Raise your hand if you have an iPhone.
Raise your hand if you have a toddler.
For those of you who raised your hands both times, this post is for you.
I realized a long time ago that my son could work my iPhone just as well or better than my husband and I. This thing is like a See-and-Say on steroids!
At around 12 months he was pushing the round button, sliding his little finger along the bottom to unlock it and moving my apps all around in a jumble so I could never find them again. I learned from him that if you hold down an app long enough they will all start to wiggle and then you can shuffle them into the order that you prefer. He even taught me that if you push the round button at the bottom twice it will start playing my mp3’s automatically. One day in an attempt to squeeze five more minutes of sleep out of him I brought him into the bed with me and handed him my phone, and a few minutes later I heard Bob Seger crooning at me from between the sheets.
Who else could figure all that stuff out except the geeks who actually take time to read the manual?
It didn’t take me long to realize that if I wanted to keep him quiet and entertained in a public place, my iPhone was a lifesaver. It’s gotten us through multiple airport security lines and lots of long lines at checkout counters. He’s gotten so good at working the phone that I don’t even have to start the games for him anymore. He can slide the pages over and find the app that he’s looking for and turn them on all by himself. I had no idea a twenty month old could be so clever!
And here is the best part- these games are TEACHING him things. He’s learning shapes, colors, numbers, letters, animal sounds, automobiles… I could go on and on. He has blown me away on more than one occasion with the words he learns and repeats from these iPhone apps.
So, I thought I would compile a list of all of his favorite apps here in one spot so that you can see for yourself what G is playing. None of them are super expensive. Most of them have a “Lite” version so you can try it for free before you buy. After playing it for a while, G would be bored, so I inevitably upgrade to the full version. All of them are worth every penny, in my opinion. If you want to limit your spending, do like I did and ask for an iTunes gift card for a birthday or Christmas gift. Add the GC to your iTunes account and you will know when you hit your spending limit.
Here they are, in no particular order:
1. Peekaboo Barn Inside a little bouncing barn, friendly farm animals are waiting to pop out and surprise your little one. Try and guess who they are; tap the doors to find out!
Work with your child to learn the names of animals — in English or Spanish — and hear the sounds they make! $1.99
2. Balloonimals
Blow into the microphone on your iPhone, and watch beautifully rendered Balloonimals spring to life. After the balloon inflates, give your phone a shake. Voila! With each shake, a Balloonimal takes shape. Soon, your Balloonimal appears ready to play. Now, pet your Balloonimal and see what tricks it can do. $1.99
3. Toddler Teasers
These educational apps teach your toddler shapes, colors, letters and numbers in separate apps, or you can get a bundle with a little bit of each. The shapes app is teaching Garrett to ID shapes. The other day he pointed to a heart that I drew and said “HEART!” out of the blue. I was so proud! I recommend getting the bundle for $1.99.
4. Five Little Monkeys Designed for young children from 1 year and up ( toddler and preschool )
– 3 original music types to play and sing to: Country, Rock, and Pop
– Touch or “Shake” the Monkeys to watch them bounce off the bed!
– Press the highest number in the left corner to add the monkeys back to the bed. Watch them zoom back into action! $0.99
5. Where’s Gumbo? A digital “lift the flap” board book experience for toddlers. You are asked to help find Gumbo, my dog who has become lost. Your adventure begins and your child quickly learns to tap the screen to see where Gumbo might be next. This is the FIRST app on the iPhone that is modeled after all of those “lift the flap” board books you love to read to your child. We think it is better! $1.99
6. Wheels on the Bus Read, sing, and play with your child. Touch and move objects and characters on every page. Discover fun surprises and sounds throughout. Introduce your child to foreign languages: Spanish, French, German, and Italian. Record your own voice, and star in the book yourself! Select music that was recorded exclusively for this book: a classical piano trio (piano, violin, and cello) $0.99
7. Preschool Adventure Colors, Numbers, Shapes, Sounds, Matching, Parts of a Monkey’s Body??? All for under a dollar? Heck yes! $0.99
If you want more info on great apps for moms and dads, check this out
And also did you know?
You can prevent kids from stumbling across the wrong things on iPhone. Just tap Settings to add parental controls that ensure your kids see only what you want them to see.
See? I learn something new everyday.
peterTHUP says
Nice write up on these games, you definitely hit some of my daughter’s favorites. She likes the other Duck Duck Moose titles as well (the Wheels on the Bus people have a couple other games).
I developed a toddler game myself, called Monkey Preschool Lunchbox ( http://thup.com/preschool/ ). It came out after Apple put that web page together, but it’s actually currently the #1 app in their “Apps for Toddlers” feature. It’s a collection of five games about packing lunch for monkeys, I’d love to hear what you think of it!
Beth @ Unskinny Boppy says
Thanks for your comment, Peter! I will be sure to check it out! I’m always on the lookout for a good new toddler app. 🙂
Morgan says
I have put together an animated storybook called Belindra – Vegetable Delivery.
While reading, you can click around and the characters animate. I had fun illustrating it (not so much fun programming it) 🙂 I hope you like it!
http://www.Belindra.com
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BYglV_qhrEg
http://itunes.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewSoftware?id=332123201&mt=8