iKids – the Best iPad2 Apps For Inquisitive Children

Children have a wonderful attitude towards technology. Fearless and naturally curious, they have embraced the touch-screen concept of gadgets such as the iPad and iPhone with total confidence. iPads are fast becoming an accepted part of daily life for pre-schoolers right up to college students. So how can all this technical wizardry benefit children with their learning, as well as their leisure time? For a start, these gadgets help children engage deeply with activities, often leading to greater periods of concentration. Using these devices can result in children far exceeding what adults thought they were capable of and can help bridge school education and home-based learning. The intuitive touch-screen offers a new way of communicating: highly valuable for children lacking the dexterity to write with a pen or pencil, or to use a keyboard. That’s all very well, you might say, but there are literally thousands of apps out there aimed at children. Enough, in fact, to make any telecom provider wince at the potential volumes of download time they represent. So how do we know which ones to choose? Here are a few suggestions for some fun educational apps that are downloadable onto the iPad2. First steps Even before formal schooling, pre-schoolers and babies have so much to learn. From first movements to the rudiments of letters and numbers – and there are numerous apps out there to help with this crucial stage of development. Young babies will enjoy Talking Carl - a lovely free app that encourages interaction through touch and sound. Babies can touch, or swipe Carl – a bouncy cartoon creature - to make him spin and jump, or if they tickle him, he will laugh. If the baby loses interest, Carl will grumble and wave to attract their attention. Learning the alphabet can be made easier with another free app. ABC Alphabet Phonics speaks the letter name and the child then identifies it by tapping the right answer on the screen. Letters can be displayed in upper or lower case and (this is brilliant) you can record your own ‘error’ and ‘success’ sounds using the iPad’s in-built microphone, or replace the spoken commands if you are unhappy with how the app pronounces the letter. Other free and low cost apps for early learning include Happy Learning Numbers, Baby Touch and Hear, Drawing Pad and Music Sparkles. Early Years Little scribblers wanting to get ahead with their letters will enjoy Letter Quiz – a superb low cost app that displays letters with tracer lines to follow with a finger. The child will hear the letter as it is displayed and completed letters are saved to a virtual blackboard so they can track their progress. Once the whole alphabet is done, there is a fun fireworks display set to music as a reward. Bee Safe (also very reasonably priced) is an excellent app focusing on road safety. A cartoon girl is placed in various everyday situations on the screen, e.g. at a zebra crossing or between parked cars. When a child taps the character, she explains whether it is safe to cross the road or not and why. Clear spoken instructions help maintain a child’s interest while getting a vitally important message across. Other free and low cost apps for children starting out in formal education include Sesame Street eBooks, Magic Piano, Amazing First Words and Rumble in the Jungle (an interactive book). Primary education Six- to ten-year olds are growing increasingly sophisticated in their tastes. At the same time, educational expectations are starting to stack up. Children being prepared for the 11+ exams will appreciate the reasonably priced 11+ English, 11+ Maths and 11+ Verbal Reasoning apps. Comprising questions and answers designed to emulate the actual test papers, they will help a child get ready for that all-important exam. Creative sorts might also like the low cost app Silly Story Starters – designed to encourage creative writing. Off-beat ideas are generated to provide a good starting point for a story: how about a donkey who has just invented a new cereal? Other low cost apps for children aged between six and ten include Cut the Rope, Monarchy the Definitive Guide, Tic Tac Math and World Book’s World of Animals. Secondary and college education Young people specialising in their chosen GCSEs, A-Levels and other academic courses can benefit hugely from apps designed to support their learning in certain areas. English students can employ Shakespeare in Bits – a slightly more expensive set of apps, but one that takes you methodically through a Shakespearian play, including the unabridged text and audio soundtrack. The app highlights and explains tricky words and phrases, allowing students to add their own notes. Other highlights are character biographies, synopses and memorable quote lists. Scientists have not been left out. EleMints: Periodic Table contains just about everything anybody needs to know about the Periodic Table of Elements, while Frog Dissection does exactly what is says on the tin. In stomach-turning definition and clarity. Other free and low cost apps for secondary education include Evernote Peek, iGeology, Nota for iPad and World War II Interactive. Social Interaction Family members who live far away or parents who have to travel for work will appreciate FaceTime – an app that acts as a videophone, allowing you to make calls to the children in your life from an iPad to an iPhone4, Mac, iPod Touch or another iPad. Calls are free and the video appears in high definition. Users can switch cameras from the front to the rear mounted one, or to move from portrait to landscape view. Finally, children love watching videos, but YouTube can be a minefield of inappropriate material if not carefully and continually monitored. iTube List is a free app enabling parents to assemble a pre-approved playlist of YouTube clips for their children to enjoy in safety. The app also comes with pre-set playlists that only contain child-friendly videos. Other free apps for social interaction include Flipboard, Facebook, Twitter and Skype. --- Article by Imogene Reed, England