Win an iPad Mini, doodle a yoodle, and learn all about recycling. The 54th app report brings you the latest news and product announcements from our network of family-friendly app developers.
Please take a moment to read the full app descriptions, and to screen the apps you download, in order to fully understand the features and elements in the app. If you find an app you like, please write a review.
App Developers Come Together for Hurricane Sandy Relief: Hurricane Sandy devastated parts of the United States and the Caribbean. Join us tomorrow, November 8, for a special edition of the App Report as developers pledge to donate the proceeds of their app sales to hurricane relief efforts.
In the Spotlight: Seth Socolow of the SF AppShow: Melissa Northway interviews Seth Socolow, Executive Producer of the SF AppShow, whose company provides a way for developers to showcase their newly released app – whether it be a game, storybook or educational app. melissanorthway.com
Smart Apps for Kids is giving away EIGHT iPad minis! (just in time for Christmas!): The interest in their iPad Mini giveaways has been enormous – so they’ve put the Rafflecopter boxes onto one page to make it easier to enter all of them. smartappsforkids.com
Apps for Little Ones
Doodle Yoodle Builder – Create and Build Fun & Silly Kids Scenes with Sticker Book Doodles! by Apps Kids Love – LLC: What’s a Yoodle – a doodle of you! Create characters by picking features (hundreds of combinations) then step into a story with your Yoodle. Doodle scenes using whimsical stickers, enjoy silly animations, and save your Yoodle Art to the scrapbook. iPad: $0.99 (sale price)
Fairy Tale Games: Mermaid Princess Puzzles by Scott Adelman: Do your kids love mermaids? Do they love princesses and puzzles too? Look no further. Fairy Tale Games: Mermaid Princess Puzzles is a fun animated puzzle game for toddlers, preschoolers, and kids from ages 1 to 6. iPhone and iPad: Free + $1.99 In-App Purchase
Counting Race by Smart Cat Studio, LLC: This captivating math multiplayer game app is an amazing educational and social time for kids and their parents. It is a great game to build skills of counting and addition from 1 to 10. It is ideal for communication skill development. After a fun math contest, the winner will be offered a movement break. This should help a little one to shift attention from the mental activity. iPad: $1.99
Sounds Baby by AppsTaga: Over 300 images and 150 sounds for toddlers to learn to associate pictures with their sounds. Simple and fun!! All images have been selected with the aim that the child learns to recognize objects, animals, musical instruments and vehicles with their sounds. iPhone and iPad: $0.99
Books
Trucks – Byron Barton by Oceanhouse Media: Play with tow trucks, cement trucks, newspaper delivery trucks and many other types of trucks in this animated picture book about transportation. Move trucks, workers, tools, and other objects around the page and tap pictures to learn their names. Realistic sound effects and brightly colored illustrations will delight young readers and keep them coming back for more! iPhone and iPad: $0.99 (sale price)
Just Go to Bed – Little Critter by Oceanhouse Media: Playful and energetic Little Critter resists his father’s efforts to get him ready for bed. Little Critter plays a space cadet when his father wants him in the bathtub, and a race car driver when it’s time to put on pajamas. Will Little Critter’s parents ever get him to bed? iPhone and iPad: $0.99 (sale price)
Pooki-Booki by Lullaby: Our ambition with Pooki-Booki is that its bright colors and cute designs, together with animations and sounds, will awaken the child’s curiosity to click and learn new words. The app is primarily a picture book, in which the child can learn how to recognize figures, words and letters. iPhone and iPad: $0.99
3 Little Piggies – Interactive Story Book with Animations by Kids Academy Company: We turned an all-favorite fairy tale into an amazing interactive story book with animation. Use our app as an enjoyable story, an amusing game, and a helpful reading assistant. Packed with interactive features, it offers a whole new level of involvement into the story! iPhone and iPad: $1.99
The Turkey Who Forgot How To Gobble by Alexis H. Purcell: Joey the Turkey is sad. He has forgotten how to gobble and needs help from his friends: Ruby the rooster, Patrick the dog, Minnie-moo the cow, Wiskers the cat and Gillie the turkey. Enjoy the hilarious ways each friend tries to help him gobble. Are they successful? Does Joey learn how to gobble again? Read and find out! iPhone and iPad: $2.99
UpdatedThe Berenstain Bears Give Thanks by Oceanhouse Media: Join the Bear cubs as they act out the first Thanksgiving, complete with costumes, props and a full Thanksgiving feast. But will Sister Bear’s pet turkey play the part of dinner? The beloved Bears teach an important lesson to all about thankfulness and the love of family. The Bear cubs learn how God provided for the pilgrims and are reminded of God’s many blessings! Now available with Oceanhouse Media’s new “Record and Share” feature. iPhone and iPad: $3.99
Creative Play
Bloxy HD by Next is Great: “Bloxy HD” is the first, open-ended creative app from a new “all-about-bricks” series developed by Next is Great. It allows kids aged 5-12 to build their own worlds using 3d bricks and mini-figures. Little constructors can make use of more than 50 3d bricks and 14 mini-figures, great range of bricks colors, textures and backgrounds to create worlds of their own. From vehicles and buildings to landscapes and interiors, the possibilities are endless! iPhone and iPad: $0.99
myCreate by iCreate to Educate: Imagine, create, share! Kids easily make animated stories with crafts, toys, or anything hands-on, to share with friends and family. myCreate is a learning tool validated by thousands of teachers and parents around the world for enhancing creativity. (Watch Video) iPad: $4.99
History
Ansel & Clair: Paul Revere’s Ride by Cognitive Kid, Inc.: Ansel & Clair ride with Paul Revere changes the way History is taught and learned by kids. Exciting new features include a fun Who’s Who Photobooth, pop-up quiz to test knowledge, integrated maps to see the actual maps of key places and events, ability to type your notes in the Travel Log and much more. Popular 18th century Rebus puzzles, rendition of H.W. Longfellow’s “Midnight Ride by Paul Revere” poem, licensed art from museums and original period music enhance immersion into history. For iPad 2 and Later (not compatible with iPad 1). (Watch Video) iPad: $1.99 (sale price)
Literacy
UpdatedWord Wizard – Talking Movable Alphabet & Spelling Tests for Kids by L’Escapadou: Word Wizard is a unique app that lets kids hear the sounds of letters and words using a talking movable alphabet. Featuring advanced text to speech capabilities, the app can pronounce and spell-check an unlimited number of original words and sentences built using the movable alphabet. Updated with user profiles, spelling tests reports, word list sharing and much more. (Watch Video) iPhone and iPad: $2.99
4th Grade Science Reading Comprehension by Abitalk Incorporated: This reading comprehension app has twenty stories about science. You can also create and add your own stories to the app. Each story has about 500 words. Each story introduces new vocabulary and concepts, and is followed by a set of exercises that measure the student’s comprehension. The exercises include multiple choice questions, true/false questions and matching exercises that ask the student to match words or concepts with their definition. iPad: $2.99
Math
AbiTalk Fun Math Facts by Abitalk Incorporated: Fun Math Facts is a fun and entertaining way for children to learn basic “math facts” of addition, subtraction, multiplication and division for number from zero to twelve. For each session, you can select the range of numbers and the operations (plus, minus, times and divide). Then you can choose from several entertaining activities, including keypad entry, balloon popping, or a 3D cube. (Watch Video) iPhone and iPad: $2.99
UpdatedMarble Math Junior by Artgig Studio: Artgig Apps is pleased to announce the release of Marble Math Junior 1.2, adding international currencies and iPhone 5 optimization to their popular kids math practice app. Geared for ages 5-8 and based on the Common Core curriculum, Marble Math Junior helps reinforce strategy and problem solving skills as players roll their marble through a math maze. The addition of Australian, Canadian, British and Euro currencies lets users practice counting money in the currency of their choice. iPhone and iPad: $1.99
Music
Cool Piano by MEET Studio CO.,LTD.: Features: Simple to play! You can easily play a famous song in just 3 minutes! Over 10 categories of songs.(including Hit Song, Classical, Indie Pop, New Age, Rock, Folk, Pop, Country Music, Blues, Movie Themes and Band). Band-mode is already launched. You can easily create a band by WIFI or Bluetooth. It is applied to all the music instrument of Cool Series! iPhone and iPad: Free + In-App Purchases, Google Play: Free with Advertisements
Science
Recycle HD by Sprout Labs: Recycle HD explains the why and how of the 3Rs (Reduce, Reuse, Recycle) in a fun and interactive way. Why should you buy in bulk? Is styrofoam packaging good and how did we package fragile items before them? What are the Plastic Identification Codes and why are they important? What is vermiculture? How are batteries recycled? What are upcycling and refurbishing? Photos and videos supplement the content and cover various topics around Reduce, Reuse, and Recycle. iPad: $1.99
Special Needs
Count To 100! by FuzzyBees: A counting app with something every kid loves to press – elevator buttons! Created based on 100 chart, used in schools to help develop number sense and recognition. Display buttons in increments of 10 to break down learning goals into smaller steps. Options to count in sequence from left to right, which may also help children with visual perception and motor planning challenges. Options to skip count by 2s, 5s, 10s and 25s. (Watch Video) iPad: $1.99
Hi Garry, my name is Sarah Montgomery and I am a credentialed elementary teacher that is a co-founder of Super Readers; a controlled vocabulary reading fluency app. I was wondering if you do reviews of apps and if so, could I send you a promo code? Thank you very much for your time and I look forward to hearing from you.
Sincerely, Sarah
If we know of an app, could we share it with you?
Yes, reach out to Garry at Jellybean Tunes for the latest process. support@jellybeantunes.com
Hi Garry, my name is Sarah Montgomery and I am a credentialed elementary teacher that is a co-founder of Super Readers; a controlled vocabulary reading fluency app. I was wondering if you do reviews of apps and if so, could I send you a promo code? Thank you very much for your time and I look forward to hearing from you.
Sincerely, Sarah
Hi Sarah, this is how to get in touch with Garry: http://www.jellybeantunes.com/appreport.html.