A beautiful app to teach shape sorting and (hooray!) patience

Back in the day, kids used to keep themselves busy with old-fashioned things like wooden abacuses, blocks and felt boards. Now, they basically own our tablets (you know it's true), and can do everything from smash pigs to trace the entire alphabet with just a finger...or a toe. So why not throw a little something really highbrow at them to really get those little brain wheels turning? PrestoBingo Shapes is an iPad app that introduces toddlers and preschoolers to basic forms of geometry--circles, ovals, diamonds, semi-circles, squares, trapezoids, triangles and rectangles--all artfully hidden in quirky mod illustrations and animation. I love that the app doesn't tell you how many shapes are hidden within a particular image. And since there are no time limits or error messages, little ones can tap and flick to their heart's content while practicing counting from 1-20. One thing I found with my own preschooler was that this app didn't hold her attention for very long. Because of the lack of time limits coupled with the difficulty of some of the pages, she wasn't quite sure when it was okay to advance to another image and set of shapes. But slightly older kids may enjoy the open-ended play of it all. It's done when...it's done. -Pilar Download PrestoBingo Shapes for iPhone and iPad on iTunes for $1.99.