Hellobee

Please note: We don’t have an Android device, so I can only comment on iOS apps here. Sorry!

It seems like all kids love the iPhone and the iPad. As parents, our feelings are more mixed. On the plus side, smart phones and tablets have such amazing education potential and are certainly the future of computing (until the Next Big Thing comes along, at least). But on the other hand, we do worry about Charlie and Olive’s screen time – especially if they’re just using the iPad for entertainment like movies or games.

As a result, the kids have had fairly restricted access to the iPad, other than the time that we traveled to the Philippines and needed to keep them occupied during the 4 days of travel! We literally could not have made the trip (which included multiple 6 and 12 hour legs, each way!) without Steve Jobs’ magical devices. 

After we got back from the Philippines though, Charlie was so obsessed with the iPad that we locked it away completely for a month. Now he’s not so into it, and we’ve been using it very sparingly, and mostly for educational flashcards.

Still though, we’ve been finding the iPad can be really fun and useful for kids and parents alike with the right apps!  Here are the apps that Charlie and Olive have loved the most. If you ever go on a long trip (or are OK with giving your kids some iScreentime), you can’t really go wrong with these apps!

Baby apps:

* Bubbles, $0.99

This app couldn’t be simpler: you touch the screen and bubbles appear. Then you can pop them with your finger.

This was one of the first apps that we ever let Charlie use, and he was mesmerized by it. One thing I liked about this app is that there were no buttons that Charlie could push and buy an upgrade. There are so many apps that do this (I’m looking at you, Talking Tom), so I learned to appreciate this.

That said, there are a bunch of additional Bubble Sets that you can buy for 99 cents each (accessible if you touch three bubbles on the start screen in the right order), but we never tried them out.

2) Twinkle, Twinkle, $2.99

We actually found this Twinkle Twinkle Little Star video on YouTube back when Charlie was a baby.  Then one day, we discovered that it was an app too – which meant that it didn’t require wifi access. This makes the app perfect for long car rides, or international plane flights! At one point both of our kids hated riding in the car, and sure enough every time they start throwing a fit… this app calmed them down, every time.

It seems a little ridiculous to pay 3 bucks for an app of a video, and after I first bought it I felt so dumb. But the first time it calmed down one of our screaming babies… I realized that I would’ve paid 10 times that. Maybe more.

3) Monkey Preschool Lunchbox. $0.99

You basically help this little monkey pack his lunch. It sounds kind of dumb, but it actually helped Charlie get much better at counting.

His memory and problem solving also got way better from this Matching game:

And his hand-eye coordination was greatly improved by a puzzle pieces part of the game.  When he first started doing this puzzle, he could barely get the puzzle pieces to go where he wanted.  Now he can solve this with just one hand!

There are six “educational games” built into this app, and Charlie loves them all. He got so good at the app though that we no longer really let him play it… there’s no more educational value in it.

4) Elmo Loves ABCs, $4.99

This is currently Charlie’s favorite app.  He is learning to trace letters:

And once you trace a letter, you can click on any of 3 images and you’ll see related archival clips from Sesame Street:

Is this app teaching Charlie his ABCs? I was a little skeptical, until I mentioned that someone lives in an Apartment 14C. His immediate response was, “C like Cookie Monster and Charlie!”

If I could buy this app twice, I would. One word of warning: Charlie had ZERO interest and ability to use this app until fairly recently (he’s currently 2 years and almost 11 months). It’s kind of a complicated app and is definitely for toddlers that are a bit older. So you may want to hold up on buying this app until your LO is into the ABCs.

5) Peek a Zoo HD, $0.99

This app introduces you to lots of animals, then quizzes you on them:

It also teaches kids about various emotions:

Charlie loved this app on the plane! But then he chewed through the headphones cord and I realized that the app depends on your LO being able to hear what the app is saying. Still though, a solid app for chewing up travel time.

6) DragonBox, $5.99

This app is amazing, and 100% blew my mind. It truly shows how the iPad has the potential to completely change education. I’ll let Wired Magazine describe it:

Within a couple hours, most kids playing DragonBox will be able to start solving simple algebraic equations, and what’s more, they’ll be having fun and they may not even know they’re learning algebra at first. Also surprising is that they don’t even need to know basic arithmetic to play the game. I showed DragonBox to my five-year-old and she loved it, and didn’t even want me to play ahead because she wanted to be the one to unlock all the levels.

Here’s what the app looks like (this screenshot may be a little confusing out of context, but it’s basically teaching how division works).

I was a little skeptical and figured that Charlie would have no idea how to use this app. But I downloaded it and with a little supervision, Charlie was able to finish a good number of levels when he was two and a half! I plan to bring him back to this app later, and could see him learning algebra before he starts kindergarten. Check out this quote from DragonBox’s testimonials:

I just wish you could see my two boys right now: one is 7 the other 4. We downloaded DragonBox yesterday and they are singing ‘easypeasy lemon squeezy’ as they play. They are totally into the game. Even my 4 year old has mastered the basics of algebra and plays like a pro! (I haven’t told him people call it algebra yet). What a game! – Daniela

Seriously, wth. What’s next: an app that teaches quantum mechanics to three-year-olds?  We are living in the future.

If you’re wondering why kids should ever use an iPad, buy this app and prepare to be blown away. Also, if you struggled at algebra, this app can help!

Ok that’s it for now. Next up: toddler flashcards, ebooks, and interactive media!

What’s your favorite iPhone or iPad app for your kids?