Welcome to App Friday, our weekly link exchange of family-friendly apps. A couple of weeks ago we “shot for the stars” by rooting our apps up the iTunes Charts. This week, I’d like to set that sky on fire. There is never any harm in “rethinking possible” – especially with a group of talented & motivated app developers. Bravo to you all – and thanks for participating this App Friday.
What are your apps about?
Treasure Kai and the Lost Gold of Shark Island – This Digital Storytime “Best of the Best, Top 25 Most Essential Children’s Book App” and “Top 10 Most Original” book app sends kids on a hunt for gold with multiple ways to find the treasure. A twist on the “choose-your-adventure” format, kids tap on treasure chests to reveal adventure stories and find gold. And now, three lucky kids have the opportunity to be drawn as cartoons and included in the app with Treasure Kai’s “Be an App Star” drawing contest! See app demo video at www.treasurekai.com and learn more about “Be an App Star” at www.treasurekai.com/appstar
Pre K Letters and Numbers With Real Time Performance Reporting is the first of a series of applications aimed at kindergarten kids who are just setting out to build a foundation of language and numeracy, develop fine motor skills, understand phonics and build their vocabulary with the bonus of blending common letters and counting. Our unique characters, music, sounds and over 75 fruit, vegetable, animal and items around the house illustrations help with the learning experience.
Zizu Cooks Up a Tune is a fun music app based out of a lovely kitchen. The excellent animations and sounds make this app instantly play-worthy, and a great way to spend quality time learning sounds and even the piano. One of my favorite features of Zizu is the way the buzzing housefly teaches your child to play the piano with nursery rhymes.
Dash & Ditto’s Playground Description: This 7-in-1 game pack for young kids includes updated versions of 5 classic children’s games along with 2 games designed just for this app. Bunnies Dash & Ditto guide children through the games, with easy to read instructions that are also read aloud to the player. Ten cute animal friends join the playground games, helping to teach children educational basics like counting. This app also features original music, delightful hand-drawn artwork, simple navigation and controls designed (and tested) with kids. Includes: Hopscotch, Mini-Golf, Jump Rope, Tic-Tac-Toe, Carrot Race, Bus Driving & Baby Bunnies Game. Ages 3-8.
Learn My Letters – Created by educators and parents, Learn My Letters by Brainytots is a fun, educational game that focuses on teaching children letter orientation and letter recognition. Join Horatio the owl as he instructs the child which letter or picture to touch. When the child gets a question correct, she receives a star. Once five stars have been reached, Horatio will leave his perch and fly down to the bottom of the screen to celebrate. Tapping the screen will cause Horatio to keep celebrating (and hooting!). This is the only game we can find in the iTunes store that has a letter orientation component.
Oh Say Can You Say – These silly tongue twisters of sense and nonsense, accompanied by wild Seussian scenes, encourage children to build their vocabulary by trying new words – and new Seuss words! Children will gain confidence as they laugh at their own goof ups and keep going. The best part is if they get stuck along the way they can get help from the narrator just by tapping text!
What’s in it for me this App Friday, September 2nd?
- Treasure Kai – $.99 (from $3.99)
- Pre K Letters and Numbers – FREE with discounted In App Purchase
- Learn My Letters – FREE (from $.99)
- Zizu Cooks up a Tune (for iPad) – FREE with In App Purchases
- Dash & Ditto’s Playground – FREE (from $2.99)
- Oh Say Can You Say – $1.99 introductory price
- AND THERE’S MORE….
- Heidi II – FREE (in celebration of Heidi Part 3 release)
- iReward Chart makes the TODAY SHOW!!!
- Ahmed gets featured on BlogHer!!! (who knew he would end up as an amazing Mommy Blogger?)
- And big shout out to the Nook Developer Program, who we enjoyed talking to this week!
To Keep in Mind
- PROMOTIONAL PRICING: Most prices are applicable on Friday Sept. 2nd until 8pm US Pacific Time. After the promotion is over, apps revert back to regular pricing on the iTunes App Store, unless the developers choose to extend the promotion beyond Friday.
- THE IMPORTANCE OF iTUNES REVIEWS: If you are enjoying the apps featured here at App Friday, please consider leaving a review for the developer on the iTunes Store. Reviews mean a lot to the success of an app, and the more independent developers we have, the more content choices parents have for their kids. Thanks for keeping this in mind.
App Friday Link Exchange
Our goal at Moms With Apps is to spread the word about family-friendly apps. We also like to know about great deals. Do YOU have some app news to share? If so, please participate in our link exchange and post it down below. Include the app name (& details) in the Link Title, your email, and a URL to the app. Thanks for your participation.
