by Alison | Jul 13, 2017 | The Imums Blog By Alison |
As a mom, I have seen many first moments in the lives of my children. First smile, first words, walking for the first time. Today, I saw another one of those moments. My son has special needs and is currently attending a summer school program in my town. He has had such a terrible time transitioning to summer school – with tears, crying and being upset many days when we get ready to go to school. We have been so lucky to test out Bluebee Pals and have started bringing him in the car with us on our way to summer school. My son adores Hudson and enjoys reading and playing with him both on and off the iPad.
Today, my son brought Sammy the Bear to school in the car. Sammy was singing Sweet Caroline in the car on the way to school. When we pulled up and got out of the car, we saw his friends. One friend had been having such a hard time going into the school and putting on his shoes. We were lucky enough to be able to give him Hudson Puppy yesterday afternoon. Today, for the first time in four weeks – both my son and this little boy went into the school without tears. His mom told me that he hasn’t put Hudson down since he got him. She said they were working on first do this, then you will get Hudson the Puppy.
As a mom of a special needs child, my heart aches whenever I see kids struggle and it was just so heartwarming to see both my son and this little boy go into the school happily and ready to learn.
That’s what parenting is all about – it’s about the small joys and moments that children can bring. Today, when the kids finished up with summer school my son and this little boy came out beaming and happy. My son told me what a “great day” he had and could transition successfully without tears. Again, I call that a huge win. Seeing the smile on a child’s face who has struggled makes it all worth it!
My sons connect with stuffed animals – they love talking to them, reading, singing and playing. To them, Bluebee Pals isn’t just a tech enabled toy – they have become a friend. Helping our kids grow for the future and be successful is what we as parents can only hope for.
By Carol B
by Alison | Jun 27, 2017 | Bluebee News |
What we love…
fun train themed app with great sound effects that encourages role play, creative play, counting and more
What we’d love to see…
ability to back the train up, a ticket that displays the passengers destination visually, other methods to power the train or even a subway
Summary
Remove this text and add your own here.
Our Rating
Dr. Panda Train is here – Dr. Panda Games is back this time with a train theme! In this fun themed train app your kids serve as conductor and they drive the train and tour one of three landscapes which includes jungle, desert and a beautiful countryside scene.
Dr. Panda Train the app- Your child can drive the train either from a first person perspective inside the cab or from a distance. They also can stop and visit the passengers to give them food, snacks, reading material and more. My son even found some great tech to give the passengers. Shovel on some coal to stoke the fire and make the train go faster to it’s next destination or simply blow the horn as the countryside goes by. I liked that my kids could take turns playing with the app or putting passengers on and handing out items to them. As you complete more of the game you earn extra items to give to the passengers – my kids favorites were of course the tech!
My kids also loved loading the cargo and carrying it from station to station. While we loaded it we practiced counting or even deciding which item to load first – should we load the jelly beans or the chicken? What happens if we don’t load any cargo. I loved their responses which ranged from – “the passengers will be sad” to “will the chicken lay an egg?”
My toddler loved speeding up the train within the app or making it slower which shows cause and effect – although that concept was a bit difficult to explain. As you get to each station stop, a thought bubble pops up looking for a specific passenger or item to be loaded on the train. There is a maximum of four passengers, so if you have more, someone extra must exit the train prior to it moving. Safety first!
As a mom, I loved that there was great role playing – should we be the conductor, the passenger or the person loading the cargo. 
Tell me about their job. What happens if there are too many passengers, how do we decide who gets on? It was great for storytelling and having my older son describe his actions within the app. At the station, it was great to unload the cargo and then pass it along to the proper recipients like the pig who wanted the chicken.
Each time you complete a task, you earn additional items to play with in the game which made my kids want to play more and more to see what else they would earn. There are twelve different train stations throughout. My son also enjoyed dinging the bell
In terms of enhancements, it would be fun if each passenger had to submit a ticket prior to getting on the train which would get stamped with their destination, currently once they are on the train you can punch the ticket but it does not show the destination. That way, kids could prepare for which station they are getting off at.
My son also wanted to “back up” the train a few times to go back and look at scenery or to pick up something he might have missed. I would also love to see other methods for powering the train – perhaps it could be electric and run on above ground power like the T does in Boston or maybe it could run like the subway does with a third rail. My kids also thought it would be fun if each of the train stops coincided with other Dr. Panda Games like Daycare, Firefighter, Home etc.
There are no in-app purchases and there is a parental gate which requires year of birth. You can turn off a splash screen which advertises other Dr. Panda apps in the parent area as well as turn on and off music and sound. Super fun themed app that kept my toddler enthralled for hours. He kept finding little secret items and enjoyed loading and off loading the cargo. Bravo Dr. Panda – or should that be Toot Toot! Can’t wait to see what else you have planned in the future.
By Alison….( I am the girl in the blue dress)
by Alison | Jun 17, 2017 | Baby to Toddlers (age 2) |
Introducing tech to your baby and toddler can mean different things to different people. I used several white noise apps with my son before he turned one, or would play music via my device for him. One he turned one and a half, we started letting him use apps for very short time periods (5-10 minutes) to try out apps on our device. It is important, especially with younger children to use guided access and to be present while they are using your device.
Guided access allows you to use a fingerprint or a passcode to temporarily restrict your iOS device to a single app, disable selected areas of the screen that are not relevant to what you are doing as well as disable hardware buttons like the sound switch and the home button.
Kid in Story Book Maker by Enuma, Inc. is designed to make it easy to create your own stories starring your child. The app includes 12 ready made templates for stories, plus you can add your own. It makes it easy to add photos of your child or other family members into the story. This can be a great way to help kids get familiar with new situations (daycare, life changes like a move or new addition to the family). When I travel, I usually make up a quick book to remind my children that “Mom always comes back”. Read our full review here……Kid in Story Book Maker
TOBY (Therapy Outcomes by You) Playpad by Autism West is designed for children under 7, who are not yet receiving specific interventions for Autism, or are in the early stages of therapy. It is a comprehensive Early Intervention Program designed for home use with children with Autism and includes both on and off iPad activities. Each day, TOBY suggests a list of activities to do, and this changes as the app adapts to the child’s progress. Read our full review here……TOBY Playpad – Autism West
Injini Child Development Game Suite by NCSoft was developed to help young children with with cognitive, language, and fine motor delays. It features 12 different games, each with many levels. It is best suited for toddlers and preschool aged children and is a very comprehensive app to help them with fine motor and language skills, understanding of cause and effect, spatial awareness, memory and visual processing. Read our full review here……..Injini Child Development Game Suite
Sago Mini Boats app by Sago Sago is a cute and fun game with a nautical theme, which is perfect for children 2 to 5 years old. Sago Mini apps never disappoint, this one is no different! Little ones get to choose from five boat adventures, pack their suitcase, choose their boat from eleven choices, and set off on their little adventure! On the high seas, they can pickup some treats, meet some interesting characters, go underwater and cruise along until they meet their best friend. This app encourages problem solving, creative play, language from your kids to describe what they are doing. Read our full review
by Alison | Jun 16, 2017 | Special Needs The iMums |
Did you know according to the latest report from the CDC a staggering 1 in 68 people are diagnosed with Autism? The iMums wanted to showcase some of the apps that are helpful to people with this complex neuro-developmental disorder. Many children with Autism respond really well to electronics, and iPads can be a very useful tool for them.
Children with Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD) are all unique individuals, so there is no one app that will be suitable for every child with Autism. This list includes some of The iMums favorite apps that we have reviewed that were designed specifically for children with Autism, or that help with skills that children with ASD often have difficulties with. In addition to the apps listed below, we have reviewed many more special needs apps and encourage readers to visit the Special Needs category on our website to find apps suitable for a particular skill you are working on with your child.
These Apps are Specifically for Developed for Kids with Autism.
TOBY (Therapy Outcomes by You) Playpad by Autism West is designed for children under 7, who are not yet receiving specific interventions for Autism, or are in the early stages of therapy. It is a comprehensive Early Intervention Program designed for home use with children with Autism and includes both on and off iPad activities. Each day, TOBY suggests a list of activities to do, and this changes as the app adapts to the child’s progress. Read our full review here……TOBY Playpad – Autism West
Go Go Games by Go Go Games Studio includes 3 games: Build-a-train, Wheels and Roads and Out of this World, each has 6 levels. Children with ASD often have “tunnel vision” honing in on one specific feature of an object, and this app helps them to learn to look at multiple features of an object. It is also useful for working on pattern recognition, matching and fine motor skills. It is a great deal at only $3.99. Read our full review here…. Go Go Games
Core Skills by Infiniteach Inc is an educational iPad only app built by autism experts who have worked with children on the Autism Spectrum. The app is designed for those with autism or other developmental delays to help them reach their fullest potential. The app offers materials ranging from preschool through first grade level lessons in academics, social and communication domains based on Common Core Learning Standards. Infiniteach is an autism edteach company which is dedicated to developing educational iPad apps for students on the Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD). Christopher Flit, the Founder and Chief Creative Officer was a special education teacher who trained over 12,000 parents and teachers in Illinois and across the United States about best practice autism strategies. Read our full review here……Core Skills by Infiniteach Inc
Autism Learning Games: Camp Discovery Pro by Center for Autism and Related Disorders Camp Discovery is a large and comprehensive collection of learning games specifically designed for those in the Autism spectrum. It is based on a proven curriculum developed over 25 years by the Center for Autism and Related Disorders. Read the full review here
Autism Learning Games: Camp Discovery Pro by Center for Autism and Related Disorders
See.Touch.Learn Pro by Brain Parade is an incredibly flexible learning tool. It contains over 4,000 pictures and over 2,000 pre-prepared lessons. It also allows you to add your own images and easily create your own lessons. It was designed to be used for ABA therapy, but can also be used to teach a huge range of skills. It is about to have a massive update this month, so now is a great time to buy. The Pro version contains all lessons and libraries, a free version is also available where you can buy specific libraries as in-app purchases. Read our full review here……….See.Touch.Learn Pro
Kid in Story Book Maker by Enuma, Inc. is designed to make it easy to create your own stories starring your child. For many children with Autism, social stories can be a very powerful tool to help them deal with new situations and experiences. The app includes 12 ready made templates for stories, plus you can add your own. It makes it easy to add photos of your child or other family members into the story. Read our full review here……Kid in Story Book Maker
Axel’s Chain Reaction is a beautifully illustrated story with captivating voice-overs that put readers in Axel’s shoes as he faces daily social challenges and as he uses his special talent to become the story’s hero. Read our full review here…..Axel’s Chain Reaction
Avokiddo Emotions by Avokiddo is a delightfully interactive app featuring a giraffe, zebra and a shy and sleepy sheep. Identifying emotions can be difficult for children with Autism and this is a fantastic app to use to explore emotions in a variety of contexts. As children play and explore the app the animals are very clear in their emotions, and like or dislike of specific objects. Read our full review here……………Avokiddo Emotions
Toca Hair Salon by Toca Boca This is a really fun app and great for imaginative, open-ended, creative play. You can style the characters hair and add accessories and using facial emotion see they like and dislike!
Toca Hair Salon
Toca Life: Town by Toca Boca You rule this Town, a play world where anything and everyone is welcome! With different locations and many classic Toca Boca characters, the everyday adventures in Town are infinite.
Toca Life Town
Dr. Panda Bus Driver by Dr. Panda is a fun app featuring Dr. Panda driving a bus around either a city, countryside, harbor or a variety of other locations picking up and dropping off his passengers, painting the bus, refilling the gas tank and more! Much like a traditional bus, you have to stop to let passengers and other vehicles go by, stop for trains that will pass as well as clean up the bus after your “route” has been completed. This app is designed for preschoolers through early elementary school similar to other Dr. Panda apps and will provide hours of open ended play for them that uses fine motor skills both from seating passengers and driving the bus either with your finger or by gently moving your device to steer it so it stays in the road. Read our full review……….Dr Panda Bus Driver
Toca Store by Toca Boca creates a virtual shop where children can choose from a catalog of virtual products to stock and how much to sell them for. It can either be played alone or with two or more players. One can be the storekeeper and ring up sales, while the other is the customer. This is a great app because it facilitates turn-taking skills as well as simple counting. I also really liked the ability to purchase the items, and the magical coin purse coming up with more money as necessary for specific items. It also required individuals to finish their turns by first putting the item on the conveyor, ringing it up, paying for it, and then bagging it up before allowing someone to proceed on to the next step. Read our review………..https://itunes.apple.com/us/toca-store/id442705759?mt=8&ign-mpt=uo%3D4Toca Store
Money Up! by pkclsoft is an app that teaches money skills for those who have a disability that makes it difficult for them to learn how to count change. It uses the dollar up method in which the student is taught to give an amount that is just one whole dollar above the item’s price. For example, if a drink costs $2.50, the student is asked to pay $3.00. This method not only helps students become more independent, but also keeps them from being taken advantage of by getting the wrong change back. Currently on sale for 50% off! Read our full review…………Money Up!
Injini Child Development Game Suite by NCSoft was developed to help young children with with cognitive, language, and fine motor delays. It features 12 different games, each with many levels. It is best suited for toddlers and preschool aged children and is a very comprehensive app to help them with fine motor and language skills, understanding of cause and effect, spatial awareness, memory and visual processing. Read our full review here……..Injini Child Development Game Suite
Bugs and Button is the first in a series of unique “Bugs &” apps by Little Bit Studios. It works on many cognitive skills including patterns, sorting, memory, mazes, counting, and letters. It includes 18 engaging games, with fantastic graphics. The games encourage visual tracking (great for reading skills) and incorporate many fine motor movements (e.g. point, pinch, isolated finger patterns, use of both hands). This app is a great brain builder and an even better motor builder – truly an OT’s delight! At only $2.99 it is a real bargain. Read our full review here…..Bugs and Buttons
Custom Boards Premium by Smarty Ears
is an app for making your own visuals and activity worksheets using more than 120 easy-to-use templates, a built-in library of over 11 thousands Smarty Symbols and your own images. The templates are grouped into 6 categories: Activities & Games, Grids & Boards, Schedules & Calendars, Worksheets, Devices & Switches, Read our full review here………Custom Boards- Premium – Smarty Ears
Articulation Station Pro by Little Bee Speech is a very comprehensive articulation app that provides multiple opportunities for the child to pronounce and practice all the 22 speech sounds in the English language. It offers opportunities to practice at the word, sentence and story level. As well as Flashcards it also includes a matching game; rotating and unique sentences; different story levels and comprehension questions. Read our full review here…………Articulation Station Pro
Articulation an articulation app that allows you choose your target words by phoneme, phonological process or manner of articulation. It works at both word and phrase level, and includes flashcards and matching game activities. You can work on initial, medial or final position; or any combination of these. You also have the option to record the child and play it back – which children love to do Read our full review……..Articulate it! – Smarty Ears
ConversationBuilder Deluxe by Mobile Education Store works on conversational skills, which are hard for many of our kids. It teaches the nuances of conversation, teaches ways to initiate a conversation and how to keep the conversation flowing naturally. Learning how to have a real 2-way conversation with your peers is a really important life-skill, but it can be hard to master, and this app helps in that process. Read our full review here………..ConversationBuilder Deluxe
Language Skill Builder – Central Place for the Special Needs ABA Training by Pawel Maczewski is an app for learning basic and advanced language concepts and improving language comprehension skills. It includes a large question bank (600+), and allows the the quizzes to be customized to meet the users’ needs. Language Skill Builder is a great app for teaching basic language skills with an expanding question bank to meet your child/student’s growing needs……Language Skill Builder
WHquestions by Smarty Ears is designed to help children acquire the important social skill of answering WH Questions – What, Who, Where, When, Why and How. It is easy to use, has a video tutorial for beginners, and features over 200 questions in both audio and written form. Read our full review here………..WHquestions
Picture the Sentence by Hamaguchi Apps is used to practice listening skills, using basic pronouns and prepositions, and to practice processing these parts into a whole sentence. Each part of the phrase is represented by a simple picture, and the child has to visualize putting each of these steps together to create a new picture that represents the whole sentence. The app has 3 levels and a built in reward game. Read our full review here…….Picture the Sentence
I Can Have Conversations With You, by Autism Breakthrough Solutions, LLC is an app developed by ASHA certified speech language pathologist Karen Kabaki-Sisto, M.S. CCC-SLP., aims to help verbal children with autism engage in meaningful conversations. It can also be used by children with other speech and language disorders. Read our full review………I Can have Conversations with You
Reading Train Endless Books, Songs & Games – School Readers by The Learning Station is a digital library of over 200+ picture books kids can read and record created by Libby Curran, educator and author of award winning books. The Reading Train is a great concept for children from the get go. Once you have setup your child’s user account, they can get onboard the reading train and start learning! There is a large collection of reading books to choose from, some covering colours, animals, life science, shapes, maths etc all categorised and covered at three different reading levels. Read our full review…..I Can have Conversations with You
AAC (Augmentative and Alternative Communication) Apps
No discussion of apps for Autism would be complete without mentioning AAC (Augmentative and Alternative Communication). Many non-verbal Autistic children have found a way to communicate using AAC apps on the iPad, and it is much cheaper than a dedicated AAC device. This is an area where we strongly recommend consulting with an SLP who specializes in AAC, to decide which is the best choice for the child, as truly there is no “one size fits all.” Here are some AAC apps to consider:
Proloquo2Go by AssistiveWare is an Augmentative and Alternative Communication (AAC) App, it is a universal app that can be used on iPad, iPhone and iPod Touch. The purpose of the app is to give users a voice and the ability to communicate. I found Proloquo2Go to be an app that surpassed my expectations for performance. I was blown away with the available help on the website and the seemingly endless custom options that were very easy to learn and implement.” Read our full review here…..Proloquo2Go – AssistiveWare
Avaz for Autism is an AAC app brought to the U.S. market from India where it was the first AAC introduced. The creators of Avaz have worked to create an AAC that is tailored to fit the use of people with Autism and their caregivers/therapists in an easy to use and customize way. A nice feature is the ease of social sharing, if you enable this feature, Facebook, Twitter and Email are available and and easy to do .Avaz – AAC App for Autism (Augmentative Picture Communication Software for Children with Special Needs) – Invention Labs
So Much 2 Say by Close 2 Home apps is a versatile tool for basic communication. It was created expressly for the highly impacted segment of the special needs population. The app is recommended for individuals who are non verbal and lack an effective means to communicate basic needs and wants. Read our full review……So Much 2 Say – Picture Communication – Close 2 Home Apps, LLC
SpeechHero is an Augmentative & Alternative Communication app (AAC) designed for the iPad. The app was designed to be used without any training on AAC devices, and contains a native tutorial and integrated help system to guide users throughout the app with an easy to use interface. The app includes CoreUtterance©, which predicts likely tiles based on the last one entered. The app is loaded with thousands of such utterances generated from common English speech.” Read our full review here……SpeechHero AAC – The ultimate speech board and communication tool – Andrew McKinney
Alexicom Elements Child Home App is a AAC solution geared specifically to young children. It comes with 70 preconfigured pages that include the vocabulary and associated pictures that a child would encounter going through his day. These include eating, dressing, washing, and a wide variety of leisure activity pages. Core words are also included.Read our Full review ….Alexicom Elements Child Home (M) SymbolStix – Alexicom Tech LLC
These apps were specifically chosen to highlight Autism Awareness Month, but are only a few of the many wonderful apps available to help children on the Autism Spectrum.
by Alison | Jun 15, 2017 | Ages 5-7 |
When my older son was in kindergarten, I remember him coming home with a ring and a stack of cards to learn his sight words. I had been working with him on reading and basic core skills to get ready for school.
Below are a few of our favorite apps that we used when he was in kindergarten and first grade. Each of the apps highlighted focuses on a specific academic skill ranging from spelling, geography, problem solving, reading, word families, sight words, space and more! I am glad that these apps helped to give my son some of the tools to succeed in school.
Early Academic Learning Apps for ages 5-7
Spelling Hangman by Emma Mills, is a new, exciting way, to practice the spelling words given each week. I work in an elementary school and “spelling” is no longer the term used; however, a similar concept exists. This app allows a child/student to work on their given words through a more enjoyable mode. Spelling Hangman allows the facilitator to record the words they wish to be practiced through a “Configure Test” option. This option allows the words to be set up under a given name such as “week 1”, or “ar words”, etc. As a speech-language pathologist, I believe this could be utilized within the therapy room as well. When working with a group of students focused on a particular sound (“r”, for example), the therapist could program in those words, allowing the students to try and guess words with “r” in them. Just an SLP’s twist on a general education app! Read the full review.
World Of Liberty Paintings, Planes and Pioneers by World of Liberty. Each of these interactive storybooks takes you on an adventure which involves the United States and a country connection to another country. Other apps in the series include It’s Raining Pumpkins in Delaware and Chicago’s Green River Leads to the Emerald Isle!. These universal apps for iOS encourage kids to learn about history in a fun way that doesn’t make them realize they are learning. This adventure features the state of Kansas and a school field trip to the Air and Space Museum where Liberty learns about Amelia Earhart and her red Vega plane. The characters in the story are: Liberty Lane (the primary character), her toy eagle Georgie, her toy plane Truman and her dog Ellie as they adventure around the world. Her classmates, Tobi and Mei Li are also featured at the beginning of the story during the field trip and help her make the first connection about Amelia and her flight. Each story features “read to me”, “read to myself” and autoplay modes. The app also features word highlighting as the text is read along with audio narration and background sounds. Read the full review.
Build with Grandpa by Fairlady Media is universal app for iOS designed to help kids with a variety of building as well as teaching them about environmental re-use as kids knock down buildings, drive a construction truck and design a new home to be built. The app includes six mini educational games which require choice of equipment from a field, addition which items add up to x number, painting, decorating, designing a house and more! It appeals to preschool, toddler and elementary school depending on which things your kids like to do with the app. Skills practiced in the app include, math to number 9, literacy through reading and identifying words, design, creativity, landscaping, problem solving, cause and effect. It also teaches skills about construction and how you go through the process of building something. Read the full review.
Professor Astro Cat’s Solar System by Minilab Ltd is a fantastic app to get children excited about the great outer space. It is based on the book Professor Astro Cat’s Frontiers of Space, by Dr. Dominic Walliman (quantum physicist) and Ben Newman (illustrator). It teaches astronomy in an a way that is interesting and easy to understand. The graphics in the app stays true to Ben Newman’s illustrations and has a beautiful retro look and feel. Professor Astro Cat’s Solar System explores the sun, planets, moon, and space travel. There are four areas of learning. First, on the left side of the screen are what I like to call fast facts. These are bits of trivia that are explained further when you click on the (+) icon beside each fact. Both trivia and detailed explanations contain only a sentence or two, making them easy to learn and remember, never overwhelming. Second, the planet/sun/moon unzips to reveal what it looks like inside For example, the earth unzips to reveal the core, mantle, and crust. Read our full review.
Stack the States 2 by FreeCloud Design’s Dan Russell Pinson. You learn state capitals, cities, shapes, landmarks, flags and then after you answer a question correctly you can drop the animate state on the screen – but watch out if you are not careful your hard work tumbles away! After successfully completing each level, you earn a new state. The app allows you to set up multiple profiles so a parent can have a different profile than kids or multiple kids can play and the app can narrate and be based on what they have completed so far. The app includes an interactive map with major cities and a 3D visual of each state with 10 different 3D scenes with various locations – we loved New York, Hawaii and Chicago the most especially the dolphins jumping. Skills targeted include trivia, geography. Read our full review.
The Sounding Out Machine – Assistive Reading Device by FizzBrain is an iPad only app that helps kids who are reading to focus in on specific words that they may not know. The app allows you to take words in three forms and then sound them out. This app can be used with preschool through elementary school and is great for emerging readers. By learning how to break a word down, they are more successful and ultimately that leads to more reading because it is fun rather than “something they have to do”. It presents with a screenshot of the different types of reading modes. You also create a profile for each child so that you can track the types of “hard” words on a daily, weekly and monthly basis so you can see change over time in reading comprehension. The three modes of the app are: Camera mode – take a picture of the page of the book using your iPad; Library mode – Take a picture ahead of time, save it on your camera roll and open it when reading; Typing mode – Type in your own word. A great app to practice word decoding skills in a fun way that doesn’t have the pressure of making a mistake in front of the teacher or let’s kids practice on their own. I have seen great improvements especially in “hard words” and my son is asking to read now rather than being “forced” to. Read the full review.
Piiig Forest Explorer: Natural Science for Kids by Piiig Labs, is an app designed to introduce little ones to the few forest animals. It is an early science app, best suited for children up to first grade, and can be played in 8 different languages: English, French, Japanese, German, Swedish, Russian, and Chinese. The game begins with a chipmunk peacefully sleeping inside its burrow. When you tap on the chipmunk it awakens and scampers up, revealing that the opening to its burrow is a hole in a tree stump. Now it’s time to explore the forest to search for food and meet some new friends. Guide the chipmunk by tapping the area on the screen you want it to go to. Read the full review.
Wonster Words by 77 Sparx Studio is an app for iOS which teaches kids words using word families, phonics, vocabulary words and digraphs in a fun interactive way using monsters as the underlying theme. For example, the word families for “at” include “splat”, “cat”, “rat”, “bat”. First you make the word with letters then you see a variety of ways it is illustrated “baseball bat” or “bat” the animal. After completing the word, you move on to see it illustrated and then used in a “real world” setting. The app is targeted at older preschool and early elementary aged children as it captures a number of sight words and can be used by pre-reading children as well as those working on sight words. I loved when you were making words that the letters are sounded out individually as that helped my son clearly understand each of the words and the sounds that they made as well a describing what the word did. For example, “hike” showed the word and then a nature hike. There’s a nice carry over of skills here that encourages kids to engage in a fun way and continue using the app. I also liked that you could scroll through the app and look for specific word families to practice on – my son in particular struggles with the “th” since it’s silent at times and he did well with this lesson and was able to practice the words in real time. Read the full review.
Rhyme to Read by Rhyme to Read, LLC is an iPad only app designed to help your preschooler through early elementary aged student learn skills that will help them learn to read. The program which does include in-app purchases to purchase up to twenty books individually or via a bundle if you choose to buy them all at once. The app features word families with similar sounds (cat, sat, pat) and helps children to understand different reading patterns. Children should be able to recognize letters and understand how sounds go together before beginning the reading process. Each book builds upon the previous one, so if you enjoy using it you should buy the package via one in-app purchase rather than buying the volumes individually as they build upon each other. The app was originally a set of print books by Sarah Hines and Lynn Klairman, the cost of the print books was too expensive to maintain so they decided to turn them into an interactive app to help reach a wider audience. The books teach a variety of sight words and practice the previously learned sight word patterns as they progress within the series. At the end of each “book” you can see a list of sight words listed in the program thus far (which gets longer with each book) and then a list of word families that have been learned. Read the full review.
by Alison | Jun 15, 2017 | Ages 3-5 |
Early learning: Toddler or Early Preschool Focused Apps-Ages 3-5
Grandma’s Preschool by Fairlady Media for iOS reminds me of the preschool I used to attend as a little girl. There are lots of great activities (more than 20) and opportunities to try out new things like coloring, playing outside, using toys, practicing early academic skills like letters and numbers, having a snack, taking care of a class pet and playing with others. There are three primary characters in the app and after you get off the school bus you go into the preschool classroom. This is a great app for practicing the routine of school which involves getting off a bus, selecting different activities in a preschool setting such as coloring or painting centers as well as having fun in a bright cheery environment. Read our full review.
MTA Animals by My Toddlers App, LLC is a iPad only app that includes over 40 animal photographs designed to teach your toddler or children about animals. The animals range from cats and dogs to whales and elephants using real photographs. It is designed for preschool aged children and teaches image recognition as well as early spelling. Read our full review.
Sago Mini Boats app by Sago Sago is a cute and fun game with a nautical theme, which is perfect for children 2 to 5 years old. Sago Mini apps never disappoint, this one is no different! Little ones get to choose from five boat adventures, pack their suitcase, choose their boat from eleven choices, and set off on their little adventure! On the high seas, they can pickup some treats, meet some interesting characters, go underwater and cruise along until they meet their best friend. This app encourages problem solving, creative play, language from your kids to describe what they are doing. Read our full review
Puppet Workshop – Creativity App for Kids by Sebastian Bachorzewski from Jump App is a fun and creative iPad only app for kids 3 to 12 years of age. With Puppet Workshop, kids can create their own sock or glove puppet. With all of the accessories available, the possibilities are endless! You start off by choosing a glove or a sock from the 20 different templates. You can then choose your bling from the accessories such as buttons, strings, zips, material, shapes etc. You finish off by choosing a background (either one of the provided or one you upload yourself), naming your puppet and then taking a snap for your collection. This app encourages kids creativity as well as language to have kids describe what they are doing with the puppet. Read our full review
Tiny Farm – Animals, Tractors and Adventures! by Wonderkind It is designed for kids from age 2-6 years and features 3 interactive farm scenes to explore, one of the scenes can be explored in 2 ways – at night and during the day. The illustrations in this app have a wonderful warm, hand-drawn feel to them. A beautifully illustrated app that encourages young children to explore and find fun hidden interactions, it can also be used to practice storytelling and work on speech and language. My son loved finding different animals contained within the app. Read our full review
TinyHands Raccoon’s Treehouse is a fun, educational app for young children. it is available in 2 versions – a full version and a free lite version. Neither version has any adverts or in-app purchases, the lite version has a child-locked app store link to the full version. The lite version includes 3 mini- games and the full version has 12 mini-games. Overall this is a very well-made, engaging educational app for toddlers and pre-school aged children which works on important skills including: sorting, classifying, memory, visual perception and hand-eye coordination. Read the full review
