Quick Math Jr.

$quick math jr.$

KinderTown loves the app Quick Math Jr. by Shiny Things. It’s uniquely made to capture kids’ attention and help them learn about counting, ordering numbers, adding, subtracting, and writing numbers. The app is centered on colorful and playful monsters. One of five different game areas is randomly selected when the gameplay begins. The areas are represented by a bus, a light bulb, a pair of eyes, a house, and a train. One of the greatest features of the games is that they automatically adjust to your child’s learning level so they are appropriately challenged as they learn and progress through the app.

These games are combined together to create Hustle Bustle Island. The app has 3 different islands available for purchase, each of which provides 3 new games for children. Parents can also elect to receive report card notifications on their child’s progress via email.

Throughout the game, children can earn different facial features for the monsters, which then appear within the app. Our child testers liked this feature and the ability to personalize their own monsters. The app allows for multiple students to have profiles, so if you have a classroom or multiple children at this level, the app will support each child’s individual development. The app is appropriate for children who can recognize numbers and number concepts, starting around age 4, although the ability to add and subtract numbers and memorize the facts usually occurs later. Make sure you read the parent section to find different examples of age-appropriate number games that can be played offline to support your child’s learning and development of numbers. The app is free, but additional content costs $4.99 for each island.

$Quick Math Jr. App - App Store$

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Quick Math Jr. App - App Store

Developer: Unknown

Price: Free

STEM Toys for All Ages

STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) is a hot topic right now for children of all ages. Check out these STEM toys for children ages 3-8.

Snap Circuits® 300 Experiments

As the name indicates, Snap Circuits helps children understand basic concepts about electricity using pieces that all snap together. The set can appear complicated at first, and it requires active adult participation and guidance in completing the projects for your child to understand how the pieces work together before being able to play independently. The kit comes with a complex manual (45 pages long), which helps in understanding the toy if you have a basic understanding of electrical parts. The kit has loud sirens and alarms, so be aware of the potential noises it can make in your house; however, the sound effects do increase the motivation and interest for kids to achieve the goal of making a circuit. The kit does provide a nice foundation and understanding of electrical concepts and is appropriate for children ages 6-12.

Educational Insights® GeoSafari Jr. Jungle Crew Lab Set™

This super science kit is super-friendly for little hands. Preschoolers can experiment by mixing liquids with the animal-themed test tubes, funnel, and flask. The kit comes with cards to give you ideas for experiments without having to search online. The supplies you need are all items you probably already have in your kitchen. The kit is open-ended enough that you can design your own experiments as well. The kit is appropriate for children ages 3-6.

Osmo Pizza Co.

This game combines math, money skills, and critical thinking skills to run your own pizza shop. The game system works with the original Osmo system. The Osmo Pizza Co. game comes with all the money pieces needed to run your cash register as well as pieces to create your pizza with various toppings. The game walks you through buying toppings for your pizza, creating the pizza, cooking it, and serving it to the customer. Be sure to watch the customer’s facial expressions to see if they enjoy your pizza. Afterwards your child flips the pizza board over to process the payment from the customer and calculate the change. In addition, at the end of the day, the game calculates the total profit made (if any), and children have the opportunity to reinvest the money in the pizza business. This game also works well with multiple children who needed to work cooperatively to attain the goal. The game develops the mathematical concepts of addition, subtraction, fractions, and mental math. This is a wonderful simulation game for the budding entrepreneur. The game is appropriate for children ages 6-10.

From connecting circuits to make noise to measuring liquids to tossing pieces to make a pizza, these toys are sure to provide some extra educational stimulation at your house.

Top 2 Toys for Hands-on Play!

At KinderTown we love high-tech toys for the youngest learner but we are also passionate about hands-on play. So, put down your device and try out the top 2 toys for hands-on play for children ages 3-6. We beat you’ll have some fun as well!

Gears, Gears, Gears

Gears! Gears! Gears!, by Learning Resources®, invites children to practice their engineering skills by combining pieces to make them move with one another. The play is open-ended, and children can create endless combinations of gears. The gears do go together easily and can be repositioned and changed without frustration, and taking them apart and rebuilding develops a real understanding of how gears work. I appreciated the frustration-free packaging that Learning Resources used. The package was simple to open and easy to get right into playing with the toy. The gears do not require batteries; just turning one of the gears makes all of them move. Learning Resources does have a variety of gear sets with other interesting themes and pieces. The basic gear set is appropriate for children ages 3-6.

Magformers® Walking Robot

Magformers Walking Robot High Tech Set combines traditional Magformers magnetic blocks (45 pieces) with a walking robot to inspire your child to build creative robots. There is a nice booklet of instructions that will give you and your child eight ideas for how to create interesting robots. The robot piece does require batteries and has two different walking speeds for the robot as well as options for the hands to spin. Planning out how to make the robot walk forward and knock over other toys was a hit at my house! The robot is compatible with other Magformers pieces. Overall, this is an engaging set for children to play with, and it is appropriate for children ages 3 and older.

3 Gift Ideas for Kids Who Want to Code

Coding is the latest craze among tech lovers and their kids. Consider these toys if you want to develop your kid’s coding skills.

Fisher-Price® Code-a-pillar™ Review

Code-a-pillar is a toy aimed at the youngest learner. It is intended to introduce 3-6 year-olds to the concepts behind coding. Right out of the box, the caterpillar comes with batteries installed and is ready to play with, a big win for children in this age group.

You will need a large open space with a hard surface. The goal for your child is to connect the pieces of the caterpillar in order to make it move in the intended direction. A picture showing the intended move appears on the top of each caterpillar piece. Children can rearrange the pieces and see the effect on the caterpillar’s movement. There is a delayed reaction to the initial movement, which could be frustrating for some children. Also, if you do not have a large enough area for the caterpillar to move, it ends up running into furniture or other objects, which can lead to frustration or a lack of understanding of how the caterpillar is intended to work. To reduce frustration, remove some of the caterpillar pieces so only 3-4 directions are used to guide the caterpillar. Parents, be sure to guide your child in this process of discovery because the cause-and-effect relationships of the symbols to the caterpillar’s movement may not be apparent. After your child understands the idea of the toy, see if they can navigate the caterpillar around a single object or multiple objects.

Code-a-pillar comes with colorful circular cards that can serve as obstacles. Overall, the Code-a-pillar is easy to use and does introduce the foundations of coding, but children may need guidance to make a secure connection between their play and the coding signs. Also, the toy is noisy and does not have a volume control button. Code-a-pillar also offers expansion packs, which include additional caterpillar pieces that move the caterpillar in different directions or make additional sound or light actions.

Osmo Coding Review

The Osmo Coding system works with the Osmo base and stand. Once opened, the Osmo system does require about 20 minutes for set up. The steps are easy to follow. You must set up the Osmo stand and mirror on your iPad, download the coordinating app, and create an account to get started. The account lets you create multiple profiles for different children in your household and track their progress.

The object of Osmo Coding is to move a friendly blue monster through the woods by using the hands-on pieces to help him move in the direction of his favorite fruit, strawberries! Children must use the pieces to tell the monster the correct code to obtain the desired strawberries. The app does a very nice job of visually showing your child which pieces to use to obtain the desired code in the beginning. As your child progresses, the codes become more challenging, but the app does provide support and hints for children along the way. The game is designed in a virtual world with stops along the way for coding challenges. The game does take some tenacity to complete the challenges and may frustrate some children without parental guidance. There is a pink bar that pops up along the way to show how far along in each challenge your child has progressed. The only obstacle we had while using Osmo coding was keeping the pieces within range of the camera. As children change the pieces, it is easy to move out of range of the camera. Be sure to keep the pieces close so the mirror can read each piece.

Wonder Workshop Dash Robot Review

This robot is not for the faint of heart. A basic knowledge of coding on the child and/or parent’s part is helpful in having a successful experience with the Wonder Workshop Dash robot. There are so many capabilities of the robot that initially using it can be overwhelming. Dash does come ready to play without the box; simply charge the robot, and your child can begin interacting with it via the coordinating apps. The robot is not compatible with all generations of iPads, so be sure to check their website to be sure your tablet is compatible. The app does support both Android and Apple products. The robot does appear to be well made and works well on hard surfaces or carpet. You will need a large space to be able to use the robot easily.

First download and open the app and begin to navigate the robot with your child. The apps do not provide much support in getting started, so be sure to help your child and be ready to experiment to figure out what works well. The robot does have exciting capabilities such as recording your own voice, dancing, singing, or avoiding obstacles. There are several apps that work with the robot: Blockly for Dash & Dot Robots, Go for Dash & Dot Robots, Wonder for Dash and Dot Robots, and Path for Dash robot.

The app, Go for Dash & Dot Robots is the easiest to use with Dash, and I would recommend starting with this one. This app would be appropriate to use with children ages 4-8. The app allows you to immediately control and move the robot in a simple way. Use the joystick to move it forward and back, turn its head, change the light color, and play a set of preset sounds. Next, use the Path for Dash robot app. This app provides children with an arena to experiment with the controls used with Dash but in a more purposeful way. Children can complete a maze on a racetrack and add fun noises, such as wheels squealing and honking horns, or move the robot around the farm while making animal noises. This app would be appropriate for children ages 5-8. Finally, Wonder for Dash and Dot Robots and Blockly for Dash & Dot Robots provide a more structured and in-depth look at coding. These apps are appropriate for children 8 and older. Also, check out Dash’s additional extensions, including Dot, a compatible smaller robot, Wonder Workshop Xylophone for Dash Robot, Wonder Workshop Launcher for Dash Robot, and Wonder Workshop Build Brick Extensions for Dash and Dot Robots.

Wonder Workshop Dash robot is a complex robot that would be valuable for families with a high interest in learning coding skills, small education groups, after-school learning, and summer camps. The robot is long lasting in that it offers a variety of levels of learning in the area of coding and has multiple extensions that can be explored with children.

Ladybug Number Count | App Review & Activities

Ladybug Number Count

Ladybug Number Count was developed by parents and their children along with some guidance from early childhood educators. Ladybugs are placed in images of the real world for kids to count. A wonderful meshing of animation with photography.

There are two ways to play the app. Choose to count the ladybugs by tapping one at a time or count by themselves and touch the correct number from a choice of three. The app has a very relaxed and slow moving pace. Kids also hear language like, more and less each time they get an answer wrong.

You won’t find an endless amount of scenes, so be prepared to see the backgrounds repeat frequently. Reminder: repetition and practice are needed to learn numbers and their order.

There are three languages to choose from: English, French and Spanish. Switching between them is an excellent way to introduce children to new languages!

We appreciate that for $.99 you get an outstanding counting app with no in-app purchases.

Activity 1: What Did I Do?

What You’ll Need:
• Pennies (or a collection of small objects)

Hold up pennies in your hand and ask, “How many are there?” Then, “Close your eyes so I can make a change. Did I add or take away some pennies?” Repeat using the same dialog.

The first time you may be amazed at how much effort it is for your child to figure this out. Two ways you can help:

1) Give your child time to think
2) Have your child re-enact what you did, comparing and counting.

Let’s say you started with 3 and while your child closes his eyes you add 1 to make 4.

“How many did I have in my hand before? Take 3 clips and put them in your hand and hold your next to mine. Do you think I added clips or took away clips?”

This is a great game to play while waiting for food in a restaurant. All you need to do is pull out some pennies and you will liven up a boring time. This can also make a road trip more fun for everyone, assuming you are not the driver.

Activity 2: Fantasy Stories

We spend a lot of time in the car as a family and I wanted to share another “car” favorite. There is great power of number stories, making them fantastical adds more fun to the thinking. Try one (or a few) of these fantasy number stories about the zoo:

• Your Uncle Steve went to the zoo and saw 6 elephants and 3 monkeys. How many animals did he see?

• Someone accidentally left the monkey cage open and one of them escaped. How many were still in the cage?

• Your uncle went after the runaway monkey and he ran directly into a clown selling peanuts. Monkeys love peanuts you know. 5 bags of peanuts fell on the ground. When the monkey realized what had happened it came running to get the peanuts. Before anyone could stop the monkey she grabbed 2 bags and ran off again. How many bags were left on the ground?

If you are a passenger, help you child draw each wacky problem to make them more visual.

Meet the Insects: Village Edition | App Review & Activity

Meet the Insects: Village Edition

Meet the Insects: Village Edition is best described as a multimedia encyclopedia. Unlike the encyclopedias of my youth, this one gives kids ways to actively engage in the learning and dig deep into the insects and ideas they are interested in.

There are 5 areas in the app that provided varied learning experiences:

• Insect Story
• See Insects
• Multimedia
• Observational Journal
• Quiz

We also really enjoy the 6 high-quality short videos:

• What are insects
• Life Cycles of Insects
• Dazzling Colors
• Diverse Patterns
• Why Do Cicadas Cry
• What Happens at Night

The app has over 30 insects to explore! Kids investigate by interacting with fact pages, watching videos, perusing photos, taking quizzes, going on insect hunts and a variety of other in-app features.

You’ll find TONS of text in the app, but with a simple tap, a narrator reads aloud the rich information. Meet the Insects gives kids a wealth of information and actually supports them to consume it. We love apps that understand that kids are smart and don’t need content “dumbed down.”

Make sure to spend some time with the observational journal. It is perfect for getting kids outside and looking for each insect in real life. Any app that has kids apply and expand on the digital experience really makes us smile. We don’t see enough apps that take this small extra step to get kids thinking beyond consuming content on the screen alone.

There is also a forest edition if you want to learn about insects that exist outside of the village and into the forest.

Activity: What Do Insects Like to Eat?

Items You’ll Need:

• Small plates or shallow bowls
• Something sweet: syrup, soda, fruit snacks (candy)
• Something sour/bitter: lemon, pickle juice, coffee
• Something wet: ketchup, ice cube, lemonade
• Something dry: crackers, rice, chocolate

In your backyard or on a patio, place out four plates. Make sure you place the plates away from your home, this activity is all about attracting bugs!

Put one item from each category on the plates. Now, wait and watch. Set a timer to go off each hour. Then go and inspect the plates. Some questions to ponder:

• Which plates attract more insects?
• Do any foods trap the insects?
• Do the insects move any of the foods?

Continue the experiment for as long as you want. It is fun to leave the plates out overnight and to run out in the morning and see what happened.

The Best Handwriting Apps | App Reviews & Activities

iTrace

iTrace supports and rewards kids with the goal of learning letter formation. Over 30 levels of difficultly, extensive feedback, plus both structured and self-driven play is their equation for success. The app is designed so kids feel control, challenge and enjoyment while playing. Parents and teachers are treated to tons of customization and a simple design which makes it quick and easy to set up! Both adults and kids get instant feedback while playing in the settings. One of the best handwriting apps featured in KinderTown!

iWriteWords

iWriteWords makes writing numbers and letters fun! A beautiful and entertaining app that children can use long before they can handle a pencil makes this a great purchase. Lots of settings, 3 levels that grow with your child and small fun activities break up the tracing. Your child will enjoy the unique playback feature to watch how they made their letters and numbers. Gdiplus, the developer, has done a good job of updating and integrating user suggestions. This is a must-have app for learning to write numbers and letters!

Write My Name

Write My Name blends a variety of learning experiences together in one well-designed app. Children will be practicing writing while learning letter names, sight words and increasing their vocabulary. Start by tracing and writing your name. Move on to working on uppercase and lowercase letters where children hear the letter name and are guided through how to form each letter. Finally practice writing over 100 commonly used words and watch a quick animation that models the words meaning. Two tracing modes allow children to practice with the app making the lines or in fingerpaint mode to see their own work. Parents, go on the app first to set up your children’s names and read through the information pages.

LetterSchool

LetterSchool is another best app to add to your child’s collection of letter and number writing experiences. LetterSchool clearly introduces each letter, sound and numbers 1-9 with an additional 3 levels of interaction that supports your child from tracing over a line to forming the letter all on their own. A variety of animations keep the content fresh. The positive, motivational feedback encourages your child and will keep them wanting to use this app! Check out the lite version to try out some of the content for free.

Handwriting practice can get so repetitive. Tracing lines and letters can get boring for both parents and kids. Handwriting it much more than learning about forming shapes and lines. It is also building up the fine motor muscles of the arms and hands. Instead of focusing on the output of writing, you are getting two activities focused on building those key fine motor muscles.

Activity 1: Marshmallow Engineer

What You’ll Need:
• Mini Marshmallows
• Toothpicks

Leave out a bag of marshmallows and the toothpicks for your child. What will emerge are the most creative structures and buildings he or she can imagine! Using toothpicks for the structure and the marshmallows for the joints you can build just about anything. The smaller pincher grip the child needs to form letters is the same grip they will use with is activity. They will focus as they place the marshmallow onto the end of the small pointy toothpick. It is great for muscle building and coordination. Parents, you’ll want to get in on this activity. It is both tasty and a fun family challenge.

Activity 2: Feed Me!

What You’ll Need:

• Tennis ball
• Spoon
• Small objects like cereal that is easy to scoop

Take your tennis ball and cut a slit about 1/3 of the way across the middle. You are forming a large mouth for your child to feed, so create the slit at your child’s ability level. Draw some eyes on your tennis ball and give it a name. Prepare a bowl with a cereal, Rice Krispies works well. Have you child take a scoop of the cereal using the spoon. Squeeze the tennis ball so the mouth opens nice and wide. Now feed your friend all those yummy treats. As your child squeeze the tennis ball they are building lots of arm and hand muscles. The attention to detail necessary for the other hand to carefully take a scoop of cereal and make it to the mouth is also muscle and brain building.

Geography Drive USA | App Review & Activity

In Geography Drive USA your children will test their geography knowledge of all fifty states, with a few history questions thrown in. The app increases knowledge of rivers, oceans, time zones, major cities, landmarks, major geographic regions and more.

Kids travel the highways while answering questions to unlock airports and gas stations which are essential to staying in the game. Bonus games allow them to visit the state fair to take the capital and state shape challenge and earn trophies and headlines. The app thoughtfully keeps track of 3 players/teams. This helps to avoid any “it’s my turn” demands between siblings (and parents!).

The game-play format makes learning easy and fun. I wish I had technology like this when I was in grade school. I have bad memories drilling state capitals.

Activity: Photographic Treasure Hunt

We did this activity with our little ones over Thanksgiving. We had the two 7 and 8-year-olds prepare maps of the area around our home for their younger siblings. The group of kids then used either an iPhone or iPad to photograph details they observed. They then marked their individual maps with their observations. Older cousins helped the younger ones.

I was surprised at how nurturing and supportive these same children were who had been fighting just moments before. Activity time was about 20 minutes. We then met back together to at the red ‘X” to compare findings.

Knock Knock Family | App Review & Activities

Knock Knock Family So, your toddler is getting past the beloved traditional peekaboo stage. Growing up too fast? You both enjoyed the activity? Knock Knock Family by Curio Makers takes the traditional peekaboo game to another level.

The game can be customized with your child’s family and friends as the visitor. Voices can be recorded on the device. I recorded my voice wishing one of ours a “Happy Birthday” and bringing a flower (each visitor is paired with an object for the embedded shape matching puzzle). Praise happens frequently in the app and gets repetitive, but the gameplay is engaging.

The FREE app includes six sample family members. Interesting add ons can be purchased. If you add on, you need to hit “restore prior purchase” top Right. We really love that parents and kids can customize the app with their own pictures, text, speech and choosing a special gift for each guest to bring.

Activity 1: Hide and Seek with Balloons on a Rainy Day

What You’ll Need:

• 10 balloons blown up
• Permanent magic marker

1. Blow up 10 balloons and number them 1 to 10 with a permanent marker. For older children, you could use numbers counting by 2’s, 5’s perhaps 100, 200, alphabet, ABC order.

2. Hide the balloons around the house. If you play this with more than one of your children have one child do this part. Have your kids work as a team to find the balloons in order. If they find the 8, they can’t get it out of its spot until they have found 1-7.

Our youngest son loved playing this game with his big brothers. After finding all of the balloons, he enjoyed counting all 10 and identifying the numbers. It was wonderful watching the kids work together to accomplish a group goal. Hiding the balloons upstairs and downstairs worked out well because it got my active boys moving around indoors on a rainy day.

Activity 2: Making Faces

Get out those old magazines you have around the house. Cut out the eyes, noses, and mouths of the people, animals, and drawings from the magazine. Shoot to have 3 to 5 different choices for each body part.

Put the cut-outs out for your child to choose from. Using a baking sheet or colored piece of paper, watch your child make and match the body parts together to make silly faces.

Farm 123 App Review

It is a week of giving for us at KinderTown! In partnership with StoryToys, the developers of Farm 123, we are giving away a $25 iTunes gift card and 5 codes for Farm 123.

Here’s How to Win

Our contest is via Rafflecopter, which makes it much easier for us to notify you of winning. Winners will receive an email the Monday after the contest ends. Double check to be sure you don’t have KinderTown emails ending up in your spam folder!

Log into the Rafflecopter to like, rate, tweet and share! We will randomly select winners via the Rafflecopter entries. The contest will end this Sunday, May 19th at midnight EDT.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Take 2 minutes to watch our video review of Farm 123

Farm 123 ~ StoryToys Jr
Subject: Math
Category: Number Sense
Concept: Counting/Reasoning, Number Recognition
Age: 3 to 5
Price: $2.99 (There is a FREE, try before you buy, version too)
Device: Universal

Farm 123 StoryToys Jr is a delightful app for the youngest of app users. This interactive ebook makes counting come to life with colorful animals that kids need to count, tap, move and interact with while hearing and seeing numbers. The app is playful with plenty of interactive hotspots, silly kid-friendly language, and counting/number games. A new favorite app at KinderTown, having Farm 123 on your iPad or iPhone is money well spent!