by Gary Feltman
@garyfeltman
I'm just a dad who cares about his kids learning, and a teacher with a huge interest in integrating technology into education, using his work interests and research abilities to find his kids the best apps. My daughter's friend's parents wanted me to email them a list of the apps we use on our iPad for both my 2 year old son and my 6-year old daughter (going to first grade).
I thought, if I'm going to make a list, why not share it with other people who might find it useful.
This is a list of apps that both of them play and know how to navigate and entertain themselves with. My infant will play my daughter's games for a challenge and entertainment, and my daughter will entertain herself with all the apps, including occasionally using the infant apps for fun. Most were either free of .99, but if we paid money; it was worth it and they're on this list. The most we paid was for are the first three games listed, $4.99 each; below is the list:
Categories include mostly education, entertainment, games, and creativity. I do consider entertainment and games apps to be useful for brain exercise, which improves thinking, decision making, and hand-eye coordination.
The list of apps (possibly followed by either category, brief description, or age range [even though both kids will play with both apps]) includes:
- Dora Ballet (1st grade)-Interactive Dora & decision making
- Elmo's ABC's (infant)-Learn ABC's
- Road Rally (mickey mouse, favorite for both)
- Kidsongs lite (infant, sings songs)
- AnimSounds-touch the animal-hear the sound
- Duplo Jams-race a car (simple for infant)
- Angry Birds
- Tiny Monsters (1st grade)
- ThreeFeathers (interactive books)
- OldMcDonald (worth the .99)-sings the song, interact with animals
- Swapsies (favorite by both)
- Baby Finger (infant)-touch and interact with screen
- Shapes and Colors
- Train (Freight Train by Donald Crews-(interactive books, and infant favorite).
- ABC Song
- Shapes
- Twinkle Star (infant)
- Build it Up (infant)
- Match it up 1 (infant)
- Match it up 2 (infant)
- Match it up 3 (infant)
- Sort it out 1 (infant)
- Dr. Panda-interactive book
- My Silly Faces
- Math Ninja (1st grade)
- Toy Story
- ABC Train Free-(infant fav-identify shapes, play with train)
- Lorax HD -(fun game, first grade favorite)
- Books (interactive books)
- Spell Game (1st grade)
- Multiplication (1st grade)
- Hungry Fish (1st grade)-math game
- Princes and the Frog (interactive books)
- WizardOz (interactive books)
- DragonVale (1st grade simple RPG like game)
- Water? Free -Connect the pipes to connect the water
- StoryPanda (interactive books)
- Saving Yello (1st grade favorite)
- Rapunzel (interactive books)
- Zombie Cake-puzzle game (favorite by both)
- Curious Zoo (favorite by both)
- BrainPOP-watch a daily informational learning clip
- Make Change-learn to count change
- Color Drops-Paint
- Temple Run-hot new addicting game, many objectives/challenges/rewards
- Princess and the Pea (interactive books)
- Super 7 HD (1st grade math)
- Flow-Connect the lines: brain exercise
- PrincessPiano-play the piano with a princess twist
- Wings (1st grade favorite)-Fun math game
- Build Up-(infant favorite)-Stack blocks/rings from biggest to smallest
- Fish Balls-fun math game
- Rocket Math-fun math game
- Stack the States (1st grade favorite)-Answer questions about states-have a map handy!
- Toca Monsters (favorite for both)-puzzle game
- Alien Buddies (favorite for both)-Simple math game
- Fairy Colors-(interactive book) with fun audio recorder
- Race Penguin (favorite for both)
- DIY (online portfolio for 1st grader art projects)
- Tinkerbell (interactive books)
- Jack and the Beanstalk (interactive books)
- Action Movie (1st grade favorite)-Create a movie with special effects
- MegaRun - Similar to Sonic the Hedgehog-(1st grade fav)
Again, these aren't apps that just sit on the iPad and don't get used. Both of my kids are engaged by most of the apps on a regular basis.
Finally, one great free app that I use everyday that searches for (free) daily apps is:
- Appsfire Deals
Enjoy the Apps!
-Gary
Thanks for reading. Comments and Suggestions welcome.
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