Lola's Alphabet Train Lite

Choo Choo Alphabet...

Price:

$0.00

Overall:          ★★★½
Fun:                 ★★★½
Educational:     ★★★½
Creative:          ★★★★
Kid Friendly:    ★★★½

Age Range: 2-5
Tags: ABC, Reading

Size: 31.6 MB
Ads: None
IAP: Yes

Developer: BeiZ
Released: Mar 26, 2012

Lola's Alphabet Train Lite

THE GAME: Lola the panda needs help bringing presents to her friend. Its up to you to solve several puzzles to help the train make its way to each station. Earn coins along the way and use them to purchase one of the gifts at each station. Put the gift in one of the train cars and repeat. The lite version is limited to two rounds.

The puzzles all revolve around the alphabet: Letter Identification, a memory matching game with letters, match lower to upper case, complete the word where a word is missing letters and you drag the letters to the correct place in the word. 

THE GOOD: Trains! Can't go wrong there with my kid. Gameplay is intuitive with verbal instructions as you go. Negative feedback is mild and positive feedback is not over the top. You can't "lose" you just keep trying until you get the correct answer so even if you kids aren't ready for "complete the word", they'll probably be able to complete it after a few tries.

A nice addition, Lola can speak five languages, and the games will even work for each of the languages.

THE BAD: Ran into a couple bugs while testing this. The very first puzzle you encounter, will not give verbal instruction and one of the games I completed, but the train did not move on. I had to close the app and restart. The multiple languages is a nice feature to expose kids to different languages, but the voices seem a step below the English in terms of quality.

A couple in app purchases here. Each time you star the app you will be prompted to try one of the developer's other apps. Also, when you complete the two rounds you will be prompted to buy the full version. 

THE SUMMARY: A couple bugs and the irresponsible IAP keep this from being a strong four star app. I might be a little biased having a train obsessed boy, but I'm guessing i'm not alone there. 31.6 MB is a little bloated for what you get here, probably because of the multiple languages. 

This is definitely worth a download, just make sure you have IAP blocked.

Blast Monkeys

Monkey Cannon...

Price:

$0.00

Overall:          ★★★★
Fun:                 ★★★★½
Educational:     ★★
Creative:          ★★★★
Kid Friendly:    ★★★½

Age Range: 3-99
Tags: Games, Physics

Size: 17.6 MB
Ads: None
IAP: Yes

Developer: Yobonja
Released: Apr 20, 2012

Blast Monkeys (Kindle Tablet Edition)

THE GAME: Tap the screen to blast the monkey toward the banana goal. There are three bananas between the cannon and the goal that you can try to collect along the way.

THE GOOD: Simple gameplay. The cannon rotates on its own, and you tap when you think its time to blast. This means kids can just tap away and still enjoy. Levels range in difficulty. There are plenty of unlocked levels and it seems everything is unlockable through gameplay. 

THE BAD: Not much. There are quite a few places enticing In App Purchases, but I'm fine with that on games that aren't strictly for young kids. Just make sure you have IAP blocked.  

THE SUMMARY: This is a great alternative and a more kid friendly alternative to Angry Birds. Definitely worth a download. Be prepared to help your kids on some levels, and try not to get addicted yourself.

Kids Animal Piano Free

Animal piano...

Price:

$0.00

Overall:          ★★★★½
Fun:                 ★★★★
Educational:     ★★★★
Creative:          ★★★★★
Kid Friendly:    ★★★★

Age Range: 2-5
Tags: Music, Piano

Size: 1.3 MB
Ads: None
IAP: In Options Menu

Developer: Rad Lemur
Released: Apr 13, 2012

THE GAME: Play the piano with animal sounds as the notes. On the free version you can choose from six different animal sounds (dog, cat, rubber duck, frog, chick, pig). You can play on your own or autoplay some favorite toddler tunes (on the free version - Bingo, Black Sheep, Brother John, Happy Birthday).

THE GOOD: Very easy to navigate and play. The game opens up right away on the piano. The buttons to choose the song or sound are large and represented by a picture. I really like that when autoplaying, the piano will light up the keys that are being played so you can get a visual of how the song is played. Size is small.

THE BAD: The option to purchase the app is in the options menu away from the game which is nice, but it is not protected so make sure you have In App Purchases off so your child doesn't accidentally hit it. Definitely not the worst IAP I've seen, but loses a "Kid Friendly" point for that. One thing missing that I look for in piano apps is a "teaching" mode that shows you which keys to play.

THE SUMMARY: This is sure to be a hit with your preschooler. They will love hearing the animal sounds in different keys. Be warned they will want the full version after playing this. Its worth it though in my opinion.

Alphabet Car Lite

Drive and learn...

Price:

$0.00

Overall:          ★★★½
Fun:                 ★★★★
Educational:     ★★★★
Creative:          ★★★★★
Ease of Play:    ★★★★★

Age Range: 2-4
Tags: Cars, ABC, Reading,
Accelerometer

Size: 9.2 MB
Ads: None
IAP: Invasive

Developer: Animoca
Released: Jan 20, 2012

GAMEPLAY: The word you need to spell will appear across the top, as you drive your bus down the street turn left or right to collect the letters. Once all the letters are collected the level is complete. You steer the bus by tilting your tablet left or right. You can control the speed with a lever on the left side of the screen. You can honk the horn by tapping the screen, and there is a button to turn on or off the music.

There are two modes available in the free version, Preschooler and Beginner. 

Beginner mode has three stages. In the first stage the letters will appear in sequence as you drive. For instance, if the word is ant, you will only see the "A" appear on the road until you hit it. Then "N" will appear and so on. Each mode is complete after you make five words.

The second stage of beginner mode is a little more challenging. Instead of one letter appearing at a time, all three letters will be in a line across the street. You must choose the letter that comes next. The word is always on the screen, so if you don't remember just look at the top of the screen. You aren't penalized in the game for hitting the wrong letter (you just continue driving until you hit the right one), but you are graded on the level.

In the third stage, the letters come up one at a time again, but randomly. For ANT you will randomly see the letters A, N, and T and you must drive over them in the correct order. Once again, there is no penalty for hitting the wrong letters until you are graded on the level.

In Preschool mode, you free-play stage once, a new word will appear after you complete each word and there is no end to level or grading.

As you complete stages you unlock different things like new cars. The only unlockable in the free version is a green bus which you will unlock after complete 3 stages in Beginner mode.

EASE OF PLAY: Almost three-year olds probably won't have much trouble with this game. Big green check marks will guide you through the menus, there are audio instructions on how to tilt the tablet to steer. The steering is very smooth and its nice that you aren't penalized for hitting the wrong letters. Not that the accelerometer responds both vertically and horizontally. If you hold the tablet up over your head you will not see as far in front of you and have less time to respond as the letters come over the hill.

SIZE: 9.2 MB isn't bad at all for this game.

ADS/IAP: This is where this app loses a point. Links to purchase the full version are throughout the game. I don't mind links on the menu screen, but putting them in the game is just trying to trick kids into pushing them. If I didn't like this game so much, this would be an instant turn off. Make sure you have in app purchases disabled. There are no other ads.

SUMMARY: My kid loves cars. I know this will be a hit with him, and maybe teach him some simple words at the same time. The cartoon bus and voice remind me of the Little Cars series. However, I do wish it was more phonics based. This is a 5 star free app that loses a point for the irresponsible IAP. Even so, I have purchased the full version for my son.

 

Samo Coloring for Kids

A good paint game for toddlers...

Price:

$0.00

Overall:          ★★★★
Fun:                 ★★★½
Educational:     ★★★
Creative:          ★★★
Ease of Play:    ★★★★★

Age Range: 2-4
Tags: Art, Painting

Size: < 1 MB
Ads: None
IAP: Parental Controls

Developer: Martin Adamek
Release Date: June 12, 2012

GAMEPLAY: Swipe the screen to choose an image from one of three different galleries (animals, shapes, and numbers). There are two more galleries (monsters and butterflies) that are locked in the free version. All in all there are 25 canvases to choose from in the free version.

Once you choose your image, you are taken to a rather simple painting interface. The image take up most the screen, with a scroll palette across the bottom where you can choose from 30 different colors. Click the eyeballs peaking out from above the palette to choose undo, save, or delete. 

There are two modes to this game. FILL mode is where you touch the screen and it will automatically paint to all borders. DRAW mode allows you to free paint. However, it will help you stay within the lines. You don't chose your mode, its dependent on the image you choose. At first I was irritated by this, but it does make the game simple for kids while allowing them variety.

A nice touch - once you are done with the painting, you can see your masterpiece on display on the gallery screens.

EASE OF PLAY: Very simple for even the youngest artists. The menus are easy to navigate and the actual painting is a breeze. This was definitely designed with your little ones in mind.

SIZE: At 395kb you won't even notice this one.

ADS/IAP: I think its incredibly responsible when developers build parental controls around any in app purchases. This app has one link to purchase their apps on the splash screen. But you have to click three times rapidly in order to access. There are no ads.

SUMMARY: My son loves his painting game on his mom's Ipad. This is the closest thing I could find to matching it for free on Amazon. Kids will enjoy seeing their works of art on "display". The images are designed for little fingers with large touch areas for you children. I like having the numbers to paint as it will familiarize them with the shapes of the numbers. 

The simple images and assisted free-draw may turn off kids over 5, but they help make this app a winner for kids about 2-4. Bonus points for responsible development in terms of adds and iap.

Connect The Dots - Animals

Connect dots in seventeen languages...

Price:

$0.00

Overall:          ★★★★
Fun:                 ★★★½
Educational:     ★★★★
Creative:          ★★★★★
Ease of Play:    ★★★★★

Age Range: 2-5
Tags: Connect the Dots, Languages, 123

Size: 11 MB
Ads: Non-intrusive
IAP: No

Developer: vuris
Release Date: July 5, 2012

GAMEPLAY: Classic connect the dots game. Touch the dots in order from 1-20. As you touch the dots, the lines will draw and you will hear the pronunciation. Once all the numbers are connected, the shape fills in with a nice animal graphic. 

If I counted correct, there are 125 different shapes to complete, however you are unfortunately presented with these in the same order each time you open the app.

You can choose from one of three different difficulty levels corresponding to the number of dots (1-10, 1-15, 1-20). The best part of this app is that you can choose to hear the numbers pronounced in 17 different languages with natural voices. 

EASE OF PLAY: The app open up straight to a puzzle, so there are no menus that you need to navigate. It will also highlight the next number in the sequence. This is useful for those that need it, but I wish you could turn this option off. Large arrow on either side of the screen will navigate between puzzles.

SIZE: 11 MB is a great deal for 125 puzzles and 17 languages.

ADS/IAP: One banner add sits on the top of the screen. It does not interfere with play.

SUMMARY: This is one of a series of all very similar and all great connect the dot games by vuris. Two things I do miss that are in other connect the dot games - an option to use letters instead of numbers and and option to free draw and connect the dots on your own. But the multiple languages choices more than makes up for that. I do wish you could turn this hints off. But other than that this is close to a perfect app for the genre.

Bibi's Nest

A terrific pattern game for preschoolers...

Price:

$0.00

Overall:          ★★★★
Fun:                 ★★★
Educational:     ★★★½
Creative:          ★★★½
Ease of Play:    ★★★★

Age Range: 2-6
Tags: Patterns

Size: 12.1 MB
Ads: Yogi Play Login
IAP: None

Developer: Decamages
Release Date: May 18, 2012

GAMEPLAY: Bibi the bird has lost some of her eggs. You are presented with a pattern of six eggs with one egg missing. You must choose the correct egg to complete the pattern from an option of two or three different eggs. 

Sequences are made up of colors, simple patterns, shapes, numbers and letters. Choose the correct egg and you get a yellow check mark, choose an incorrect egg and you get a red X. 

You begin with only the first level unlocked out of 12 levels. There are six seemingly random patterns on each level. Get at least three patterns correct to unlock the next level.

In Single Player Mode, the game starts out with very simple patterns (e.g. all solid blue eggs, and you have to choose a solid blue egg). These simple patterns continue a bit too long, but the last few levels do present more of a challenge.

There is also Two Player Mode where two eggs are missing and you take turns choosing an egg that fills the pattern. This can be fun for two kids, or one kid can use this as a more challenging extension to Single Player Mode.

The background images are nice and change to different seasons with each level. Children should enjoy voice of the bird providing instruction and feedback. There are also soft nature noises in the background.

EASE OF PLAY: Menu navigation and game play is simple and intuitive. Audio prompts are used throughout. Should be fine for even the youngest players.

SIZE: At 12.1 MB this is a bargain for the space.

ADS/IAP: This is connected to Yogi Play which if you log in can supposedly track your child's progress throughout different games and suggests new ones. I haven't tried it. I'm fine with the links to log in to Yogi Play as they are out of the way, but every time it opens it will ask you to sign in, you can X out but I wish you could stop it from asking you. Overall, not very intrusive, but could be a little less so. There are no other ads, and no in app purchases

SUMMARY: The best pattern recognition game I have found for free so far. Graphics and sounds are cute and entertaining. It starts out easy enough for a two year old and progressively gets more difficult. Between one player and two player mode you get 24 levels of game play Even more impressive, you don't get the same problems each time. Your child should get a lot of mileage out of this.