Technology – Page 9 – Mediocre Mum

Monkey Preschool Lunchbox

Available from itunes for 59p

I have to say that I really like this app, if you can ignore the annoying American accent. I’d seen it recommended on a few websites and now that we’ve had a play with it I’m surprised the Sunday Times didn’t feature it in it’s Top 500 apps. It’s perfect for Madame who is 3.5. It has a combination of matching, sorting, colours, number and letter recognition and problem solving!

So overall here is what we thought:

[xrrgroup][xrr label=”Educational Content:” rating=”5/5″ group=”s1″ ] [xrr label=”Fun:” rating=”5/5″ group=”s1″] [xrr label=”Ease of Use:” rating=”5/5″ group=”s1″] [xrr label=”Age Appropriateness:” rating=”5/5″ group=”s1″] [xrr label=”Value for Money:” rating=”5/5″ group=”s1″] [xrr label=”Overall:” overall=true group=”s1″ ][/xrrgroup]

Polly Parrot, Peppa Pig App

Available from Itunes for £1.79

‘In addition to being a mum of a 3 year old, I used to be a former primary school teacher and I’ve been an ICT trainer for 10+ years (I do software/hardware training in schools). All apps that ‘we’ review are not only trialled by Madame but I’ve also had a good play with them.’

We were sent the New Peppa Pig App, Polly Parrot, from P2 to try out. Madame loves it just as much as she loved the Happy Mrs. Chicken App. It has 3 activities: The Talking Parrot game, Where’s Polly and Feed Polly. However, as a mum, I cast my eye over it and there really isn’t a lot of educational content.

There is a smattering of numeracy in the Feed Polly game, as the children have to correctly count the number of crackers you give Polly. However, Find Polly just has kids exploring screens looking for the parrot behind the sofa etc which is a bit random and the Talking Parrot game just has them select 3 pictures and then the parrot says a silly sentence. Although, Madame did find this hilarious

However, I do like the ability to be able to collect stickers as they go along. One note for the developers, when you exit the game it would possibly be better to have a smiley face or frowny face instead of an ‘X’ or ‘✔’ to confirm that you want to exit as the little ones really don’t understand these symbols yet.

So overall here is what we thought:

[xrrgroup][xrr label=”Educational Content:” rating=”2/5″ group=”s1″ ] [xrr label=”Fun:” rating=”4/5″ group=”s1″] [xrr label=”Ease of Use:” rating=”4/5″ group=”s1″] [xrr label=”Age Appropriateness:” rating=”4/5″ group=”s1″] [xrr label=”Value for Money:” rating=”3/5″ group=”s1″] [xrr label=”Overall:” overall=true group=”s1″ ][/xrrgroup]

Monster Detector

Available from Itunes for £.59

space
‘In addition to being a mum of a 3 year old, I used to be a former primary school teacher and I’ve been an ICT trainer for 10+ years (I do software/hardware training in schools). All apps that ‘we’ review are not only trialled by Madame but I’ve also had a good play with them.’

In the last few months Madame has developed a fear of monsters and has taken to sleeping with the light on. Apparently they come out of the mirror and go up the chimney, plus, there’s a little brown one that comes out of the toy box and runs over and pulls her hair. It took all my power of control not to giggle out loud when she told me.

For a laugh, I downloaded the Monster Detector App. I personally think it’s crap. There’s only one screen. You push the scan button a few lights flash and then it says ‘no monsters detected’. That’s it, no different screens or different results. Not that I wanted it to say there’s a monster in the room.

However, Madame loves it and she runs around checking all the rooms in the house. So, I guess it wasn’t a complete waste of money if it helps her sleep.

Here’s what we thought:
[xrrgroup][xrr label=”Educational Content:” rating=”0/5″ group=”s1″ ] [xrr label=”Fun:” rating=”3/5″ group=”s1″] [xrr label=”Ease of Use:” rating=”4/5″ group=”s1″] [xrr label=”Age Appropriateness:” rating=”4/5″ group=”s1″] [xrr label=”Value for Money:” rating=”1/5″ group=”s1″] [xrr label=”Overall:” overall=true group=”s1″ ][/xrrgroup]

Humf Iphone App

Available from Itunes for £1.79

In addition to being a mum of a 3 year old, I used to be a former primary school teacher and I’m now an ICT trainer (I do software/hardware training in schools). All apps that ‘we’ review are not only trialled by Madame but I’ve also had a good play with them.

I’ve never watched Humf. I have no attention span for children’s programming and put too much faith in the Children’s TV producers, but Madame loves it. We were given a copy of the Humf Iphone App to review. We both really like it. Madame is continually asking me to play it and I have to battle her to get the phone back.

It has 9 different solid activities which are not only fun, but they also have an educational element to them (counting, sorting, numbers, and colours), which makes mummy happy.

Here’s what we thought

[xrrgroup][xrr label=”Educational Content:” rating=”4/5″ group=”s1″ ] [xrr label=”Fun:” rating=”4/5″ group=”s1″] [xrr label=”Ease of Use:” rating=”4/5″ group=”s1″] [xrr label=”Age Appropriateness:” rating=”5/5″ group=”s1″] [xrr label=”Value for Money:” rating=”4/5″ group=”s1″] [xrr label=”Overall:” overall=true group=”s1″ ][/xrrgroup]

As you can see we highly recommend this app!

The only suggestion I have for the developers is to build in some sort of reward. Possibly children could collect stickers along the way and a ‘place’ to stick them. It would also be great if the instructions were ‘read’ to the children as they are unable to read them for themselves.

Do you have any that you would recommend or like me to review?

Iphone Apps for Pre-Schoolers (Books)

When I first bought my Iphone I never thought in a million years that I’d let my 3 year old play with it. She absolutely flies around it, when my hubby wouldn’t be able to make a call on it. I’ve downloaded so many apps, I’ve started organising them by subject (Literacy, Numeracy, etc). This may stem from my former life as a primary school teacher.

I don’t tend to download games such as Paper Toss, Angry Birds etc as I’d like them to have some educational content but I haven’t gone as far as downloading flash cards.

I was looking for some classic books (Cinderella, Pinocchio, Snow White, etc), which I didn’t find but stumbled upon these books by Kidz Story. I think they’re great and so does Madame. You have the option for the story to be read to you or read it yourself plus there’s a bit on interactivity built in. They’re not free but for 59p I think it’s a great bargain! They would have cost a lot more than £3 for 5 books on the High Street.

Here’s what we thought:

[xrrgroup][xrr label=”Educational Content:” rating=”3/5″ group=”s1″ ] [xrr label=”Fun:” rating=”4/5″ group=”s1″] [xrr label=”Ease of Use:” rating=”4/5″ group=”s1″] [xrr label=”Age Appropriateness:” rating=”5/5″ group=”s1″] [xrr label=”Value for Money:” rating=”4/5″ group=”s1″] [xrr label=”Overall:” overall=true group=”s1″ ][/xrrgroup]

Do you have any apps that you would recommend for a 3 year old?

Which ones would you avoid?