These were some of Gordie’s favorite apps as a 2 year old. Many of these would be enjoyed by kids older or younger than this as well. All the ones on this list do cost a small amount, but I find particularly with apps for kids the extra cost often makes a real difference in terms of play value. That’s not to say that no free apps are worthwhile, just that I’m often quite happy to spend the money on a well developed kids app.
1. Toddler Counting $0.99 by iTot Apps
This app is super simple, but Gordie goes back to it again and again. Attractive pictures of real objects pop up on the screen and all you do is count the objects by touching each one.
2. Wood Puzzle/Wood Maze by http://www.tropisounds.com/ $1.99 Ipad (HD), $1.99 Iphone/Ipad
These are actually two separate apps both of which are really good. I’d suggest getting the puzzle one first as the maze is a bit more challenging. In both instances the app acts like a real wooden toy. The pieces for the puzzle app are cut out in shapes rather than just squares like many puzzle apps. In the maze, you have to move the pieces to the correct spot by moving it along the track – this can require moving other pieces out of the way. The puzzles themselves are cute and there’s a pretty large number of them.
3.Monkey Preschool Lunchbox by THUP games $0.99
This has probably been Gordie’s favorite app this past year. There’s a number of different little games in it, all featuring fruit. There is a memory game, puzzle game, color and letter matching games and more.
4. Build a Word – by WordWorld $.099
This app doesn’t have a lot of words (and all the words are animal names) but Gordie was really taken with ‘grabbing’ the letters and spelling them out. I found this worked better for him on the iphone/itouch because you’re supposed to ‘shake it up’ to get to the next word. The iPad was just a bit too big for him to do this. If you don’t like your kid ‘shaking’ your iphone (and who could blame you?) you may want to give this one a pass that being said it was a big hit at our house, I just wish they used a different method to get to the next word.
5. Jellytoons Toddler Skills – Bobo’s Birthday Challenge by MindShapes $1.99
The app has a number of different mini-games geared towards toddlers – after each you get to pick a ‘present’ to put on your sticker board. Gordie loved this app when we got it. but he mastered it fairly quickly and then lost interest. I’d recommend it for younger toddlers or wait to get it until you know you’re going to need a distraction because you’re sick or travelling (or whatever).
6. Olivia Paints – by Soma Creates $1.99
There are a lot of different painting apps out there, but this one is Gordie’s favorite. He recognizes Olivia from the books which I think it part of the reason, but he also finds it fairly intuitive to use. I think it’s neat that the color mixing is done just like a real artist on a color palette.
7. Cars Lightning Was Here: My Puzzle Book by Disney Publishing World Wide $0.99
This app can actually be really frustrating. It’s way to easy for your kid to end up in set-up or menu screens without intending to. But, it’s Cars! So if your kid is a fan, but they probably love it anyway. The app is like a book where you complete puzzles along the way and can look for little hidden objects as well.
8. Fish School, Word Wagon, Baa Baa Black Sheep, Park Math – by Duck Duck Moose, $0.99-$1.99
Duck, Duck Moose is probably my favorite kids app producer. I’ve listed 4 of their apps that Gordie particularly loved this past year. They are all really good though. I highly recommend checking a few out. They are cute, attractive with great playability.
9. The Monster At the End of this Book by Sesame Street $3.99
This is my favorite book from my childhood. The cute twist ending still makes me smile. This interactive book is well done and is fun for older toddlers and preschoolers who like to be a little bit bad (by turning the pages when Grover asks you not to).
10. Elmo Loves ABCs – by Sesame Street, $4.99 (Ipad only)
This is not a small app – it is huge! It has tons of video clips from sesame street that correspond to the different letters of the alphabet. There is a lot of content in this app as well including letter tracing, coloring, songs and letter/word correspondence.
I’m always on the lookout for new apps, what are you kid’s favorites? Also, be sure to look at my post on Why I’m okay with my toddler using an Ipad and the list of our favorite kids apps that I made when Gordie turned 2.
I will have to check out your suggestions. I think I only have one presently.
My # 1 favorite is “inijii” both girls love it and it has been a great learning tool. I just downloaded their newest application and I expect it will be of the same quality.