Available in both free and “Pro” ($.99) versions, TonePad lets you compose rhythmic simple songs by arranging dots (or notes) on a 16×16 grid. Like the pins on a music box, each dot activates a tone, making it easy to make rhythmic and melodic patterns. The Pro version lets you compose your own ringtones. Subscribers, please log into our database using your password to read the full review along with our rating, and see why this received our Editor’s Choice Award.
Singing Fingers starts with a blank white screen, then you drag your finger slowly across the iPhone, iPod Touch or iPad’s screen. A microphone is required. As you move your fingertip, you notice that your “ink” is powered by sound. The louder you sing, the fatter your line. And the color is associated with the pitch. So if you sing a scale, you make a rainbow pattern. After you’ve made a doodle, trace your finger back over your drawing, to hear your captured audio. If you drag quickly, you make a drawing, to play your sound back. If you trace your finger quickly, the sound plays back quickly, like fast-forwarding through a file. The app was created by doctoral students Eric Rosenbaum (who spoke at Dust or Magic 2009) and Jay Silver of the MIT Lifelong Kindergarten Group. Subscribers, please log into our database using your password to read the full review along with our rating, and see why this received our Editor’s Choice Award.
Road Trip Bingo turns your iPhone or iPad into a bingo board. Instead of numerals, the 5 x 5 grid contains a random assortment of items you might see passing by your window, ranging from common things — a cloud, tree or exit sign, to the more unusual — a horse, sailboat or a police car (may your sightings be rare). Once you spot an item on the board, you give it a tap to mark it with a virtual marker. Five in a row in any direction wins, an event marked by a chime and a sticker. Subscribers, please log into our database using your password to read the full review along with our rating.
This time-telling app offers four activities from the main menu. The first lets you freely move the hands of an analog clock with your finger, to see if you can make the time match a digital am/pm clock below. The background provides clues about if it is day or night. Correct answers provide a round of applause. The second lets you change the numbers in the digital display at the bottom to match the time displayed by the clock hands. The third is a free mode, where you can move the clock hands or the change the numbers at the bottom to see the time instantly change. The fourth turns the clock into a real, functioning clock, in a clever twist. Part of the “Learning is fun” collection. Subscribers, please log into our database using your password to read the full review along with our rating.
Like the other Oceanhouse Media Dr. Seuss titles, Green Eggs & Ham follows the same formula of pulling the text and illustrations from the original Dr. Seuss story, and presenting it, one page at a time. The story can be presented in three modes: Read to Me (each page is presented, one at a time), Read it Myself (touch the words or pictures to see them labeled) and Auto Play (which presents the story, slide show style). To turn the page, you swipe the screen, which either presents a new page, or zooms in to highlight one of the features. Subscribers, please log into our database using your password to read the full review along with our rating, and see why this received our Editor’s Choice Award.
Five activities — each previously released as separate apps — have been combined into one $4.99 universal app. See the individual reviews of each app, with ratings. Sound Shaker is a sound making game that uses the accelerometer, so you move the screen to make musical patterns (see the full review). Field Flier lets children control a flying bird. They touch spots on the screen to hear activities like sleeping, resting or hiding labeled. Count Caddy lets children count by 1s, 2s or 3s, by dragging and dropping items into a large circle. Sort Slider shows two objects, and asks children “which one matches.” To make a match, you can either swipe with your finger (left or right) or tilt the screen. In Pattern Painter, children are asked “which shape comes next” and are then presented with three options, multiple choice style. They are then asked to trace the shape on a template. If they have trouble, a short tutorial automatically starts. Subscribers, please log into our database using your password to read the full review along with our rating, and see why this received our Editor’s Choice Award.
Five bite-sized games feature a chatty, quirky little monkey, who serves as the coach and instruction giver. Content includes concentration, color matching (touch all the green fruit), jigsaw puzzles (drag-and-drop puzzles), odd one out (which fruit is not the same), find the fruit that starts with the letter B. Every three activities earns you a sticker,which can be saved on a flannel board. Subscribers, please log into our database using your password to read the full review along with our rating.
This gimmick-free app offers free-form letter and numeral tracing, with narration in English or Spanish. Content includes upper and lower case letters, and numerals 1 through 100. Other features include the ability to set the size of the line, and a “shake to erase” feature. The menu that controls the features is shown on the main screen, but it can be hidden. Subscribers, please log into our database using your password to read the full review along with our rating.
The second of two letter tracing apps (the first is Letter Writer: Oceans), this App combines a set of lower case letters with real space facts. For example, after you trace the letter ‘m’ three times, you are presented with a short narrated presentation all about the planet Mars. To complete a letter, you must follow a pulsing line of dots with your finger. See also Letter Writer Oceans for practice with upper case letters. Note that both apps are designed for the smaller iPhone or iPod Touch app (they are not iPad native). Subscribers, please log into our database using your password to read the full review along with our rating, and see why this received our Editor’s Choice Award.
The first of two letter tracing apps (the second is Letter Writer: Space, that deals with lower case letters), this App combines a set of upper case letters with real ocean facts. For example, after you trace the letter ‘W’ three times, you are presented with a short poem about the Whale, as a large whale swims across the screen. To complete a letter, you must follow a pulsing line of dots with your finger. See also Letter Writer: Space for practice with lower case letters. Note that both apps are designed for the smaller iPhone or iPod Touch (they are not iPad native). Subscribers, please log into our database using your password to read the full review along with our rating, and see why this received our Editor’s Choice Award.
Featuring Diego, this musical app includes six simple songs like Jingle Bells and Mary Had a Little Lamb, each set in a different environment (e.g., the Savannah or the Arctic). Made for Nickelodeon by Chewy Software LLC. Subscribers, please log into our database using your password to read the full review along with our rating.
Turn your iPhone or iPod Touch into a drag and drop creativity space for collages. After you choose a background color and a head shape using as set of slide-open menus, you can freely drag and drop different items into place to try out different looks. Finished products can be saved or shared on social networks. The program look and runs fine on the iPad although the version we reviewed was not universal. The clip art library was developed by illustrator Hanoch Piven. Content includes 20 face outlines and 100 objects. Subscribers, please log into our database using your password to read the full review along with our rating.
Duck Duck Moose’s fourth app contains two nursery rhymes woven into one app: Baa Baa Black Sheep and Row Your Boat. There are three ways your child can navigate from scene to scene: manually, by swiping or touching; using an arrow button; or selecting autoplay in the preferences to automatically change the scenes. As children explore, they can hunt for four hidden outlines in the pictures. Subscribers, please log into our database using your password to read the full review along with our rating, and see why this received our Editor’s Choice Award.
“Up With A Fish” is a fast-paced stacking game, not unlike “Scoops” (both are made by Nimblebit), where you lean your iPhone or iPad left or right to collect falling objects, which are balanced on the Cat in the Hat’s head. Catching fish bowls increases your life. Dodging trouble-making kids will also increase your score. You can pause the game at any time by tapping the screen. Subscribers, please log into our database using your password to read the full review along with our rating, and see why this received our Editor’s Choice Award.
Lean the iPad, iPod Touch or iPhone left or right, to steer a single balloon through a maze of tree branches or clouds that gradually get harder. The higher you go, the more points you score,and high scores can be posted on a leader board. The free version has less content. The $.99 version contains more mazes and balloon options. Subscribers, please log into our database using your password to read the full review along with our rating, and see why this received our Editor’s Choice Award.
If you’ve played any of the other Oceanhouse Media Dr. Seuss titles, you’ll find no surprises with One Fish, Two Fish, Red Fish, Blue Fish, a $3.99 app from Oceanhouse Media. The story can be presented in three modes: Read to Me (each page is presented, one at a time), Read it Myself (touch the words or pictures to see them labeled) and Auto Play (which presents the story, slide show style). To turn the page, you swipe the screen, which either presents a new page, or zooms in to highlight one of the features. Subscribers, please log into our database using your password to read the full review along with our rating, and see why this received our Editor’s Choice Award.
The electronic edition of Dr. Seuss’ classic graduation story features three modes: Read to Me (the narration starts automatically when a page is swiped), Read it Myself (touch pictures or the text to hear it read or described) and Auto Play (the story is presented, slide-show-style). Each page is turned with the swipe of a finger, and illustrated with swooping animation, using a Ken Burns effect, to highlight specific scenes. Subscribers, please log into our database using your password to read the full review along with our rating, and see why this received our Editor’s Choice Award.
Inspired by the Mandala patterns of the Buddhist monks, this app makes it possible to convert your finger drawings into snowflake-like symmetrical art, set to zen-like music. There are two drawing modes, normal and blend. The palette contains 35 colors and three types of brushes. Content includes ten songs. Subscribers, please log into our database using your password to read the full review along with our rating.
Turn your iPhone screen into a paint-splattered mess with this simple program. The app was first released in 2008 and has been updated several times; but it is basically the same. While there is no iPad version, it still works and looks fine on either sized screen. The program starts with a blank, white square turntable surrounded with splatters of paint. You can either swipe or tap to start it in motion, in either direction. A double tap makes it stop or increase in speed. If you hold your finger down, you can make a perfect circle, or you can choose the large paintbrush to make a big mess, quickly. Subscribers, please log into our database using your password to read the full review along with our rating, and see why this received our Editor’s Choice Award.
Previously available as a download for Mac and Windows, this game is now available for the iPhone or iPad. Similar in design to the computer version, the game has you battling legions of zombies that are invading your yard, trying to reach your front door. To defeat them, you purchase and plant a variety of mutant flowers, vines, trees, and other foliage that have zombie combating powers (for example, cherry bombs and peashooters). These zombie battling plants can slow down, confuse, weaken and eventually destroy the vegetation zombies, before they get to your door. Your selection of plants, along with their placement, is the key to winning. Subscribers, please log into our database using your password to read the full review along with our rating, and see why this received our Editor’s Choice Award.
How many times can you touch a target in 60 seconds? That’s the challenge of this fast-paced matching game for one to four players, that runs on the iPad, iPhone or iPod touch. First you are shown something to pick, such as a colorful tomato or a potato. Next you see your item, mixed in with two other choices. The goal is to touch it as quickly as possible. Wrong answers result in a buzz — correct answers bring up a slightly larger, harder set of items, one of which is yours. Subscribers, please log into our database using your password to read the full review along with our rating, and see why this received our Editor’s Choice Award.
Baby Einstein content comes to your mobile device for the first time in this mixture of short video, and do-it-yourself fact screens in which you can record your own voice and follow links to online purchases. The videos consist of six three minute video segments taken from existing content (Baby Neptune and Baby Beethoven). Each follows the tried-and-true formula of mixing classical music with close ups of interesting objects. Subscribers, please log into our database using your password to read the full review along with our rating.
Teachers take note: WordTotz is a customizable flashcard app designed to help children learn their first words using familiar pictures and sounds.The app lets you create your own cards, using photos from your photo album. You can then record your own voice over the photos; potentially very valuable as a language experience. Subscribers, please log into our database using your password to read the full review along with our rating.
Like a recipe book for exercise, this reference for iPod Touch, iPhone or iPad consists of a database of 150 exercises. You start by touching a region of the body (e.g,. back, legs or shoulder) and then see a list of exercises, presented in step-by-step fashion. For each exercise, you can download a short 10 second video showing what to do. Subscribers, please log into our database using your password to read the full review along with our rating.
This finger painting experience for iPod Touch and iPhone, with a new version for the iPad, has a clean visual design, a manageable 10 color palette and resizable stickers. You start by choosing from three themes (ocean, school or farm). Next, you see a well designed creativity space, offering colors, a single, one size paint brush, an eraser and a row of stickers. There are also icons for saving your picture to your photo library, or alternating between 12 backgrounds per theme, including a blank white or black canvas. Subscribers, please log into our database using your password to read the full review along with our rating.
Poke the spider to change scenes in this adaptation of the classic nursery rhyme. You can make rain come down from the clouds, splash in the puddles, help a caterpillar become a butterfly or play peek-a-boo with a frog. Your child can also count from one to ten as a squirrel builds his house, find hidden eggs on a scavenger hunt, create your own music using eggs that play different notes, stack hats on the spider’s head, listen to classical music with violin and cello pizzicato, and record their own singing. Subscribers, please log into our database using your password to read the full review along with our rating, and see why this received our Editor’s Choice Award.
Turn your iPad into a beautifully illustrated story book, with this 37 page (screen) iPad version of How To Train Your Dragon (called merely “Dragon Book” in the App Store). If your child liked the movie, he or she will also like this storybook. That’s because the illustrations are taken directly from the movie, pixel per pixel. Children can swipe their way through the book, one page at a time, front or back, listening to the text read aloud. The book follows the movie, highlighting each key moment, and the narration sounds like it came from the movie as well. Subscribers, please log into our database using your password to read the full review along with our rating.
Set in a swamp at night, this app features frogs in secondary colors of orange, green and purple. These frogs are hungry for a firefly snack, but they will only eat flies that match their color. You must mix the red, blue and yellow flies by touching one of the flies, and combining it with another, to mix the colors. This creates a new color. If the color matches the frog, the fly is eaten and you get the points. Subscribers, please log into our database using your password to read the full review along with our rating.
Children explore with their fingertips, in this colorful underwater playground, where a school of quick swimming fish illustrate numerals (up to 20), the alphabet song, and a set of shapes. In the alphabet song, children can swipe forward or backward, hearing the alphabet backwards if they like. If they stop at a letter, such as U, they hear “U is for Umbrella.” The number line works the same way, only the quantity is presented along with the numeral, in the form of a line of small eggs on the bottom of the screen. The “Playtime” activity fills the screen with dozens of differently colored fish, of every shape, size and pattern. Other more structured activities include a game of concentration, and a discrimination game, that asks children to find the fish that doesn’t belong. The iPhone and iPod touch versions are available for $.99 at http://tinyurl.com/fishiphone; the iPad vesion is $1.99: http://tinyurl.com/fishipad. Subscribers, please log into our database using your password to read the full review along with our rating, and see why this received our Editor’s Choice Award.
Available in both free and full versions for the iPhone, iPad and iPod Touch, Drawing Den is a coloring program that offers eight pictures that you can color, and there are no stamps or undo options. Other features include the ability to quickly share a photo and a “stay within the lines” option that you can toggle off, in case you want to make a mess. Subscribers, please log into our database using your password to read the full review along with our rating.
It used to be when you wanted to sketch out the plans for an invention, you grabbed a napkin. The iPad equivalent is Doodle Buddy, a multi-touch sketching utility. Content includes 24 backgrounds, including white, black and several for word games like dots and tic-tac-toe; four drawing tools and an infinite color selector. There are also 80 tiny stamps, and the ability to import a photo from your photo library. Subscribers, please log into our database using your password to read the full review along with our rating.
Based on the Webosaurs.com virtual world, this app features 3D versions of the Webosaurs’ characters including Stretch, Pterry, Horns and Rexxy. Players can race their Webosaurs through various environments by moving their iPhone face up and down to maneuver through obstacles and jump over ramps. Subscribers, please log into our database using your password to read the full review along with our rating.
If there were such a thing as a “coffee-table book” for the iPad, it would be this one. It’s the kind of book you pick up once in a while to admire the aesthetics, but then forget about it, for possibly a very long time. Featuring 50 beautiful color prints (or pages) with creative fonts, Alice for iPad (short for “Alice in Wonderland” on the iPad) is a beautifully crafted, abridged version of the story of Alice in Wonderland, with the words take directly from the Lewis Carroll book. Subscribers, please log into our database using your password to read the full review along with our rating.
The content of this iPod Touch app includes one flash card per letter, which are presented randomly. For each letter, you see three animals. The idea is that you see a letter (for example ‘F’) and then touch the associated animal. Subscribers, please log into our database using your password to read the full review along with our rating.
Yesterday I learned that Apple had removed an App called “Scratch Viewer 1.4″ from the App store (by way of a Facebook post by Scott Traylor). This decision has ruffled some feathers (see http://computinged.wordpress.com/2010/04/15/apple-removes-scratch-from-ipadiphoneitouch/ for a taste of the comments, including one by Alan Kay).
So I decided to dig a bit deeper into this issue. 
WHAT DOESN’T THIS APP DO?
This app is not Scratch. This might be misleading because it appears the Icon for the App is labeled merely as “Scratch.” The true name is “Scratch Viewer.” So let’s be clear — this is not the free, NSF funded, full-fledged version of programming toolkit called Scratch that we’ve all come to know and love. It’s an $4 App that lets you do something you can currently do for free on your computer.
Four early reading activities each feature a character from the PBS Super Why program. In Alpha Pig’s Lickety Letter Hunt, your child helps Alpha Pig find his way home by identifying one of three letters presented verbally (e.g., do you see the letter “v?”). In Princess Presto’s Wands-up Writing, the goal is to make objects appear by identifying letter sounds, tracing letters on the touch screen, and writing words. Wonder Red’s Rhyming Time presents words in a multiple choice format. The word is first presented (“press on the word that rhymes with trap”). Children are then shown two choices (DOG and CAP). Finally, Super Why’s Story Save is a fill-in-the-blank activity. As children play, they collect virtual stickers they can use to decorate a sticker book. Subscribers, please log into our database using your password to read the full review along with our rating.
Modeled after the classic See ‘n Say spinner toy, the See ‘n Say app mixes cartoon-like farm animals with clear video of real animals. After you start the App, children see six of the 12 animals (a different selection each time) and can either touch a spinner in the center of the screen to randomly select an animal, or manually turn or “steer” the spinner to an animal they want to see. Subscribers, please log into our database using your password to read the full review along with our rating.
Featuring good music and bad design, this preschool app starts with a view of a farm that was modeled after the original Little People farm toy set. Various items launch short animated routines or games.
For example, touching a large turtle (hey, what’s a dog-sized turtle doing on a farm?) starts a multiple-choice matching game where you “touch two turtles that look the same.” The idea is valid, but the game starts too hard for the intended age range and has no contextual value. Inside the barn, children can play the haystack game, a memory puzzle where they track a moving haystack with their eyes. Two other activities include wiping mud off the screen, which is fun, despite frequent prompts to “move your finger back and forth to clean it all up.” Finally, there are two twitching children near the barnyard. When they’re touched, children hear a nice rendition of “Turkey and the Straw.” As they listen they can make the children move to the music by touching them. Created by IDEO LLC for Fisher-Price. Teaches: classification, fine motor skills, memory. Fisher-Price, Inc.. www.fisher-price.com, $1.99. Best for ages 3-5.
Rating: 
or .56%
Introduced in 1962, the Fisher-Price Classic Chatter Telephone now has an app. Unfortunately, the play pattern is nothing like original wooden toy, where you could dial the phone, or (better yet) pull the phone around with a string as the eyeballs moved (see a short video of a newer version of the toy, here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_N0MQ9L1Ywc).
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FISHER-PRICE LAUNCHES FIRST-EVER IPHONE APPS
Classic Chatter TelephoneTM, See ‘n Say®, Little People® Farm Toys Transform into Magical, Fun iPhone Games
EAST AURORA, N.Y. – March 18, 2010 – Fisher-Price, Inc. (a subsidiary of Mattel, Inc. NASDAQ:MAT) today put a fun, digital spin on some of its beloved, iconic toys by launching its first-ever iPhone applications, enabling children to experience classic toys in an exciting new way. The Chatter Telephone™ toy (first introduced in 1962), See ‘n Say® product (first introduced in 1965) and Little People® Farm (the Little People® brand was first introduced in 1959) applications, for ages 2-5, are available for download on the iTunes App Store now for $.99 – $1.99 each.