App Friday RETURNS

Welcome to App Friday, our weekly link exchange of family-friendly apps. Thanks for being patient in July while we went offline for some summer fun. We hope to ramp up again as kids get ready for back to school. If you can help spread the word about App Friday to other families, we’d really appreciate the effort. Enjoy these features from Punflay, Jr. Imagination, and Cavallo Media!

Kandy Fish is an interactive picture book targeted at the preschool audience.  The app features a school of seven lovable fish that teach concepts of colors, shapes, and directions through an interactive story. Minimal text with voiceover and music are meant to help kids follow the short animated video. Preschoolers will have fun with the simple activities at the end of the story that complement the concepts learned.

ABC Numbers Introduce preschoolers to the alphabet and numbers with ABC Numbers. With many adorable characters and plenty of interactive elements, little ones will be kept busy for hours. Children will get a jumpstart on reading with an introduction to phonics when they hear the letters and corresponding words being sounded out. And to listen to everyone’s favorite, the ABC song, simply pull the ring!  Little ones will also learn to count numbers from 1 to 10 using their favorite objects. Just tap a bird, flower, or fish and a number and watch the screen light up with that many objects. Or touch the color wheel to see the interface change color. ABC Numbers is the perfect way to get preschoolers excited about reading and math.

Odd 1 Out is an app that will help develop your kindergartener’s critical thinking, problem solving, and decision-making skills. Kids can choose to play either in the Practice or Challenge mode.  There is the option to choose to play with Fruits, Shapes, or Colors. Depending on this selection, the game displays a group of fruits, shapes, or colors. The child has to choose the correct object depending on the question.  Odd 1 Out is an excellent way to introduce your child to decision making skills. The activities are interesting and will sustain children’s interest for a long time.

Creative Genius On-the-Go! Have you ever wanted a fun enrichment activity at your fingertips when your child says, “Play With Me”? Creative Genius On-the-Go! is an amazing creative thinking tool for parents to engage kids with 150 challenges, diversions, and scenarios that can be played anytime, anywhere. And because it’s based on sound learning principles, Creative Genius On-the-Go! is great for the classroom and homeschool, too.

Letter Buddies AlphaBooks (for iPhone and iPod Touch) and Letter Buddies AlphaBooks HD (for iPad) contain 24 books in one app, one for each letter of the alphabet (x,y,z combined). AlphaBooks is great for kids ages 2-5 who are learning foundational vocabulary (including basic sight words), starting to grasp simple sentence structures and just gaining confidence as independent readers. Based on early literacy materials designed for pre-k and kindergarten programs across the U.S. and Canada, AlphaBooks offers classroom-tested content that teachers have been using to support the development of early reading skills. With the playful Letter Buddies characters and some creative artwork, children can have some fun while they connect with what they are learning.

The Berenstain Bears’ Bedtime Battle omBook — Oceanhouse Media’s newest release, The Berenstain Bears’ Bedtime Battle, is available for Apple and Android devices for the introductory price of $2.99 through August 11 (regular price $3.99). Playing with dinosaurs, having a tea party and getting a piggyback ride from Papa Bear all are great alternatives to going to bed for Brother Bear and Sister Bear. Once Papa Bear announces it’s bedtime, the great bedtime battle begins! Special features include the Berenstains’ original artwork, the option to touch any word to have it spoken, word highlighting, professional audio narration and scene-by-scene custom background audio. The omBook is the first in a series of popular Berenstain Bears titles that will be available for the app market as part of a new licensing agreement between Oceanhouse Media and HarperCollins Children’s Books.

More Titles – check out the bulleted list below to view the complete selection of specially priced apps from our developer community, and don’t miss our Facebook Page for more updates throughout the week.

What’s in it for me this App Friday, August 5th?

• Kandy Fish for iPad – FREE (from $.99)
• ABC Numbers for iPad – $.99 (from $1.99)
• Odd 1 Out for iPad – FREE – (from $.99)
• Letter Buddies AlphaBooks – $.99  (from $1.99)
• Letter Buddies AlphaBooks HD for iPad – $1.99  (from $4.99)
• Creative Genius On-the-Go – FREE (from $.99)
• The Berenstain Bears’ Bedtime Battle – $2.99 introductory price (will be $3.99 regular price)
• and we also found out about…
• Timo the Magical Picture Book – Pocket – FREE (from $2.99)
• Jellybean Tunes for iPad – $1.99 (from $3.99)
• Jellybean Jigsaws from A to Z – $.99 (from $1.99)
• Chore Pad HD for iPad – $1.99 (from $4.99)
• Chore Pad – $1.99 (from $2.99)