Kids Iphone App Review
Our kids test them, we review them!

Flight Control HD By Firemint Pty Ltd
is a fun app for all ages. I am pretty sure that Flight Control HD By Firemint Pty Ltd was not designed with children in mind, but my ten year old sure loves to play the game.

Even my four year old gives it a try, but really it is still a little too hard for her. She can understand that the airplanes are meant to be sorted, that they cannot touch, and that they go away, so it is fun for a four year old, but the game is over so quickly.

My ten year old loves the interactive gameplay. In the video you can see that my wife brings in the other iPad and we start a joined game right there on the “fly” (pun totally intentional). That gives Flight Control HD By Firemint Pty Ltd some legs. Just like another of MY favorite FireMint games: Real Racing 2, when you can have a friend (or even a stranger!) join you in a game, it becomes more interesting.

The gameplay is deceptively simple. You simply land each plan in the matching colored runway or helipad. Do not let the planes crash and you are set. My high score is 44, my ten year old can make it to perhaps 12, and the four year old lands 2-3. Fun!

Attention – 4
Fun – 4
Learning – 2 (some fine motor skills, organization, who cares? It is fun!)

Total – 10

Of course we have our iPad wrapped in the awesome Big Grips iPad Frame. We love that frame/case and still recommend it. My daughter can play the iPad in the car, at her grandparents, and just about anywhere else! Instead of worrying about her dropping the iPad we just need to ensure the iPad is charged and we are all set!

Tacky’s Christmas By Oceanhouse Media is another great app/book from Oceanhouse Media. Since we are focusing on Christmas apps we are starting off with a couple great books from Oceanhouse and my kids love penguins for some reason.

In typical and awesome Oceanhouse Media fashion, Tacky’s Christmas By Oceanhouse Media is very well written, narrated very pleasantly, and has just enough interactivity to keep my four year old interested. She knows that she can click on each object to hear and see the word it represents. She can hold a paragraph to have it repeated, but rarely does. Swiping the pages is the most fun it seems and she gets really upset if you turn the page early! A sure sign of a good book.

Watch the video for a taste of what Tacky’s Christmas By Oceanhouse Media has to offer. Will your child learn to read in this format? I am not too sure, but I am confident this format will work as a good reinforcement to other reading activities.

Attention – 4
Fun – 3 (it is a book not a game)
Learning – 4

Total – 11

iTunes link

It is great to read/watch/play with these books when you have such a great iPad stand and frame. be sure to check out the Name Your Link. We love ours.

Pinocchio HD By So Ouat is like the other books we have reviewed by So Ouat, very well animated, well performed, and interesting.

The story of Pinocchio is familiar, but the way the book is performed is a big factor in the success of an app. Pinocchio HD By So Ouat does an outstanding job of telling the traditional story of Pinocchio.

The written word is done really well in this book, but it does not give the option to click on individual words. My daughter rarely uses that feature, so I do not care so much, but it is a nice feature of other apps/books.

The animations and books is where Pinocchio HD By So Ouat really shines. The animations are just great. They make the book seem like a still movie.

My four year old was not excited to read the book again since she had been through it a few times. Once we got the app going and she got into the story she finished the book again. I can see her reading this many times over the coming years.

Attention – 4
Fun – 3
Learning – 2

Total – 9

iTunes Link

Of course we have our ipad covered with the Big Grips iPad2 frame and stand. We love that think!

Where’s My Water? By Disney is must have app!

Simply put it is an interesting and fun version of Angry Birds that is appropriate for kids and challenging for everyone. My four year old loves the app and even though she cannot figure out how to pass a level, she loves to watch when I help her out. It puts a bit of thought into the Angry Birds game (I have passed all levels of Angry birds with a 2 star or above and realize some thought must go into getting three stars in that game too).

The point of Where’s My Water? By Disney is to get your poor alligator his water for a bath. Some of the pipes are broken, there is ooze in some places that will contaminate your water, there is moss growing and sometimes many pipes and levers to figure out.

The graphics are very appropriate for a young child and the challenge can go all the way up. It is a puzzle game made fun by the ease in which your chile can start over if they try something that does not work. The game encourages trial and error. We really like Where’s My Water? By Disney in our house and it is a front page, must have app.

Attention – 5
Learning – 2 (it is not a learning app necessarily!)
Fun – 5

Total – 12

iTunes Link!

Remember that we always have our iPad in the Big Grips Frame for iPad2. We love the Big Grips Frame and we are sure you will too. It makes the iPad easy to handle for Dad, Mom, and our four year old.

Check out the video of our four year old getting the water to her alligator.

Animals Coloring by theColor.com is a very simple and straight forward coloring app that shines in the variety and simplicity of the app. Animals Coloring by theColor.com has the usual features that allow the artist to pick a crayon, save a picture of the artwork, zoom, and stay within the lines very easily.

The choices of things to color is very extensive. I haven’t counted, but there must be over a hundred different pages to color in the app. Of course you can color a single page over and over again, but choosing which page to color is half the fun!

My four year old had no trouble with the app and enjoyed the experience a lot. I think the app is really suited for a younger audience, but it should span all the way up to a 5 year old or so. Sometimes it is more fun to actually swipe your finger to color, but other times you want an app like Animals Coloring by theColor.com that just uses the paint bucket to do the dirty work!

Attention = 5
Learning = 2
Fun = 2

Total = 9

iTunes Link

Be sure to check out the video for the whole experience and as always note the Big Grips iPad Frame. We took that case to a restaurant the other day, to a gymnastics competition, and over to grandma’s house. We love it!

ZOOLA Opposites By Best kids Apps certainly lived up to expectations. I needed a simple app that would teach my four year old opposites. My four year old attends pre-school and was recently sent home with a report card. The report was good, but pointed out some things that we as parents had forgotten to teach our young human. The first was opposites (she has sarcasm down pat).

So I opened up the iPad and searched for an opposites app. I ran across ZOOLA Opposites By Best kids Apps for 99 cents. I spent way too long on the decision and purchased the app. Ten minutes later my four year old can name several opposites. Did the app work? Yep.

How long did my four year old spend on the app? Probably 10 minutes a few times in a row. Is it a single use app? Yes it is. Does it do a good job at its single task? Yes it does.

Attention – 3
Fun – 0
Learning – 5

Total – 8

iTunes Link

Monster Chorus By ReignDesign took a while to figure out. I suppose I should have read some instructions or followed through a tutorial, but I didn’t. It took some time to get used to the new app, but it soon revealed itself to be very entertaining. How entertaining is the question.

The idea behind Monster Chorus By ReignDesign is that your child will interact with the monsters by pressing on them, singing with them, or recording their own voice. The app ends up growing on you and starts to become fun. The voices are very well done and seemed very interesting to my four year old.

How long will it last? So far I haven’t encountered my four year old picking the app from the usual choices and jamming away. Usually just after introduction any app will get some play time and so far that isn’t the case with Monster Chorus By ReignDesign.

The app feels like it has a lot of potential and has been top app in the music category according to the publishers, but I just do not see it. I am going to add it to the list of apps to revisit.

Attention – 2
Fun – 2
Learning – 0

Total – 4

iTunes Link