Awesome iPhone apps!
Well I know I haven’t been around for a while. Things have been overly crazy here and I have not had a free second to blog in, much less to think about things to blog about! But I’m back, at least sporadically.
The iPhone has been the very best toy we have ever had. Of course it’s not a toy, really. But it is! I keep a solid case on it to protect against drops, put some fun games on it for my daughter, and she love love loves it and is a total pro at swiping and moving things around on there. There are tons of apps in the app store for toddlers, but some are more worth the time/trouble/cost than others. Here are some of our favorites.
Adam’s Game: Toddler Flash Cards
This game is really cute, and good for iPhone beginners. My daughter (almost 3) is bored with it now, but loved it for a long time. It shows 3 pictures of things, and says “find the ____”. Find the apple, find the triangle, all different kinds of things. If the child doesn’t get it right, a little kid’s voice says “Uh oh!” If they do, lots of kids say “YAY!!!” You can also program it with your own voice and pictures, which is a really cool feature. Lots of fun, and only $.99.
Sid’s Microphone
By PBS, and free! This game is exactly what it sounds like. The screen turns into Sid’s microphone with all the buttons Sid pushes on the show. Children can record and play back their own voice. Cute!
Preschool Arcade
One of our very very favorites, this game has 3 little games reminiscent of our own arcade games from our youth. One game is kind of like space invaders, except that a voice announces a letter, the child touches the right letter, and the space ship flies there. It is so cute! Another is like one of those claw games in arcades, except it is shape matching. So it shows you the shape of a truck, you have to touch the truck, then the claw reaches down and grabs it. Very, very cute! I wish they’d come out with more games for this one. The pinball game has not been as big a hit with Bella, but this one is worth the price for the other two games.
Preschool Adventure
Also by 3DAL (makers of Preschool Arcade, above), this one is a great first game. It doesn’t require the child to do anything more than touch things and enjoy. The voice that goes with the game is lovely, sweet, friendly, clear and easy to understand. The numbers (dot to dot) game is a bit more challenging for those children who are ready for that. This company also makes Make a Martian, which is really fun, and Preschool Music. But Arcade and Adventure are IMO the best!
Peekaboo Barn
Peekaboo Barn (and now Peekaboo Wild) are absolutely adorable, easy, enchanting for little ones. Lots of fun and very simple. The barn sort of wiggles, and you hear an animal sound. Tap the barn and the view zooms in, the door opens, and you see the animal making the sound. Then it does it again with a different animal. At the end all the animals are asleep. Cute! There are free versions of both Barn and Wild that you can try out.
The Little Red Hen
This is a story that can be read to your child or they can read themselves and it is ADORABLE. The voice reading is a child herself, and bonus for us Americans who love accents… she has an English accent. The story is timeless and lovely and the animals all make sounds if you touch them, including the mouse who says very quietly… “Squeak, SQUEAK.” It is seriously so cute. Bella loves this one!
First Words: Animals
Well, we have Animals, but they have several other versions. This is great. There is a picture of the word, for example a picture of a Fish. Four boxes for the letters to go, with a shadow of each letter for the child to see. The letters are jumbled up at the bottom and the child needs to drag each letter to the correct box. The narrator reads the word at the end.
ShapeBuilder
This game is *awesome.* It is so simple, and yet is the single game that has held Bella’s attention for the longest. But she loves puzzles, so if your child is not into puzzles this may not be a hit of the same magnitude… they have a free version so it is worth trying to see!
There are lots of other games we’ve tried, but these are our favorites so far!
Posted: November 20th, 2009 under toddler talk - No Comments. Tags: iphone apps, toddler games




Bella is currently in a sleep-less cycle. We go through phases, some she sleeps better, some worse, right now it is definitely in the “worse” phase. She goes to bed late, gets up early, and tries to sleep horizontal all night long, kicking mama and pushing on Daddy.
Recently I’ve been involved in some very heated discussions about the Disney princess empire, and why I’m choosing to keep my daughter away from it. (For as long as I can.) Actually, heated isn’t even the right word. I was attacked because of my stance that the Princess movies can and do contribute to a sexist view of women in the world, and they can and frequently do effect the way our little girls look at themselves and the women and men around them.