Educational Apps

It's always great when great iOS kids' apps that we feature here make their way over to different platforms. More education and entertainment for everyone! That's why we were thrilled to hear that Nosy Crow, makers of really terrific kid…

A lot of readers ask us about great math apps for kids. (Cut The Rope only counts sort of) I've found a great one that's equal parts science lesson and math course with a sprinkling of cool graphics thrown in for good measure. My kids ar…

Let's face it, most of our children think carrots grow in a refrigerated display case in a grocery store, so any chance to teach them about seeds, soil, sun and watering is a plus. My family and I are urban folk through and through, whic…

If you're like me, if you're plunking down cash for an app, you really want it to be worth it. So an app with four games in one has my name all over it. And when all four games are educational for the kids, my heart swoons. Smash Party i…

Impalas deep sea diving, vultures with beehive hairdos, sneezing squirrels--they're all part of a new crazy clever alphabet app with illustrations so quirky and modern that I want to hang them on my kiddo's wall. But even better, this ap…

You haven't lived until you've seen a video of your head superimposed on the body of an elf, dancing in a winter wonderland. Such is the magic of Elf Yourself by the hilarious company JibJab , a.k.a. the Spiridelli brothers. Now that the…

I love sharing old storybooks I've saved from my childhood, though brittle bindings and fragile pages mean it's definitely a "look but don't touch" type of story time. But in the case of this charming one-hundred year old, new-to-me stor…

As a mom of a child with a learning disability in reading, technology has been a huge help. But most of the reading apps out there are geared toward young children who are learning to read, not 9 year olds. I just stumbled across the Whi…

It's hard to know when kids are old enough for an email account. As soon as my tween opened her own, my youngest son has been begging for one and I've been stalling about it ever since. But now we've found a brand new and very cool iPad …

I love books. I also love lovers of books. And I particularly love book lovers who aren't too "precious" to also enjoy a little modern technology for their books, (all hail Kindles and iPads). Such is the case with this small new company…

I adore my iPad. Almost as much as my children adore my iPad. Luckily, I've managed to keep my hands on it enough to prevent them from downloading apps like crazed little tech-monkeys. And since Mommy is pretty selective, they've only be…

I understand the appeal of websites and apps that bring a child's favorite character to life, whether it's Seuss or Dora or Yo Gabba Gabba. But sometimes it's nice to find a world in which your kid can ascribe her own attributes and stor…

I must admit, at first I was a bit confused by the Aliens Abducted app . Is it an alien arcade style game? Is it a geography lesson as promised? Then I watched my boys play around with it, and I realized that it was both--and the kids du…

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 entir…

With our long drives to and from school every morning, I've been meaning to grab some audiobooks for us to enjoy. Well lucky for me, just yesterday I scored over 20 popular classics as e-books and audio books on both my Kindle and my iPh…

Preschoolers aren't usually very fond of monsters (Elmo not withstanding), what with them hiding under beds and in dark closets. But after your toddler gets a peek at a family of quirky monsters that help them learn numbers, colors and w…

When I was a kid, I loved Reading Rainbow . The show promoted reading, and was right up there on my list of faves with Mister Rogers and Sesame Street. If you're not old enough to recognize two out of those three titles, please don't tel…

Listening to compelling audio books has been my #1 way to prevent backseat squabbles between the kids as we do everything from a six-hour drive to Maine, to a 15-minute jaunt to gymnastics practice. And one of the best ways to get our ha…

Who invented the alphabet? is my son's latest impossible-to-answer question. I've tried to placate him with some smart talk, but the creators of the much loved ebook The Fantastic Flying Books of Morris Lessmore have come up with a much …

My kids have used their fingers and toes to help them understand numbers and counting from the days of 10 Little Monkeys Jumping on a Bed through basic addition. And now there is a new app that uses technology to help reinforce these con…

My subpar geography skills are one of my husband's favorite things to tease me about. Could I fill in that blank map of the 50 states we had to do in 6th grade? Note to self: 2013 resolution! But I still find our planet completely fascin…

When we go on long car rides, I like to pack a bag of activities of things that keep the kids occupied for as long as possible before they resort to the eventual "are we therrrrrre yet?" One of the things I always throw in is our set of …

I decided to buy an iPad 2 for my eight-year-old to use in our homeschooling lessons. That's right -- it's for educational purposes, kid. And no, Angry Birds Space does not count as a physics lesson. So I've spent the past few days scour…

My kids are now at the age where the questions are getting harder than simply, "what's that?" The fun part is that when they ask about evolution or the number of stars or the life cycle of a butterfly, we get to explore the answers toget…