A little piece put out by The New York Times the other day showcasing the accessibility of the iPhone for children, which can be extended to the Natural User Interface. The piece also looks at the guilt parents have with letting their kids play with such devices for extended periods of time. As I have said before in my reviews of iPad applications for kids; they must be accompanied by adult interaction with the child and the application, otherwise it's just useless/meaningless information with no context.

Worth the quick read.

"Apple, the iPhone’s designer and manufacturer, has built its success on machines so simple and intuitive that even technologically befuddled adults can figure out how to work them, so it makes sense that sophisticated children would follow. The most recent model is 4.5 inches tall, 2.31 inches wide and weighs 4.8 ounces: sleek, but not too small for those with developing motor skills. Tap a picture on the screen and something happens. What could be more fun?"

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/10/17/fashion/17TODDLERS.html?_r=1&pagewanted=all

Also you can view my reviews, journals, and presentations on the topic of the natural user interface for kids here:

http://posterous.nullintovoid.com/tag/interface

by Sound Touch (go figure)

So this app is pretty straight forward and there are a lot of variations on this theme. The core function is to associate sound and images. While a lot of these apps are cartoon based, this one incorporates photography and cartoons. What makes it unique, however, is that it will display up to 4 different images/sounds for each particular object / thing. So when my son checks out a 'train' 1 of 3 will come up randomly with different sounds associated to that train, this keeps his attention level high and the boredom rate low. There are multiple categories to choose from:

Animals
Home
Environmental
Music 

There are a few negatives for this app. To start there is no swipe left and right (which my son is very used to at this point), in order to switch screens you need to hit the buttons at the bottom, which he can do but it is always after an initial swipe. The second issue, which is a bit larger, is that my son tends to hit a button twice, while for most programs this is a non-issue for Sound Check it will think of the second hit to the screen as "close". So often times my son only hears about the first 5 seconds of the sound and new photograph (some are up to 30 second sound clips). I'm trying to get him to "relax" and only hit once but he doesn't seem to mind. This is why the latter issue may be neither here nor there for some, since he enjoys it just the same, and to be honest, who really wants to hear 30 seconds of an elephant. Lastly it doesn't rotate/orient with the screen because it was initially built for the iPhone, but not that this app is for iPad as well (no x2 here).

The price on this is $1.99 it's hard to complain about that but probably makes more sense to be $.99 until they enhance a bit. So while there are some wild sound boards for children out there (iSafariHD, iFarmHD) with high-flying graphics this more vanilla option with its randomness for "same objects" is what holds his attention.

http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/sound-touch/id348094440?mt=8

by Genera Kids

What can I say about this crazy little app? It's really well done and wild at that. The images and illustrations are really a lot of fun, some of the best I have seen in kid's apps. The songs:

• Old McDonald
• If you´re Happy and you Know it
• Row Row Row your Boat
• I´m a Little Tea Pot
• Hickory Dickory Dock
• The Wheels on the Bus

are all great, sung by kids with lots of added excitement. The screens themselves are all interactive but unlike Wheels On the Bus HD it isn't quite as obvious for a youngster what is going on (tapping only)...does this seem to matter? Not at all. My sons favorite is "If You're Happy and Know it" just because I'm always clapping, perhaps, and "Old McDonald" which has balloons that you can pop. This little app is so much fun...this is his new fav and he never gets bored with it. I only wish there were more songs! $1.99 go and get it, now. NOTE: didn't take long to master the home screen, which has a bit of steampunk in it, to get it going.

http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/kids-song-machine-hd/id377706884?mt=8

Is it time for some letters by now? I think so. First let me say this, nothing seems to be able to replace the original flash card, the Eric Carle seem to be a favorite for my son, however there are a few letters that are a stretch. He is probably one of the few people that can pick a Xolo or a Quetzal out of a lineup, anyway I digress...

There is a large assortment of flash card type apps for the iPhone and iPad but, for whatever reason, the interest in these is fleeting. This little app with its award winning title (for length) is the one he likes the best.

Two reasons:

1. There are multiple touch points; if you hit the letter he will hear what that letter is, and if you hit the picture he will get a little animation with a sound to reinforce the association of that letter.

2. It's easy to use; he can identify and see all the letters, recalling the ones he loves, rarely mishitting the wanted letter.

This app also allows for interaction between you and your child. I typically will have him find certain letters, "Where is the letter 'I'?" He will of course go for the sound effect/animation but when I ask him what the letter is he will hit the letter and typically call out the name at the same time. Great reinforcement of the alphabet and, of course, only $.99.

http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/letters-a-to-z-for-ipad-from/id364047351?mt=8

by Duck Duck Moose

This self described award winning app (CES 2010) is very simple and basic; it sings "the wheels on the bus" and has roughly 10 interactive screens that move the song along. The singing itself is very well done. The hook is the basic UX gestures that allow the child to interact with each screen. The interaction consists of 1 to 3 items per screen, so don't expect anything mind-blowing here. But this simplicity is what helps keep this app entertaining and engaging for the kid. His favorite screens are:

The doors on the bus: 'swiping' them open reveals a bird which squeaks when 'tapped'.

Fish on the bus (didn't know that verse): the bubbles from the fish pop when 'tapped', the fish leaps out of the bowl when 'tapped', and lastly the crab makes some clicking noises when 'tapped'.

Some of the screens are a bit weak but overall this app not only sounds great and allows for participatory singing but also allows the child to learn basic gestures and have fun while doing it. Great starter app for any child. Solid and stable. The HD version is $1.99.

http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/wheels-on-the-bus-hd/id371962250?mt=8

This little iPhone App was mentioned to me while eating lunch with my child. The waiter said his own son couldn't get enough of it, he would use it in restaurant emergency situations.

With this note I decided to give it a shot. What makes this app great is its simplicity, the child doesn't need to hit any buttons, all they need to do is talk and the little hamster squeaks you back immediately, to the amusement and joy of my kid. You can easily switch between different characters/squeaker types to keep the fun going. 

There are more advanced options, such as recording messages for later but for my 20 month old the immediate feedback is fun enough. The little hamster will make faces as he squeaks heightening the visual feedback.

This little $.99 app should be in the back-pocket of any parent as they head out with their kid. 

http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/smacktalk/id306752436?mt=8

http://www.marcussatellite.com/SMACK_TALK/

By Callaway Arts & Entertainment

My son repeatedly seeks out this application/interactive story book for multiple reasons:

1. You can watch the entire story, with animated CGI, at once; under 9 minutes. This story is based around numbers.

2. You can flip through the book manually and touch all the characters to hear sounds and interact (his favorite part).

3. There are plenty of games; memory (his favorite), puzzle (advanced for him), painting (advanced).

For the adult this story is rather amusing, more because of the sounds the characters make - since they are frightened of the friendly spider ("Oh NOOOOO"). At $9.99 it's one of the more expensive apps I have purchased, it isn't small either; 250MB+. The 2.0 update fixed crashing issues and other minor quirks. But this app is worth it for your child, I would place it more in the entertainment category vs. edutainment or education.

http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/miss-spiders-tea-party-for/id364736580?mt=8

This app is amazing, I'm not sure it's for kids but my son loves it. There are three views of the piano:

1. Invisible: just touch the screen and watch it light up and play the keys, dragging your finger across the screen results in all keys being played, very cool.

2. Spiral: piano is in a spiral and the keys are quite large, easy for a kid to play.

3. Normal: see all the keys, zoom in and out to only display snippets of the keyboard.

There are also a few other very cool options. You can have it play certain songs, including twinkle twinkle little star and the moonlight sonata. You can play along as it tells you which areas of the screen to hit. I love this because I can sing to my child as we tap the screen together to the song. Really a well done application.

At  $.99 you can't go wrong, very stable.

http://magicpiano.smule.com/

http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/magic-piano/id356416346?mt=8

Every week, or randomly, I'll share an app my 19 month old loves. I've bought plenty and since my kid actually has his own iPad he appears to be a good test case and quite crafty at that.

//--------------------

Toddler Counting is not the most exciting app but it is the most basic, and this simplicity is what makes it hot. At $.99 this app is worth it, you can't go wrong. There are only two-stages "easy" and "hard". It shows random images (pizza anyone?) and asks the child to count the items by tapping them, in any particular order. This continuous reinforcement of counting appears to be helping my own child, who went from not understanding numbers to counting. For whatever reason he loves this app and that is all it does, over and over with different imagery and a sometimes-laughable vocalization of joy from the narrator.

There are some basic flaws but what do expect for $.99? If the child gets too excited they can cut off the narrative, feedback of the words. Also if the child drags his hand across it by accident he knocks off about four numbers at once. But this is neither here nor there since it just goes and goes.

http://itotapps.com/Site/ToddlerCounting.html

Well I have reached a milestone I suppose, my son is now two and with this we move on to apps he now loves being < 3 years old. You can see my previous reviews here:

http://posterous.nullintovoid.com/tag/kidsipadappreviews

First off let me say this: every single Genera Interactive book / game etc is work downloading, these guys are spot on in their interactions, design, and stories. 

What makes Marina and the Little Green Boy so entertaining for my son is all of the interaction the bilingual story contains; almost each and every element/character that appears on the screen is able to be tapped, to create funny sound effects and animations. My son just loves the little Martian laugh: "naaaanuuuu naaaanuuuuu". The story itself is in-depth and not just an add-on to the interaction (which we sometimes see), so there are plenty of screens to be enjoyed.

For $1.99 it worth it and as I said before all the Genera iPad apps are worth it for their creativity.

http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/marina-little-green-boy-hd/id384688200?mt=8