While perusing my second-favorite kids app review site, Digitial-Storytime, I found a free app that Carisa rated five stars that I hadn't see before: Jack and the Beanstalk by Mindshapes.
The app puts an excellent modern-day twist to the classic story.
From her review: "I'm going on a fantastic adventure," says Jack as this story starts. Full of polished animation and fun interactivity that moves the story along, Jack and the Beanstalk by Mindshapes brings a fairy tale classic to digital in a way that is close to perfection. This title is fun, engaging and nicely enhanced for educational use. It features the kind of animation and cartoon-like illustrations that kids love, along with a nice retelling of the classic story about a boy who trades the family cow for three 'magic beans'.
Sounds good to me.
If you'd like to download Jack and the Beanstalk (FREE iPad/iPhone), please support Smart Apps by using this button to reach the App Store:
* 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:
**The National Parenting Publication Awards: Honors winner in the Children's Media/Virtual category.**
Our educational app will keep your kids fascinated. The playful humor, stylish animation and interactive features will draw them back to read again & again.
Mindshapes sets a new standard for interactive educational apps for kids, designed around academic principles.
Jack and the Beanstalk by Mindshapes is the first of a new range of products designed for the iPad that unleashes its potential to become an educational toy. Each page of this app is highly immersive, with tasks that kids can complete to progress the story, including:
* Swiping and tapping the cloud to generate rain in order to see the beanstalk grow overnight
* Gathering the plates into the sink to create bubbles that can then be popped with a screen tap
The classic fairy tale is re-interpreted through beautifully crafted animation, injected with cheeky humour and produced by Mindshapes’ award-winning design and animation team. The challenges and interactions have been overseen by Mindshapes’ educational consultants to develop a range of skills through play:
* Developing fine motor skills: children can use the accelerometer to control the flight of Jack up and down the beanstalk
* Language development: the app gives parents the option to select either “Read by Myself” or “Read to Me”, highlighting the words being read to help the emerging reader
* Understand basic physics: children can play with the magic beans and bounce them around the screen, colliding and falling in accordance with gravity and the orientation of the iPad
Watch a trailer for this app on YouTube at www.youtube.com/mindshapesltd
**CHECK OUT OUR OTHER FUN AND EDUCATIONAL APPS** ‘Meteor Math’ and ‘Hickory Dickory Dock.
Our fun educational apps make great gifts. Click the arrow next to “Buy App” and select ‘gift this app’.
**HEAR ABOUT OUR LATEST APPS BEFORE ANYONE ELSE** follow us on facebook.com/mindshapes or twitter.com/mindshapes
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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!
(** indicates that the app contains in-app purchases or is very closely tied to a purchase)
1) Educreations Interactive Whiteboard (students/teachers can make whiteboard videos)
2) LEGO App 4+ (build a vehicle and then use it in activities)
3) ** Toddler/Preschool Flash Cards (warning! now has ads!)
5) Open Wide Snap (we rated five stars)
6) National Geographic Explorer
8) The Lorax
10) ** Storylines for Schools
11) Play 123
12) Hide Run Growl (we rated five stars)
13) Disney's Where's My Water - free
14) Little Stars - Toddler Games (letters, numbers, shapes, colors, words)
15) Mickey Mouse Clubhouse Road Rally Appisode
16) ** Playful Minds: Math (5-8 years old)
17) ** Build a Word Express
18) Rover (flash-enabled web browser for kids)
19) Lego Star Wars - Battle Orders
21) NASA App HD
22) Disney's Jake's Never Land Pirate School
23) Scholastic's Sushi Monster
24) Khan Academy (educations videos for adults and older children)
25) ** Draw Something (Pictionary online! Older kids/adults only)
26) I Can Write 2 (make sentences about images)
27) Super Duper's Using I and Me
28) Little Writer - Tracing Letters, Numbers, Words and Shapes (awesome app)
29) Miss Spider apps (Bedtime Story and Tea Party)
30) PBS Kids Video (all their favorites, U.S. only)
31) ** Thomas & Friends - Engine Activities
32) ** Brain Quest (from the people that make those card thingees)
33) ** Goodnight Safari (baby animals!)
34) Toca Kitchen Monsters (all kids need Toca Boca)
35) ShowMe (virtual whiteboard app, shared education videos)
36) Learning Games for Preschool to Kindergarten
37) ** Scribble Press (make an book!)
38) Rocket Speller
39) ** Toontastic (we rated five stars)
40) Color Uncovered (please don't let your dog drive)
41) ** Puzzingo
42) Little Finder
43) Lego Duplo Jams
44) ** Spy Mouse
45) Touch the Sound
47) Bluster! (McGraw-Hill)
48) ABC Mouse Zoo Sets 1, 2 and 3
49) ** Let's Color (drawings come to life)
50) ** Math Vs. Zombies
51) ** BrainPop Featured Movie (No. 1 on our Editor's Choice list)
53) ** Articulation Station (lite version, only one letter free)
55) ** MeeGenius (six ebooks for free!)
56) ** Alphabet Tracing
57) Kids Learning - Photo Touch Learning Concepts
58) ** Sock Puppets
59) ABA Flash Cards & Games - Emotions
60) ** Monkey Drum
61) 6-in-1 Children's Games (lite version)
62) ** Clockwork Brain (mind-training puzzles for older kids/adults)
64) DialSafe Pro (we gave five stars, kids learn to dial emergency numbers)
67) Sprout's Good Night Star (nighttime routine, brusha! brusha! brusha!)
68) iTunes U (go to college on your iOS device/older kids & adults)
70) Chipper's Rainy Day Adventure
71) Lego Duplo Zoo
72) Rocket Math Free
73) Feel Electric (The Electric Company is back!)
74) Screen Chomp (virtual whiteboard)
76) ** BrainPop Jr. Movie of the Week
77) Kids Learning - My First Numbers Counting Game
78) Tim and Tom
79) Google Earth
80) Super Duper's Let's Name Things
81) Stewie The Duck Learns To Swim
82) ** Booksy (one of our Top Picks)
85) Squiggles (bring scribbles to life)
88) ** Motion Math - Hungry Fish
89) Astrid & Siri (ebook, Vikings who love fashion design?)
90) The Lorax Truffula Shuffle (U.S. only for some reason)
91) How Stuff Works (parents/older kids that have had "the talk" only)
92) ** Jingle All the Way (Hallmark Christmas app)
93) Fisher-Price's Laugh & Learn Animal Sounds
94) Pocket Law Firm (learn the amendments)
95) The Land of Me - Story Time
96) ** JibJab Jr. Books (put the child's face in a book!)
97) IQ Test - Free Edition (older kids and parents only, not a real IQ test)
98) ** Domino's Pizza Hero (U.S. only)
99) Little Stars - Word Wizard
100) Little Bird's Internet Security Adventure (internet safety!)
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.
(** indicates that the app contains in-app purchases or is very closely tied to a purchase)
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