Nine royalty free nursery rhymes are played as animated slide shows; along with a set of flash cards, in this English learning app. Made by Singapore-based Peach Blossom Media. Subscribers, please log into our database using your password to read the full review along with our rating.
This edition of The Sims gives you millions of hair/clothing/facial feature/body type combinations; along with many of the features of the Sims games. You can give your Sims unique personalities, make them them evil, romantic, paranoid, kleptomaniacs or a mix of something completely different. You can control their destinies, determine whether or not to fulfill their desires or let their dreams die, or let them try to become a rock stars. 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.
We had a quick look at the Wii version of Sid Meier’s Pirates on the Wii and had a distinct feeling of déjà vu. That’s because we reviewed a similar version on the PSP, three years ago. In the game, you become a 17th century pirate. You start by selecting which type of pirate you want to become, and then choose a home port. You then start exploring the Caribbean by steering your ship around, using a map and attacking other ships with your canons. When you win a battle, you can acquire the loot and the crew, increasing your status. It is possible to lose, however, and end up in a prison, without your ship. Subscribers, please log into our database using your password to read the full review along with our rating.
The Parrot AR.Drone is a $300 flying spy camera, propelled by four-rotors (called a quadricopter). Onboard flight sensors consist of two altimeters, a three-axis accelerometer and multiple gyroscopes that send in-flight information to a Linux-powered processor, so that it can continuously stabilize itself when flying. The Drone is controlled via Wi-Fi. Here’s how that works. After you charge the Lithium Polymer battery and Velcro it into a holding dock, you turn on your iPod Touch, iPhone or iPad (obviously not included in the price, but required) and check your control panel to sniff out the Drone’s temporary Wi-Fi hotspot. A power button starts the four motors, and an emergency button shuts everything down. To steer, you can tilt your device like you are balancing a plate, and use thumb controls for more subtle moves, such as when landing. Subscribers, please log into our database using your password to read the full review along with our rating.
This app lets your child click through seven animated farm animals, each with a real animal sound, or they can record their own noises and words for the animals to say. The app also features a touch-and-drag playscape that allows your child to move the talking animals around the farm to create their own adventures. Subscribers, please log into our database using your password to read the full review along with our rating.
EA’s promise of “simpler, quicker, and deeper” has come true with Madden NFL 11. The new GameFlow playcalling system automatically selects the best play for your team based on authentic NFL game plans. This means you can now spend less time in the huddle and more time on the field, and play a full game in as little as 30 minutes. The Dual Stick Control allows you to play using only the two control sticks for easier play. Developed by EA Tiburon. Prices are $60 for Xbox 360 & PS3 versions, $50 for the Wii, and $40 for PS2 and PSP. 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.
Find a friend (or play by yourself) and jump into a world of animated yarn and cloth, where just about anything can fold, zip or come to life. Thanks to his versatile yarn composition, Kirby can take on a variety of forms, such as a car for dashing, or a submarine for going under water.At times he can even turn into a massive robotic tank, a UFO and other vehicles. Created by Good-Feel for Nintendo. 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 clean graphics and narration but limited content and interactivity, Josh & Emma Go to the Beach is a nine screen eBook. On some of the screens, children can touch objects to collect them in a bucket, hearing them labeled or counted. For example, on one screen, they can touch a feature to hear “one white fluffy feather.” Subscribers, please log into our database using your password to read the full review along with our rating.
Content includes 90 tracks from bands including Black Sabbath, Megadeth, Queen, and Kiss. Other new features include a Quick Play mode, where you can test your skills and earn rewards with up to 13 challenges per song, and Party Play Mode which allows you to jump in/jump out of game play or switch instruments without the stopping the music. The stand alone game is $60. A $100 bundle includes the game and new guitar; the complete set (with controller, drum set, and microphone) costs $180. 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.
This 3D interactive book lets you watch as each pop-up scene brings the story of Rumpelstiltskin to life. It features 30 pages of text, along with 11 double-page interactive 3D pop-up scenes that compliment the story, as well as a musical score. You can orient the book by dragging to see the 3D pop-up scenes, tap each pop-up character to see what they’re thinking, and touch or drag interactive elements in the 3D pop-up scenes. Subscribers, please log into our database using your password to read the full review along with our rating.
This encyclopedia app lets you spin the globe to choose a place and read all about it. There are three main categories to choose from: Places; Flora; and Fauna. The app features 300 objects with up-to-date descriptions allowing you to learn about places, people, animals and plants. There are two modes for searching. You can either tap any icon on the globe to read information about the subject, or use an object list. There are also two modes for viewing, cover-flow or object mode. Subscribers, please log into our database using your password to read the full review along with our rating.
Freddi Fish — the androgynous fish that looks as if he/she could’ve swum out of The Little Mermaid , has been to a lot of platforms, but never before to the Nintendo DS. There are eight games covering typical school readiness content, with names like Bubble Bonanza, Counting Corral, Soup Stir, Costume Catastrophe, Ship Shape, Junkyard Jumble, Freddi’s Toys, Sandy Beach and Refrigerator Magnets. One of the best is Ship Shape, in which a child colors in letter outlines. Created by 1st Playable Productions for Atari, under the older Humongous label. Subscribers, please log into our database using your password to read the full review along with our rating.
The game mechanic is very similar to Guitar Hero, requiring timing, matching and beat awareness. Modes include Freestyle (mix, scratch and sample during set points), Play (start and stop spinning on the fly, drop-in or drop-out of lyrical gameplay, and switch difficulty level without interrupting the party), Competitive (includes DJ Battle, Star Battle, Accumulator, Checkpoint and Streak) and Empire (start as an up-and-coming DJ and become head of a major entertainment empire). Developed by FreeStyleGames for Activision. Prices are $60 for the standalone game, $100 bundled with one turntable controller, and $150 bundled with two turntable controllers and a microphone. 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 Nintendo DS into a serious artist tool with this new $20 cartridge from Nintendo. Using the DS stylus as a pencil or paint brush, you can choose to work through a series of ten step-by-step tutorials, or freely draw using the selection of pencils and/or paint tools. There are two parts: Art Academy First Semester and Art Academy Second Semester, both of which were previously available as Nintendo DSiWare downloads. 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.
Drill and practice gets a new face, voice and brain, with this updated edition of one of the first robotic learning toys. Powered by three AA batteries (included) the 9 inch tall robot is controlled by inserting one of 30 two sided cards into his belly, covering every letter of the alphabet and numeral up to nine. The cards are color coded on the bottom so Alphie can keep things straight using an optical reader. There are eight possible button combinations so children can make matches (e.g., 2D shapes with 3D shapes; sets with numerals, and so on). The LED screen and light-up mouth gives Alphie a wide range of expressions. 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.
I’ve been asked to give a talk on digital parenting. Here’s the blurb. In this talk, I’ll draw upon my MA in human development and apply my knowledge of current technology. The recipe won’t be very surprising (hint — it has stuff like time for play, walks in the park and cat chasing…)
Raising a 21st Century Problem Solver: A Recipe for Modern Parents
By Warren Buckleitner, Ph.D.
Back in the good old days (the 1990s) school success was gauged largely by how well you did on the “three Rs.” Not anymore.
Raising a child who will thrive in the 21st century means being a parenting pioneer, who can apply old fashioned child development information to a completely new context that no other parenting generation has faced. Come learn and share stories about how you can help a young child navigate a world of video games, smart phones and social media… to help your child grow up at ease with multiple streams of information, and who can excel as a self-learner of digital tools that have not yet been invented. Educational psychologist Warren Buckleitner will share some of the strategies he used with his own children, who grew up swimming in their own sea of the latest technology. He’ll provide a recipe for success that you can implement on a shoestring, discuss how the library can help, and reassure you that when it comes to raising a modern child, you probably know more than you think.
Children’s Technology Review
Is Microsoft’s Kinect “Science Fiction Turned Science Fact?”
Imagine your living room as a three-corner boxing ring. In one corner, the reigning heavyweight champion, weighing in at 1802 titles: the Nintendo Wii. In another two corners, with a scant few dozen titles each but with flashy technology and bottomless marketing: Sony’s Move and Microsoft’s Kinect. All three want to control your living room screen. Which will win? Each platform has unique features that will bring new forms of interactivity to children. Sony’s silky smooth motion detection will undoubtedly be used in many children’s titles (see EyePet, CTR Oct. 2010) and in our early tests, Kinect’s ability to track a child’s location and hand motions works so well it has a spooky feel to it. Has Microsoft managed to, to quote Alex Kipman, Director of Incubation for Xbox, “turn science fiction into science fact?” Watch for a full report in our December issue, as the battle for your living room escalates.
What would Maria Montessori Say About the iPod?
Ninety-seven years ago, a large crowd gathered outside New York’s Carnegie Hall to hear Maria Montessori describe innovative teaching methods for hard-to-teach children. Today, we still have the hard-to-teach children, as pointed out by the movie “Waiting for Superman.” But the tools have improved, and one in particular, the iPod, has been showing up with more frequency on Montessori-blogs. So it’s fun to ask “What would Montessori say about the iPod?” (page 5), “What apps would she like?” and “What does the Montessori International-USA have to say?” See page 8.
Going to College, YouTube Style
Question: How many college lectures are on YouTube? If you said 700, you might be impressed. But the current answer is about 100 times larger (70,000) thanks in part to the torrent of raw information flowing onto YouTube’s servers (currently estimated to be about 24 hours worth per minute!) Some of those lectures are pretty amazing. In fact, if you want to take an entire course in, say, electrical engineering or linguistics, you can. Start your learning on page 9.
A Taxonomy of Touch
Any doubts that the very young can use the iPod evaporate when you type “baby” and “iPod” into YouTube’s search window. But what types of touch behavior do children use, and when? Unlike mouse clicking behavior, which is well studied, we unpackage the various ways children interact with the iPod’s multi-touch screen, starting on page 10.
Learn to Sketch
This is a great month for some old fashioned sketching. Besides Art Academy for the Nintendo DS, we’ve discovered a wealth of drawing tutorials online and on YouTube. Don’t miss this month’s LittleClickers on page 4. We found some well-designed online tutorials on sketching and drawing. We hope you enjoy the issue!