iPad App Review: Eurotalk Maths Age 3-5

I have to say I tutted when I was first asked to review this app as the first Topic is free and then you have to pay for the others.  However, my daughter is loving it and keeps going back to it again and again.  She only has the Sorting and Matching Topic. I think the most motivating thing for her is the certificate we can email to ourselves when she completes each section.  I’m tempted to purchase the other modules but do think they are a bit pricey.  All ten topics are £9.99.

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Scribble Press: Kids Ipad App

I’m absolutely loving this iPad App ‘Scribble Press’ and the best thing of all it’s FREE! Scribble Pad allows children to write, illustrate and share their own stories. They can use a story template as a starting point (e.g. If I were a Fairy, All about my Dad, If I ruled the World or The Craziest Day) or they can make their own from scratch.

There is a huge bank of drawing tools; everything from markers, to stamps and to stickers. All of which are very easy to use. My daughter is only 4. The Ipad’s camera is also integrated so your child can transport themselves into the story.

It’s entirely up to you whether you want to share their work, but there’s also a public gallery, which is great for checking out other children’s stories and giving your child inspiration for their own masterpiece. My favourite is ‘The Loin King’ and that isn’t a typo.

I also read somewhere that it may be possible to get your children’s work printed but I haven’t investigated closely.

The possibilities are endless.

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Music to our ears! Kids’ Ipad App Reviews

My hubby and I are pretty much tone deaf. The only exposure our daughter really gets to music is the radio playing in the background or in the car. We have abandoned music classes because, if this is hereditary, it’s probably better to spend our money elsewhere. However, I was recently sent the following two music apps which we really like and hopefully will foster an appreciation of Music.

Tap-A-Tune (free)by the folks at Mindshapes, this app reminds me of whack-a-mole. You have the option of either a keyboard or mole holes, where a selection of hilarious characters pop up and by clicking on them in order you end up playing a nursery rhyme. You can choose from a selection of Nursery Rhymes and instruments. There is also an option that allows children to create their own music and another for babies; no matter what they click it will play a nursery rhyme.

 

Meet the Orchestra (£1.49) this is an excellent app that introduces children to the different sections of the Orchestra (Brass, Woodwind, Percussion, Strings, Piano). Children can tap on each of the instruments to listen to the sound they make. After exploring the instruments there are a selection of quizzes.; identify by appearance, find by sound, matching and my favourite but a bit challenging for my four year old, defining the order where they listen to a short piece of music and then they have to press on the instruments in the order that they hear them. The graphics are amazing along with the sound. Shortly after playing this app we attended a children’s concert by the local Symphony Orchestra and said mummy ‘that’s a violin’! Brilliant!

 

Kid’s Ipad App Review: Word Wall HD

When I was at school we learned the alphabet by singing the alphabet song but this  a major ‘no-no’ now, as it is all done by phonics. Even though I’m a former teacher the whole phonemes, word families and CVC words is all a bit of a mystery to me, as I taught slightly older children and they tended to be able to read when they got to me. However, now that I have a four year old I really need to get my head around all of this.

About the App
I was sent Word Wall HD (.69p) by Punflay which was designed to develop early reading skills. To start there are two sections that introduce children to the letters and their sounds individually and then the children are introduced to word families (am, an, ig, un) and are asked to drag and drop any letter to create a word, which is then supported by the pronunciation and picture of the object.

After they have explored the writing sections there are then 4 activities to consolidate their learning; see and find, hide a word, bubble words and jigsaw. The matching game is pretty straight forward; children have to match the picture to the word.

My four year old really likes the Seek and Find where you have to swipe your finger over the screen until you find the hidden object. Once they find the object it reads the word to them supported with a picture to reinforce the meaning.

The Bubble Words, where you have to look at the picture and drag and drop the letters to spell the word that matches the picture, was too advanced my daughter as she is at the really early stages of reading.

The Jigsaw does pretty much what it says on the tin.

What we thought

Overall, I thought the app was okay and helped me, to some degree, better understand word families. My only worry is the American accents, as we’re based in the UK and the way they teach phonics is ‘unique’. I’m Canadian so I have no problem with this but I know parents who have removed some Ipad apps as they felt it was confusing for their children. However, many others have stated that they grew up on Sesame Street here in the UK and it’s not a problem.

Come to think of it there are huge differences between accents in the North and South in the UK. Would this put you off buying an app for your kids?

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Disclosure: I received a free promo code for this app.

iPad Apps for Kids: Fun Felt

A friend of mine, with the technical ability, would like to develop an app for kids so I’ve been trying to help him come up with an idea. The other day, after spotting my daughters Fuzzy Felts, I thought they would be a great idea for an app. However, by the time I text him and he replied, low and behold I found one already existed, Fun Felt by Quiros Apps (.69p).

I absolutely love it. My four year old and I’ve been playing with it for ages. It’s great for creativity, shape recognition, fine motor skills, spatial awareness and you’ll see it also lends to literacy and numeracy.

Only negative is that it froze on a couple of occasions which was a bit frustrating.

So what do you think of our first attempts?

Click here to download

Disclosure: I have used my own affiliate code for this post. So, on the off-chance that you purchase it I get a measly couple of pence.