Good Free App of the Day: PaddleDuck Color and Story App

There's a cute duck wearing a backpack!

Oh, and it's a great app for toddlers and parents to enjoy together.

I really like this app from Aussie developer, PaddleDuck Pty Ltd, although if they're Australian I can't help wondering why they mis-spell the word colour... The app is a short story about a wee duck that gets caught in a fast-flowing river but is able to reach safety when his quick-thinking friends throw him a backpack. Each page starts off black and white but by tapping either the screen, the color blobs or the color palette, your toddler can fill the screen with lovely bright colors.

 

If you would like to download PaddleDuck (FREE, iPad/iPhone) please support Smart Apps for Kids by using this link button:

Australia please use this button;

 

** 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. **

There is a Parent's section which can be accessed from the home screen with a long press and hold.

It includes links to iTunes and social media but it also enables you to turn off the music and has a very nice Learning Notes page containing ideas on how to share the app with your toddler.

 

I like how easy it is for little ones to add color, that the colors are introduced in the context of a story and named when tapped. The pages have the rough look of a 'real' coloring book and the colors looked hand-inked. The different ways for your child to add color and the fact that they pop up en bloc all help keep little ones engaged.

 

In addition to being able to talk to your child about color, you can also discuss an important life skill - water safety. Even a great swimmer like a duck can get into trouble in a strong current so it's important not to swim alone and to only swim where it's safe. I loved that the duck's friends also modeled appropriate behavior when helping their friend in trouble.

 

I'd like to see early reading skills supported - by visually labeling colors and by having words in the text highlighted and spoken when tapped, but even without those features there's more than enough good stuff here to make the app well-worth downloading if you have a toddler.

This page may give you a clue as to how PaddleDuck got his name...

 

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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! Enjoy!

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.


Please also see our Top 10 Preschool Apps (staff picks), Top 10 Free Apps for Learning Letters, Deanne's Top 10 Free Apps for ASD Kids, Top 12 Apps for Mom, Editor's Top 10, Reader's Choice Top 10, and Top 10 Addition Apps.

(** 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) Open Wide Snap (we rated five stars)
4) ** Toddler/Preschool Flash Cards (warning! now has ads!)
5) Disneyland Explorer
6) National Geographic Explorer
7) Toy Story Read Along
8) The Lorax 
9) Hide Run Growl (we rated five stars)
10) Peggy Storybook 1
11) Play 123
12) ** Storylines for Schools
13) Little Stars - Toddler Games (letters, numbers, shapes, colors, words)
14) Disney's Where's My Water - free 
15) Mickey Mouse Clubhouse Road Rally Appisode
16) ** Playful Minds: Math (5-8 years old)
17) ** Build a Word Express
18) ABC Alphabet Phonics
19) Rover (flash-enabled web browser for kids)
20) Lego Star Wars - Battle Orders
21) Little Writer - Tracing Letters, Numbers, Words and Shapes (awesome app)
22) Disney's Jake's Never Land Pirate School
23) Learning Games for Preschool to Kindergarten
24) Scholastic's Sushi Monster (addition and multiplication)
25) NASA App HD 
26) I Can Write 2 (make sentences about images)
27) Khan Academy (educations videos for adults and older children)
28) PBS Kids Video (all their favorites, U.S. only)
29) ** Draw Something (Pictionary online! Older kids/adults only)
30) ** Brain Quest (from the people that make those card thingees)
31) Miss Spider apps (Bedtime Story and Tea Party)
32) Super Duper's Using I and Me
33) ** Thomas & Friends - Engine Activities
34) ShowMe (virtual whiteboard app, shared education videos)
35) ** Goodnight Safari (baby animals!)
36) Toca Kitchen Monsters (all kids need Toca Boca)
37) Rocket Speller
38) ** Scribble Press (make an book!)
39) ** Toontastic (we rated five stars)
40) ** Puzzingo
41) Little Finder
42) Lego Duplo Jams
43) Touch the Sound
44) Color Uncovered (please don't let your dog drive)
45) The Elephant's Bath
46) ** Spy Mouse
47) Bluster! (McGraw-Hill)
48) Songs for Kids 1 and 2
49) ** Math Vs. Zombies
50) ** Let's Color (drawings come to life)
51) Chugginton - Be Safe
52) ** Alphabet Tracing
53) ABC Mouse Zoo Sets 1, 2 and 3
54) ** BrainPop Featured Movie (No. 1 on our Editor's Choice list) 2133
55) Easy Bake Cupcakes
56) ** Articulation Station (lite version, only one letter free)
57) Kids Learning - Photo Touch Learning Concepts
58) ** Clockwork Brain (mind-training puzzles for older kids/adults, has ads)
59) Rocket Math Free (free version of one of our Top Picks)
60) ABA Flash Cards & Games - Emotions
61) 6-in-1 Children's Games (lite version)
62) ** Sock Puppets
63) Green ABCs (previously cost $30)
64) ** Monkey Drum
65) iTunes U (go to college on your iOS device/older kids & adults)
66) Sprout's Doodle Dots 
67) ** MeeGenius (six ebooks for free!)
68) DialSafe Pro (we gave five stars, kids learn to dial emergency numbers)
69) Whole Foods' Awesome Eats
70) Creatures of Light (bioluminescence!)
71) Feel Electric (The Electric Company is back!)
72) Tim and Tom
73) Lego Duplo Zoo
74) Hookitty-Tookitty-Tah
75) Cool To Be Clever
76) Sprout's Good Night Star (nighttime routine, brusha! brusha! brusha!)
77) ** Booksy (one of our Top Picks)
78) Language Lab: Core Words
79) Hannah Habeebee McHats
80) Jeff the Mis-Fish
81) Kids Learning - My First Numbers Counting Game
82) SpellingCity
83) Screen Chomp (virtual whiteboard)
84) Chipper's Rainy Day Adventure
85) Jack and the Beanstalk (modern version of the classic tale)
86) ABC Mouse Grand Canyon
87) Lego Star Wars Funzone 
88) Super Duper's Let's Name Things
89) ** BrainPop Jr. Movie of the Week
90) Stewie The Duck Learns To Swim
91) Google Earth 
92) Fisher Price's Laugh & Learn Animal Sounds
93) Disney's Where's My Perry Free
94) Real Fireworks Artwork
95) ** Motion Math - Hungry Fish
96) Squiggles (bring scribbles to life, one of our Top Picks)
97) Little Stars - Word Wizard
98) Adventures of the 7Wonderlicious Girls (girls doing their best, helping others, being brave, learning and feeling good about themselves)
99) The Lorax Truffula Shuffle (U.S. only for some reason)
100) Scooby-Doo Whos Are You? by Hallmark (Zoinks!)


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)

 

Comments

[Lisa McCormack]

In the Australian iTunes store colour is spelled correctly!

[Upcoming]

Its difficult to find informative and precise information but here I found¡­