iPad (and iPhone) Apps for Kids

My last list of recommendations specifically excluded children’s apps. So as promised, here are way more apps that you’ll actually want your kid to use. This list is heavily skewed towards iPad apps, though many of the apps are universal (meaning they’ll run on both iPad and iPhone) or there are iPhone versions also available if you search the App Store.

Let me also preface that I personally feel the iPad or iPhone (or iPod Touch) is a great device for kids. They take to touch interfaces so naturally, you’ll wonder if they’ll ever pick up a keyboard and mouse. Whether its for movies, reading time, education, or just play time, an iPad is a versatile child’s companion. Personally, I’d much rather have my son and daughter using an iPad or iPhone than sitting in front of TV. And perhaps best of all, as a small, portable device, they’re easy to take away. Of course, like any tool or toy, the iPad requires careful parenting. If you’re monitoring your child’s usage, or better yet, spending the time together, then I’m not too worried about iPad addiction.

Oh and finally, if you really want to protect that iPad, I’d recommend an Otterbox.

Books

Oceanhouse Media has a huge collection of excellent iPad books including Dr. Suess, The Berenstain Bears, Little Critter and more. These range from $1.99 - $3.99. While Oceanhouse Media’s books do not have the most features, they’re solid books and, in some sense, the bar against which any other books must be measured. If an ebook publisher can’t provide at least the level of quality of Oceanhouse, then you should just pass.

For example, Ruckus Media Group has some really nice ebooks as well, professionally narrated by the likes of Robin Williams, John Cleese, Garrison Keillor and more. However, the narrations are actually just videos separate from the ebook itself. Consequently, I have a harder time recommending them.

Reading ebooks with my kids is one of my favorite activities. Here are some others that we’ve enjoyed:

• The Monster at the End of This Book Fantastic!
• Sir Charlie Stinky Socks and the Really BIG Adventure
• Nighty Night! HD
• Animalia
• The Little Mermaid and Other Stories
• Alice for the iPad
• PopOut! The Tale of Peter Rabbit nice, but very large file size
• Thomas & Friends: Misty Island Rescue
• Cozmo’s Day Off
• The Strange & Wonderful World of Ants
• Winnie the Pooh Puzzle Book For toddlers

Chinese-English Bilingual Books

I have a particular interest in Chinese-English bilingual books. Who would have guessed that the iPad would have so many bilingual books?! Seriously, the App Store is a treasure trove for these, and not just Chinese-English ones.

The way most of these books work is that they include both English, Chinese (sometimes Japanese as well) text and narration. Sometimes the narration is a bit rough, with a strong Chinese accent, for example. Still, easy access to multi-lingual books is truly a significant features of ebooks.

There are too many books to list out directly, so I’ll just point you to some publishers:

• Rye Studio My favorite: English/Chinese/Japanese. Great quality.
• Apple Tree
• Childhood Fine Arts They also produce several good Chinese vocabulary books
• China HCM I don’t have many of their books, but they just did some major updates.
• Ana Lomba

Educational Apps

There are too many educational apps for even me to keep track of. What to recommend is largely based on the age of your child and which subject matters you want to teach. As my kids are six and one years old, the apps I have focus mostly on basic learning skills.

If you do have toddlers, I can’t recommend Duck Duck Moose’s apps enough:

• Fish School
• Old MacDonald
• The Itsy Bitsy Spider
• Wheels on the Bus

And here are several other favorites:

• Star Walk
• Solar Walk
• Mental Case Flashcards Best flash cards I’ve found so far
• Peakaboo! Guess Who? For toddlers
• Interactive Alphabet
• Monkey Preschool Lunchbox
• Preschool Connect the Dots
• Giraffe’s Preschool Playground
• Giraffe’s Matching Zoo Deluxe
• KidCalc
• 123 Color HD
• 123 Sticker
• 123 Tracing

Entertainment

I’ll separate out these from actual games. So here’s a list of music, art and otherwise entertaining apps:

• Koi Pond
• Bubbles
• Uzu
• Midnight HD
• Elmo’s Monster Maker
• Puppet Pals HD We’ve had lots of fun with this one
• Drawing Pad Awesome app for young artists
• Procreate A fantasic “grown up” drawing app
• Seline HD
• Garage Band A bit advanced for kids, but great app
• Magic Fiddle
• Magic Piano
• Reactable Mobile
• PBS Kids Video for iPad
• Netflix Ok, I’ll admit my daughter uses this app the most

Games

Which games a kid will enjoy really depends on the child. For this list, I’ve included games that my daughter has actually played more than once.

• Spot the Dot
• Doodle Jump
• Tiny Wings
• That’s My Fish
• Ticket to Ride
• Pictureka!
• Where’s Waldo in Hollywood
• Stoneship
• Uno
• Tetris
• Geared 2
• World of Goo
• Plants vs Zombies
• Chocobo Panic seriously, chocobos. must have.
• Shrek Racing
• Skee-Ball
• Topple
• Dizzypad
• Scoops
• Disney Fairies Fly

And of course Angry Birds in its various incarnations.

That should keep you and the kids busy for a while.