Hellobee

I remember the first computer we purchased for our home. It was a Hewlett-Packard desktop and the computer monitor and tower took up my whole desk. It barely had any games on it; in fact, the main reason I wanted a computer was to be able to play with Paintbrush. 

Today’s kids are born into a world where screens and the internet are always within their grasp. Heck, my cell phone is almost always in my grasp! I do, however, make a conscious effort to keep track of the amount of time that they stare at a screen daily. It is so easy for me to hand my kids the tablet and just take a break from parenting, but I do notice that the longer they play on the tablet the more fussy, demanding and short-tempered they are. But more importantly, for me, it is harder for them to go down for a nap. This is much more noticeable in my three-year-old who needs high energy, interactive activities to keep his mind stimulated and body physically active.

Yet, with even limited tech time StarCakes is able to navigate my phone, tablet and laptop with ease. So with that in mind, when my kids do get screen time, here are the apps that they frequently use on the iPhone and Kindle Fire!

PBS Kids Video – The kids love watching Daniel Tiger and Curious George. I love watching them too! The episodes always have a meaningful message and it helps that there are songs in the Daniel Tiger episodes as well! GemCakes especially loves dancing to those.

Monkey Math – I personally love this app because it helps teach beginning math and counting skills. My son loves playing it because of the cute sea animals and the aquarium feature.

Monkey Preschool Lunchbox – StarCakes plays this app when he gets tired of practicing his math skills. This app encourages object and word recognition and helps him with his logic skills with matching games and puzzles.

YouTube Kids – This is our “child freaking out” emergency application. It never fails to help calm down StarCakes when he gets antsy from waiting or if he’s in need of some quiet time. He likes watching the channel where people open eggs with surprise toys inside. 

Pet Doctor – Aside from the cute animation, I like that when my son plays this app he is helping the sick animals feel better. He asks me questions about what is wrong with the animals and shows me how he takes care of them. Maybe I have a future doctor on my hands?

Fisher Price Baby – This app comes with different versions: Animals, Shapes & Colors and Music. So far my daughter has gravitated towards the animal one. It’s easy for her to switch the animals with just one tap and she loves listening to the song that the animals dance to. I like to ask her what sounds the different animals make.

The Very Hungry Caterpillar – The Cheesecake kids are huge fans of this book so when StarCakes found the app he was super excited to play it. StarCakes takes care of a caterpillar, feeding it fruits, playing with it and putting it down for naps. I think playing this app has helped him memorize the book to the point that he reads it to me during our bedtime routine!

The Camera – My son loves taking pictures and video with our camera phone and laptop. Oftentimes my partner will find random selfies StarCakes took when he wasn’t looking. He has also discovered a number of filters and editing tools on my partner’s phone and utilizes them frequently! Sometimes when he uses the camera feature on our laptop he treats it like a photo-booth and will invite us to join him in the pictures. 

Don’t worry, just checking my e-mail mom!

What apps do you approve of for your kids?