educational apps

With school out for the summer, I know that many of us will be letting our kids have a bit more screen time during these long, less-scheduled days. And if you'd like that time to be educational, at least some of the time, definitely chec…

School's out (finally). Time to really sink into summer's sun and fun. But for many parents, summer also means tackling this gnawing question, how are we going to keep these children entertained? Well, for your tech-head kid, we're happy…

We can hardly believe it that it's only been a month since we featured the launch of The Robot Factory app from awesome app developer Tinybop, but they're back again. This time with another fantastic educational app for kids, Simple Mach…

We're in those final weeks of school before summer break, which means my kids and I need to figure out how they're going to occupy themselves and keep their brains and hands active. Turns out I'm getting some great ideas from the online …

I 'm looking for a good app to help learn the periodic table for my middle schoolers! Any suggestions? -- Reader question via Facebook The coolest thing about the periodic table, in my geeky opinion, is that it's not just a laundry list …

Walking through the crowded, cacophonic aisles of International CES 2015 earlier this year, we were instantly drawn to one booth featuring adorable little robots gliding around the rug, and beeping and booping at our feet. It turned out …

My kids ask me if they can download new apps to my iPad every day, and I almost always say no. I hate to give up my precious memory space for the junky, ad-filled apps that appeal to them, but that I'd really rather they not play in the …

Every time Tinybop releases a new app, I'm not sure who's more excited -- my kids or me. Their newest release, The Robot Factory , is just as awesome as all the others that we've adored, like The Human Body , Plants , and Homes . The cre…

This week I was reading a post from one of our favorite app developers, Toca Boca , about how actively they try to create gender-neutral apps, and I was really impressed learning just how much effort they put into it. Like the sketch the…

I have a sneaking suspicion that my children are smarter than me. One clue is that they really enjoy coding, which is definitely not my forté. Fortunately, there are tons of great resources out there to help them learn more about how to …

My appreciation for opera came early, and I credit a combination of ballet and piano lessons for this. But I can totally see how plenty of kids (and, real talk, adults too) can find opera boring, at least until they really take the time …

I've always been partial to kids' apps that play around with words and letters. They just feel like good, clean fun. And after trying out the new Metamorphabet app , I have just three words, ten letters: So. Much. Fun. The idea is simple…

If you're looking for a way to entertain your kids so that you and your Valentine can have a little alone time today, we've got just the thing. The adorable new Windy's Valentine Delight is a charming interactive story from Loud Crow, ma…

There are plenty of educational apps for kids , and then there's Kiko's Thinking Time for iOS, a free educational app for kids that's -- wait for it -- legitimately based on neuroscience. As a mom, I'm fascinated by the science behind Ki…

There's a new obsession in my house: trivia apps. We're battling for bragging rights over questions like, What was the real name of novelist George Orwell? Or, W hat color is young Anna's nightgown in Frozen? Frankly, I think it's perfec…

We parents hear all the time about the importance of reading for kids. Fortunately there's a huge range of topics in outstanding kids' books to engage kids, from wizardry to classroom adventures to spy novels to fairy tales re-told. But …

While my NYC school kids are home today in honor of Martin Luther King Jr. Day, I know that sadly, it's still not recognized nationally the way we recognize, say, the mythology of Columbus Day. (I'll refrain from going off on that one.) …

It's hard to believe that in many places around the country, we're halfway through the school year. But if your kids are like mine, that also means they've been drilling their math facts for months, and they could probably use a change o…

When I spotted the free 1+2=3 app in the App Store and it asked me if I was smarter than a first grader, my interest was definitely piqued. And well, after playing pretty much non-stop for the past couple of days, I see why it gets such …

Not all kids' magazines are created equal, and one that's risen to the top of our reading list lately is Anorak . The art is modern and cool, the stories interesting, and the jokes witty. And now this British mag. known as "The Happy Mag…

When it comes to fun educational apps for kids, the folks behind Cool Mom Tech faves Endless Alphabet and Endless Reader just won't quit. (Guess that's where the whole endless thing comes into play, huh?) The creative development team at…

Our Holiday Tech Gift guide series continues with one of our favorite categories: The coolest tech toys and gifts for kids. This year we're breaking our gift recommendations up into big kids and little kids, since that teen of yours proo…

Tomorrow may be Cyber Monday, but it's also World AIDS Day . Which means it's an awesome opportunity to do some extra good when you shop, and at one of our favorite places too, the Apple store. All this week through December 7, Apple wil…

All three of my kids have a slight obsession with the weather. I'm sure some of their curiosity is due to the downright weird weather we often see here in Colorado, so it's no wonder my youngest is really enjoying the MarcoPolo Weather a…