflies, and I find their flying around quite lovely. There is also a free lite version to try, but this app is worth much more than $.99.

Animals, By Age Range, By App Feature, Counting, Language, Matching, Preschool, Reviews, Shapes, Toddlers

Lola the Panda Bear flies through the screen on her choo-choo train, on her way to deliver presents to her friends, making frequent stops to complete letter-matching and reading puzzles. Each time Lola (i.e., your child) successfully completes the puzzle, the train zooms along it’s way, and Lola earns five coins which are tallied in the upper right corner of the screen. Every so often, the train stops at a toy store where the child can use the earned coins to buy presents, adding an element of math to the game. The purchased toys are then stowed on the flatbed of the train.

Three levels of difficulty are available (Hard, Medium, and Easy) which adapts the game for preschoolers through school-age. My 4-year old enjoyed the Easy and Medium levels, and even my 2-year old, who cannot yet recognize letters, liked to touch the pictures and delighted in the panda and the train. The game can be played in English, French, Spanish and German, which adds value to students studying other languages.

This is a cute and engaging pre-k and early reading game. I recommend.

By Age Range, By App Feature, Language, Math, Preschool, Primary School, Reading, Reviews, Toddlers

Monster Scribbles is a charming little storybook app about a little boy named Duncan who is obsessed with monsters. He draws them in his sketch book and hopes to dream of them as he falls asleep. One night, Duncan woke up in the middle of the night to see a monster right in his room! The monster, named Monster Scribbles, proceeds to leaf through Duncan’s monster sketch book and magically makes Duncan’s sketch book monsters come alive. He then teaches Duncan to do the same by focusing the power of his imagination on the monsters.

The narration is clear and crisp male voice. Settings include narration on/off, English or Spanish languages, page turn delay, auto-turn, resume at cover or on page left, and sound effect volume. A table of contents in the form of story panels appears at the bottom of the screen when the center of the screen is tapped.

The story is short and paced well enough to capture my the attention of my four-year old, who has taken to drawing monsters in the hopes that he can imagine them into existence so they will visit him in his room!

Art, By Age Range, Creativity, Language, Preschool, Reading, Reviews, Stories

The storybook application “One Fish, Two Fish, Red Fish, Blue Fish” is based on the original book by Theodor Geisel – most commonly known as Dr. Seuss. As with many of Seuss’ early books, there isn’t much “story” to this story, yet the clever, poetic lyrics and fantastical creatures aptly capture the imagination and wonderment of readers of all ages. For early readers, “One Fish…” keeps their attention through clever rhyme and offers lessons through word association and word comprehension. Further, the design of this colorful ebook application reinforces these lessons by highlighting words as they are narrated. Also, when objects are touched, they are identified by both spoken and written word. I appreciate how this application has a lot of movement with panning across each page for a more detailed look at different illustrations. The original artwork and text by Seuss work well in the iPhone/Touch format, and even better on the iPad. I was thrilled to learn it’s a two-in-one deal, since the one application works for both the iPhone/iPod Touch and iPad.

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The wait is FINALLY over and our friends Madera the Monkey and Figaro the Frog have returned… this time to Save The Day! (Duh-da-da daaaa!) “Madera & Figaro Save The Day” is the story of two silly friends who join forces to help their community after a large storm has hit their fair city. Their mission is to help restore the city in time for the big party. An impressive follow-up to publisher Lyn & Line’s first application entitled “The Rescue of Ginger”, this app is supersized with more story, more interactive features, and many more learning opportunities. It’s the most interactive storybook app I’ve experienced yet and provides a perfect symmetry of educational game play and story. It’s a rich source of learning opportunities for young kids including elements that teach sizes, shapes, letters, numbers, colors, and matching. It’s packed full of original interactive features and games, too. Designers have crafted the app so that the sequence of questions are randomized, thereby capturing and keeping the attention of young ones who play this application over and over again. It has vivid HD illustrations that are designed to work on both the iPad and iPhone. What a treat!

Animals, By Age Range, By App Feature, Counting, Language, Matching, Phonics, Preschool, Puzzle, Reading, Reviews, Shapes, Sounds, Spelling, Toddlers

Ever since we started playing our first “Toddler Teaser” app (Transportation), my son’s vocabulary for things-that-go has burgeoned significantly. He can now recognize most modes of transportation and he’s even invented a few new words like “cuck” which identifies ambiguous car models like SUVs and Jeeps (I know… genius). Well, I thought it was high time we brought a few more nouns into the mix, and since we loved our first Toddler Teaser experience, we purchased the “Bugs” themed version. The formula of this application is like the Transportation version but it’s designed to help children to identify the names of various insects. Each page shows several different bugs and the player is asked to touch the correct option. The narrator encourages the player to keep selecting until the correct insect is identified. Instructions and narration are clear and easy to understand, the pictures are easy to identify, and there are 17 different critters for toddlers to learn. “Toddler Teasers Bugs” doesn’t have many bells and whistles, and it’s a very simple in design and concept, yet it fully embraces my son’s curiosity and helps him to learn about a topic of interest. I can’t wait to hear what new insect names he’ll coin!

Animals, By Age Range, By App Feature, Language, Matching, Preschool, Reading, Reviews, Toddlers

If you’re a fan of apps by Duck Duck Moose (like the acclaimed “Wheels on the Bus” and “Itsy Bitsy Spider’), then you’ll absolutely flip for the publisher’s newest app. “Fish School” is a toddler/preschooler-based application that’s packed full of age-appropriate lessons and games. Lesson topics include letters, numbers, shapes, and colors; there’s also a matching and “differences” game. Each activity features groups of brilliantly-colorful fish that school together in various patterns for their instruction. The musical accompaniment is delightful classical string instrumentation that offers a high-brow soundtrack to this magical app. I find there’s a plucky playfulness about “Fish School” that makes it equally enjoyable for kids and parents alike. My son enjoys watching the active and ever-changing “fishies”, participating in the “ABC” song, and counting. I’m impressed with how this app has struck a perfect balance of game play and learning opportunities. “Fish School” engages my son’s adventurous, spirited-side, all the while, keeping his attention and interest in learning fundamentals like counting and letters. Admittedly, I have selfish reasons for liking this app. Watching the vibrant fish in the cool, crystalline blue water is like a mini-vacation for this tired Mama. All I need is the sensation of powdery sand beneath my feet and a cold beverage in my hand, and I’ll have the perfect virtual beach escape. Ahhhhh….

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“Buubuu Jumble Zoo” is a puzzle-flashcard application geared toward toddlers and preschoolers just learning to speak and read. The application displays seven zoo animals and two human characters, and can be played in several different ways. You can play as a jumble puzzle by sliding through the selections to match the three correct anatomical parts; when the puzzle is solved, the animal is displayed in his native environment. The other option allows you to view the animals in flashcard mode with the identifying name. You can customize the app by recording your own voice or sound to identify the animals/characters, or you can change the settings for the creature’s name to be displayed in up to eight different languages. The artwork and graphics are delightful and aesthetically pleasing, and the sound recording feature is intuitive and easy-to-use. However, there are a couple of things I found challenging: the settings are difficult to navigate and there aren’t many different animals offered, but the option to customize the experience (such as puzzle vs. flashcards, record your own voice, and learn animals in different languages) helps to compensate for what’s lacking in zoo resident variety. My son and I hope V 1.1 will include some of our best-liked zoo animals… an elephant, zebra, rhino, and gorilla.

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I grew up playing board games and one of my top picks has always been the crossword game of “Scrabble”. For months now, my husband has been raving about this app and challenging me to try it. He’s invited me to play using the “Facebook connect” feature and by Wifi, but I’ve had other apps at hand, so he usually ends up playing against himself. Well, finally, we gave it a go and I now see why he’s so enamored. Compared to most applications I’ve experienced, “Scrabble” is highly-polished, flashy, glitzy, and glamorous, with a sophisticated and involved interface, and an upbeat electronic soundtrack. My favorite features include the statistics tab (that allows you to track your best word, best turn, wins and losses) and the “teacher feature” that shows you the best words you could have chosen. The later option injects the game with an opportunity to grow and learn… I’m always striving to expand my mind. I haven’t had much experience with “Scrabble” for the iPhone, but so far it’s been positive. I noticed that many reviewers on iTunes thought the game was fraught with bugs that interfered with game play, but that hasn’t been my experience so far. Admittedly, I was taken back by the price (currently listed at $4.99) but – considering the entertainment value my husband and I can enjoy together – it’s a palatable investment.

By Age Range, By App Feature, High School +, Just For Fun, Language, Middle School, Primary School, Reading, Reviews, Spelling

This unique application targets young kids who are acquiring basic vocabulary and early language skills. “Learn to Talk” facilitates lessons with 160 interactive audio flashcards developed by a speech pathologist and is thoughtfully designed to progress based on how toddlers typically learn patterns of speech and language. My son and I are currently working on the first lesson which is “high impact words”; these are comfort words and the first building blocks toward further language progression. Next, the application moves through label/object words, one word actions, and finally, to two word actions. The user should carefully read the directions to fully utilize the multitude of features offered as it extends the use of these cards and challenges children to master new skills. My son is developing language skills at a typical rate, but I can see how this would be an invaluable tool for caregivers working with kids who are developmentally-delayed or impaired, or with children in multilingual households. Overall, I’m a fan of this app but I must admit that I found it a bit challenging to navigate the interface settings and features. A young child might get confused and frustrated without the assistance of an adult helping them.

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