An app we rated four stars when it cost $3.99 is free today only!
Here is the bottom line from Heather's review: An innovative app designed to help develop the pincer grasp skill and for preparing for cursive writing. Pay close attention to this one.
Now you can get it free!
** Only the app's developer can control when an app is free or not. All apps that we post as Good Free Apps of the Day are verified to be free at the time of this post. We make no guarantees otherwise. **
From iTunes:
Introduce your kids to the first app to help children to develop the pincer grip needed at school. Many children are coming into school unable to properly hold a pencil. As time spent drawing on paper or coloring with crayons is swapped for screen time, key fine motor skills remain underdeveloped. But screen time can also solve the problem and prepare kids for the pencil-and-paper tasks they encounter in school. Mrs. Judd’s Games’ new app, CHALK WALK, is designed to fill in the blank: young hands get needed exercise as they use a thumb & finger pincer grip to play this fun, innovative, teacher-designed game.
Typical iPad tracing games ignore this need for children build awareness of hand positioning required for success in school. CHALK WALK helps focus a child's attention on this skill and offers clever tracing lines that bend and twist before the player's eyes. Children can relate to the familiar activity of drawing and after playing CHALK WALK, we hope they are encouraged to practice their new skills by creating their own drawings with real sidewalk chalk.
CHALK WALK's colorful, fanciful maps offer children a journey through the unique sidewalks of places like Kitty City and Crown Town. Players collect alphabet puzzle pieces and chase prizes as they make their way to Silly Town, where they are encouraged to create their own designs with loops and squiggles that will give their hands—and imaginations—a workout!
The video playback feature offers children a chance to study their own moving "chalk lines" and motivate them to try again, just for fun!
FEATURES:
- encourages fine-motor flexibility/exercise
- builds awareness of hand positioning
- left-hand icon option is included in settings menu
- clearly demonstrates/reinforces thumb-finger pincer grip
- alphabet puzzle pieces create an emerging literacy task
- animated tracing lines promote left-to-right progression
- photos of unique sidewalks inspire an awareness of beauty and diversity in our world
- fanciful maps point the way to pretend worlds and imaginative thinking.
- endless opportunity to revisit, and refine one's work
- video play-back motivates a child to study their progress in an active way
- reset button offers teachers and parents the option to give new players a fresh start
****
If you would like to download Chalk Walk (FREE, iPad) please support Smart Apps for Kids by using this link button:
****
Every day we pick what we affectionately call the Good Free App of the Day, an app that we have downloaded, tested and certified: It can't have a ton of ads or just a little content with a ton of in-app purchases.
It also has to be good.
We then present them to you to read, download, and share and, based on which ones got the most hits, here are your Top 100 Favorite Free Apps!
We've done our best to only include apps that are permanently free, but sometimes developers do change their minds so please leave a comment if you find an app that's no longer free.
Enjoy!
1) Educreations Interactive Whiteboard
2) LEGO App 4+ (build a vehicle and then use it in activities)
3) Toddler/Preschool Flash Cards (they added ads!)
5) National Geographic Explorer
6) Open Wide Snap (we rated five stars)
9) The Lorax
11) Play 123
12) Hide Run Growl (we rated five stars)
13) Disney's Where's My Water - free
14) Mickey Mouse Clubhouse Road Rally Appisode
15) Rover (flash-enabled browser for kids)
16) Playful Minds: Math (5-8 years old)
17) Little Stars - Toddler Games (letters, numbers, shapes, colors, first words)
19) NASA App HD
20) Lego Star Wars - Battle Orders
21) Khan Academy (educations videos for adults and older children)
22) Draw Something (Pictionary online! Older kids only)
23) Math Bingo Games
25) Little Writer - Tracing Letters, Numbers, Words and Shapes
26) Super Duper's Using I and Me
27) Disney's Jake's Never Land Pirate School
28) Miss Spider apps (Bedtime Story and Tea Party)
29) Scholastic's Sushi Monster
30) I Can Write 2 (make sentences about images)
31) PBS Kids Video (all their favorites)
32) Thomas & Friends - Engine Activities
33) Scribble Press (make an book!)
34) Brain Quest (from the people that make those card thingees)
35) Goodnight Safari (baby animals!)
36) ShowMe (virtual whiteboard app)
37) Toca Kitchen Monsters (all kids need Toca Boca)
38) Rocket Speller
39) Color Uncovered (please don't let your dog drive)
40) Little Finder
41) Lego Duplo Jams
42) Agnitus (math, alphabet, fruits, shapes, colors, counting, animals)
43) Spy Mouse
44) Puzzingo
45) ABC Mouse Zoo Sets 1, 2 and 3
46) Toontastic (we rated five stars)
47) Touch the Sound
48) Bluster! (McGraw-Hill)
50) Let's Color
51) MeeGenius (six ebooks for free!)
52) Articulation Station (lite version)
53) Monkey Drum
54) BrainPop Featured Movie (No. 1 on our Editor's Choice list)
55) Math Vs. Zombies
58) Sock Puppets
59) ABA Flash Cards & Games - Emotions
60) Sprout's Good Night Star (nighttime routine, brusha! brusha! brusha!)
61) 6-in-1 Children's Games (lite version)
63) iTunes U (go to college on your iOS device)
64) Chipper's Rainy Day Adventure
67) Clockwork Brain (mind-training puzzles)
68) DialSafe Pro (we gave five stars)
70) Screen Chomp (virtual whiteboard)
71) Kids Learning - Photo Touch Learning Concepts
72) Feel Electric (The Electric Company is back!)
73) Google Earth
74) Super Duper's Let's Name Things
75) Squiggles (bring scribbles to life)
76) Kids Learning - My First Numbers Counting Game
77) BrainPop Jr. Movie of the Week
78) Stewie The Duck Learns To Swim
79) The Lorax Truffula Shuffle (U.S. only for some reason)
81) Astrid & Siri (ebook)
83) Jingle All the Way (Christmas app)
84) Domino's Pizza Hero (U.S. only)
85) How Stuff Works (older kids that have had "the talk" only)
87) Booksy (one of our Top Picks)
88) Fisher-Price's Laugh & Learn Animal Sounds
89) Mini Mining
90) AppStar Picks
91) JibJab Jr. Books (put the child's face in a book!)
92) IQ Test - Free Edition (older kids and parents only)
93) The Land of Me - Story Time
94) Little Bird's Internet Security Adventure
96) Pandora Radio (parents need to control)
97) Nova Elements
98) WebMD (for parents and teachers)
99) Christmas Eve
100) Toca Hair Salon -Christmas Gift
Youve got a lot of stuff. Thanks
Posted by: Majid Ali | 07/13/2012 at 01:00 PM
I tried to get this app but it always came up at a cost.Why is this not working?
Posted by: shannon Hillman | 07/13/2012 at 10:48 PM
Great site! I shall pass this to my grandkids!
Posted by: Rodney Harter | 07/18/2012 at 07:15 AM