Family travel season will soon be upon us. Carting children on planes, trains and automobiles to visit places new and old will be part of the summer’s agenda. Before heading out, it’s common for parents to pack up their busy bags and load up devices with activities to keep children content during travel lulls. We’ve polled our Moms With Apps developers for apps that help with family travel. We hope this list provides you with tools to enjoy the journey!
My Little Suitcase – Let your youngest explorers pack for their trip and head out to discover new destinations. Whether it’s the snow, beach, camping or a sleepover, kids get to use their independence and imaginations for this virtual journey. Created by the parents and founders of My Busy Kit in hopes of making family travel more fun for everyone. Updated monthly at no additional charge to keep scenes fresh and exciting for the kids. Most suitable for ages 2 to 6. $1.99 on iTunes.
A Day in Paris With Cassie– Get inspired for your next family vacation with StoryBoy’s travel series for kids! Join Cassie as she explores the city of lights and takes in famous sights like the Eiffel Tower, the Louvre and the Notre Dame Cathedral in A Day in Paris With Cassie. This book is a great way to introduce kids to a different city and culture. $.99 sale price on iTunes (until April 30th, then price reverts to $1.99)
Transportation storybooks by MobiStories– Whether you are traveling by ship, train, plane or bus, Mobistories has an activity for you! These interactive puzzle books are a steal at only $.99 each, and include bilingual text options, storytelling, and fabulous sound effects. They each include four interactive jigsaw puzzles on every page. Choose from the Plane Puzzle Book, Bus Puzzle Book, Train Puzzle Book, or Ship Puzzle Book. All available on iTunes for $.99 each.
Sunday Drive– The Sunday Drive app aims to create awareness and promote preservation by geotagging historically valuable and scenic routes throughout America. Although most routes currently exist in Southern California, freelance photographers, artists and locals in 10 other states have helped to contribute locations and routes for families and adventurers to enjoy. The app allows previews of each route listed by order of GPS location relevant to the phone. Previews include photo, text and video to offer a feel for each route. The developers at the Sunday Drive Network hope to become a tool for teachers to educate children about history, science and nature in the real environment using the app and immersive technology. $.99 on iTunes.
Tales2Go – Taking a road trip this summer? Listen to Tales2Go the whole way…hear over 1,000 great kids stories right from your iPhone. Perfect for kids ages 3 up to preteen, Tales2Gooffers entertainment while building vocabulary, enhancing listening skills and sparking their imaginations. It’s storytime, anytime, and so fun, your kids won’t want to leave the car. Free trial subscription available on iTunes.
Family Matters– Family matters is an interactive app with questions for families to ask and answer together. Designed by a family as a tool to bring families closer, it provides fun conversation starters when you are waiting at a restaurant, in a line, or enduring a long airplane journey or road trip. These insightful questions let kids giggle together, finding out things they never knew about their parents, and vice versa. This single tool is an excellent example of how technology can enhance interactivity, communication and relationships. Make your next trip more fun with Family Matters. $1.99 on iTunes.
iKidNY – iKidNYis an app created for parents who live in or are traveling to New York City. With iKidNY you can now find the closest subway stations with elevators, changing tables, kid-friendly restaurants, parks, playgrounds, indoor playspaces, museums, and much more, all with the touch of a button. You can also search by interactive map of the five boroughs if you are traveling to another area of the city and would like to plan before you go. iKidNY is really easy to use and provides information, maps, and directions at the touch of a button – us parents have no time to waste! iKidNY is a locals guide to New York City with kids right in your pocket! $2.99 on iTunes.
BlueLeoGuide – BlueleoGuideis an at-your-fingertips directory of every imaginable children’s resource in the five boroughs of NYC. Think Yelp, but organized for the needs and wants of parents. Blueleo features 6,000 resources across 15 categories, including things-to-do; kid-friendly restaurants; baby and kid stores; birthday party venues; pediatricians; childcare agencies; after school programs and mommy classes. The app also includes a “Show Nearest” feature to help the user discover the resources that are geographically most convenient, and a map pops-up when the user clicks on a listing’s address link. There’s also an auto link to the phone number and the web address for every listing. Free on iTunes.
MomMaps – Mom Maps is a navigation app for parents, similar to the above, but covers 18 metropolitan areas across the U.S. It contains lists of Parks, Playgrounds, Restaurants, Museums and Indoor Play Areas and other children’s activities that are fun for kids. You can use the site to plan ahead for a trip to the amusement park and you can use the iPhone app when you get there to find nearby children’s playgrounds and family friendly restaurants on the go! Free on iTunes.
Oh, but that’s not all. There are MANY MORE APPS to enjoy. One of the greatest review sites, Best Kids Apps, houses an entire library of iPhone apps for kids to peruse before you take your next trip. So if this list only whetted your appetite, fret not. Head over to Best Kids Apps for more. The developers at Moms With Apps are participating in their blogging contest to win an Apple iPad. If you have a blog, and want to win an iPad, go check it out. Wishing you smooth and pleasant journeys this summer!
I’ve recently started a blog, the information you provide on this site has helped me tremendously. Thank you for all of your time & work.
Very helpful post! It can be difficult to travel with kids. Thankfully there are many apps available today that can help us, moms, to make our trips more convenient. I’ll certainly look at some of the apps recommended in here.