Smart Apps For Kids

Math Bingo

 

 

Bottom Line: Simple and terrific. Children solve math problems to calculate the numbers they can mark on their bingo card.

ABC Animals

 

 

Each page of ABC Animals presents the child with a letter and a picture of an animal whose name starts with that letter. A woman's voice also says each letter and name as each page is turned by the child's finger.

When each page can be double-tapped it flips over and becomes a finger-tracing page, complete with faux double-lined paper!

ABC Animals is a nice, simple game for a preschooler learning their ABCs but there aren't enough bells and whistles for the intended age. Try iWriteWords instead.

 

VideoScience

 

 

VideoScience is actually a compilation of videos, two to three minutes long, for science teachers, showing how to conduct certain experiments and what they demonstrate. It's free, though, and my kids love to watch science experiments.

Brain Quest Blast Off: Grade 2

 

 

Brain Quest Blast Off: Grade 2 was put together by the same company that produces the Brain Quest flash card books. It's a terrific app with exercises in language arts, math, science and social studies. Children have to complete a "train your brain" round to unlock timed "Rocket Rounds." Having to work to unlock things is always a good idea.

Cut The Rope

 

 

In Cut The Rope, the player has to, well, cut a series of ropes (with the slide of a finger) to ensure that candy, donuts or cupcakes gets to a hungry monster named Om Nom.(!)

Additionally, the edible object must be manipulated to catch three stars that appear on each board before reaching the monster's mouth in order to achieve the highest score.

The Oregon Trail

 

 

The Oregon Trail for the iPhone/iPad is the modernized version of an old mainframe computer game that dates back to 1971 and became popularized on the Apple II. In the game, the player assumes the role of a wagon leader guiding his party from Missouri to Oregon. Along the way, the party has to hunt and fish to keep the party stocked, meets a number of historical figures (including Abraham Lincoln) and has to play mini-games to complete certain tasks.

Alphabet Dinosaurs

 

 

In Alphabet Dinosaurs, preschoolers hear their letters, numbers and colors and finger-trace words associated with them.

Although dinosaurs would seem to be a nice draw for kids, the app is rather dull, and I'm not sure what age it is intended for. Children learning to write the letter "I" aren't near the same level as those writing the word "iguanadon."