5 Apps That Make My Toddlers Happy :)

When I bought my iPad I had all sorts of uses in mind for it. My main “excuse” for buying it was business. I intended to show my portfolio, fill out and sign wedding documents, and run credit cards on the go. I also intended to use it for my own personal stuff; surfing the web, Facebook, Twitter, etc. What I didn’t expect for the iPad to be was a toy. I had no intentions of letting my 4 year old twins play on it. Let’s be honest, 4 year olds tend to be messy, clumsy, and have a general disregard for expensive things so I really didn’t want to turn my new precious over to them. That of course like “no eating in the car” went out the window within 10 minutes of me arriving at home with it. I set out to find apps that would not only keep my kids occupied but would help them learn to read and write. I managed to keep the apps to about half fun and half learning, the kids don’t mind though they love them all anyway.

Letters A to Z for the iPad from True Learning
    

The first app that came to mind for kids in the 4 year old age range was a letters app. My twins are still learning their ABC’s, so this is something that will benefit them. The app that I found and liked was Letters A to Z for the iPad. This app has the things that I want. It has a basic, easy to use interface that my kids can understand and interact with. The app is simple enough. It gives you 26 squares with a letter and a picture in each square representing something that starts with that letter. When you select a letter the block moves to the middle of the screen and enlarges. While in the middle of the screen you can either press the letter, or the picture. If the letter is pressed the iPad pronounces the letter. If the picture is pressed the iPad says the title of the picture, then that picture does an animation. For example, for the letter S there is a snowman. When the snowman is pressed it says “snowman” and the snowflakes become animated. For kids learning their letters, this is an awesome app.

You can get it from the app store for $.99 here from the 

BubblePopper

Remember when you were a kid and your parents got a package in the mail and you couldn’t wait to get a hold of the bubble wrapping? I do. Let’s be honest, I couldn’t wait to get pop the bubbles on my package the UPS driver dropped off this morning. It makes sense then that someone would develop a “bubble popper” app. This simple app is a universal binary which means that it will work across all of the iOS platforms(which is good because when my twins fight over who gets the iPad I hand the other one my iPhone and they’re happy). It comes in two forms. The free version gives you what looks like a sheet of bubble wrap in the traditional blueish tinted color. As soon as you start popping bubbles with your fingers the timer starts. The “popped” bubbles refill themselves and you continue to pop as many as you can within the 60 seconds allotted to you. The $.99 paid version gives you the option of changing bubble size, and color. My kids prefer the paid version because they enjoy the different colors. All in all it’s a simple application but keeps them entertained for hours.

You can get the free version from the iTunes store here from the 

You can get the $.99 paid version from the iTunes store here from the 

Super Why

When it comes to learning, particularly reading, I was happy to find Super Why. Super Why is a PBS cartoon that my twins love. Just like the show, the app teaches kids to read, and helps them have fun why they’re doing it. The app contains four different “games” as well as a “decorating” section where kids can use virtual stamps to fill in one of 5 scenes. The games vary in form and function but they all revolve around words, and spelling. The integration of the characters from the show keeps my kids, with otherwise short attention spans, engaged and interested while still learning.

You can get Super Why from the iTunes store for $2.99 here from the 
 

Disney books for iPad

I have two rolled into one for this one. My twins are Disney freaks, so when I stumbled upon Toy Story 3 and The Princess and the Frog for iPad I had to get them. They’re really more of a book but since they download separately and aren’t housed under one main app like iBooks I consider them apps. There are a few really cool features about these that make them better than traditional ebooks, and perfect for kids. The first (and best feature to me) that you notice is that the story is narrated. This is an option, and can be turned off if you want to read the stories to your children traditionally, but I like it because of the next awesome feature. As the story is narrated, the words are highlighted for your children on screen. This helps show them which word is being read while simultaneously reading it out loud. Along with the narration and the highlighting, the pages are lightly animated. I say lightly because it’s not full blown animation like you would have with a cartoon, but the images do move at times on the screen. The last option/feature that I really enjoy is the page turning. The pages of the virtual book can be set to turn automatically. This creates an app that truly does everything for the kids automatically if you want it to. These books are a little pricey but well worth it in my opinion.

You can get Toy Story 3 for the iPad from the iTunes store for $8.99 here from the 

You can get The Princess and The Frog for the iPad from the iTunes store for 8.99 here from the 

Real Racing HD

Ok, ok, I know this isn’t really designed for toddlers; and I know it’s not of any educational value, but my kids will play this game for hours if you let them. They don’t understand the concept completely; they just enjoy “driving the car”. Real Racing HD is a traditional racing game that puts you in the driver’s seat of various (you gain more with each race won) cars on various tracks. Driving is simple as the cars don’t need shifting, they are “automatic”, and you control the car’s direction by turning the entire iPad. Tilt forward to accelerate and back to slow down. This is a game that not only my twins like but I thoroughly enjoy as well.

You can get Real Racing HD from the iTunes store for $9.99 here from the 
 

Bonus:

Angry Birds HD

I know I said 5 but here’s a bonus that you might want to consider for your toddlers. My toddlers really enjoy Angry Birds HD. I don’t know if it’s the idea of shooting birds out of a giant slingshot, the cool sounds they make when they hit the giant pig heads, or the stars they get as a reward, but whatever it is they love it! You can see Terry’s original review of the app here 

You can get it from the iTunes store for $4.99 here from the 

Conclusion

If you have toddlers (especially twin toddlers) you know how much fun they can be, and how much work it takes to get them ready for the coming years of school. Some of these apps will help you get them ready for that, and some will help you keep your sanity when you need them to be occupied.