How We're Learning About Money

     I mentioned in my recent post that we've been starting up some "homeschool preschool". In case you didn't read it I'll say it again. We're super laid back right now. Compulsory age in our state is 5 years so I didn't have any real plans to do real focused work until then (September 2015 for the regular school schedule). A lot of what is involved in preschool and even kindergarten are things we do right now anyway.

     However, I'm not taking classes this semester so I have that time to spend doing other things so we've been doing a little bit more here and there. Our library is my favorite resource. It's close. It's free. We can get as much material there in a month without paying a dime compared to what you could get in a typical year-long curriculum.

     I really like the Pebble Plus books. They cover so many subjects and they are full of vivid pictures and are never to wordy. I've also discovered the money and math books by Rebecca Wingard-Nelson. These are very similar to the Pebble Plus books. Lots of pictures and easy-to-read bold font. The others weren't available when we made our trip so we went ahead and got this. You can find them on Amazon here. They are available in paperback or for Kindle!

     This one in particular is a little beyond my kiddos (rated for 6 years old or first grade) but they seem to be enjoying it nonetheless. We're also working on counting to 100 with Bitty Bug (almost 4) and to 20 with Sweet Pea (2). Doing it at the same time makes things easier. Some people like to use cheerios or fruit loops or crackers to practice counting but . . . my two seem to be a little distracted by that! Coins work well. If you don't have any change laying around a trip to the bank is a perfect opportunity to teach them what a bank is and all that too!

     We've been doing a few different things to learn. I try to keep it interesting because I know when I was a kid I got easily distracted when things were monotonous. Learning really doesn't have to be that way so I avoid that when I can.

Counting Together
It's as simple as it sounds. We count together! Either I start and they follow or we take turns with evens and odds. At rest time, I have them close their eyes and count with me. They have to keep them closed if they want me to keep counting. It works surprisingly well to help them settle down. If I were to have them count sheep they'd probably try to discuss the life story of the sheep and pretend their hands were sheep and tell me about the sheep sleeping in the floor and so on.

Making play-doh numbers
This is simple and fun. You can form numbers by rolling the dough and shaping it OR use a knife or cookie cutters to cut out the numbers. It helps littles to learn the shapes of each number by manipulating the dough. It is also helpful for getting those double-digits (or higher) down since you can put two or more numbers side by side. This works great for the alphabet too!

For older ones: Use this for learning place value (hundreds, tens and ones). Use a different color for each place value. Give them the number and have them make the right digit with each color.

Easy example: One-Hundred Twenty-Three.

Learning about the coins
Pennies, nickels, dimes, and quarters! We aren't just learning the denominations. We're also learning how many of each make one dollar. I actually had to brush up on my knowledge (blushing over here) so I could properly inform my almost 4 year old when she asked "Who's that?" and "What's it made of?". Good grief. We used the I Can Count Money book to match our coins to the pictures.

(They kept asking for the bills and saying "and then we can just keep them". Ha! Smart girls. Didn't happen.)

Sorting
This combines counting with the coins. We had a little ziploc with our spare change waiting to go to the bank in the junk drawer. We just used those. We sorted all the like coins into piles, made them into stacks (great for those fine motor skills!), and then we counted how many we had.


Doing things like this is a lot more fun and a whole lot easier than just counting pictures on a page in a book. It only took a couple days of these little activities for BOTH of them to really get the hang of it. Actually adding coins together and counting is a smidgen beyond them, of course. When the time comes though all of this will help, I think!


   I'd love to hear other ideas! Sometime I'm going to buy a bag of candy and have them sort the candies into muffin pans. (I'll post about it when I do!) Maybe some pink MnMs to keep things relevant. ;)

The beginning of our homeschooling journey . . .

       We've finally gotten into some sort of a groove again. We've been able to take trips to the library more often now that Little Pumpkin is here. Thank Goodness!

     I love watching my kids learn. I mean duh. What weird parent doesn't, honestly? I love watching them change and grow (even though it tends to be bittersweet). It's pretty amazing. What's even better is seeing their individual personalities and interests develop.  I'm all about loading their big little brains up with all the information they are willing to take in.

     Since I'm only prepping for CLEPs right now and I won't be taking any classes this semester I have been using all that former study time on what some might deem "homeschool preschool". It just feels like normal to me. We hope to homeschool our kiddos long term. Right now we take things easy and don't follow any particular schedule or curriculum. I originally didn't have any intention of starting things up seriously (ie keeping records or taking grades) until my oldest is ready for kindergarten. Of course . . . that's only a little over a year away.

      As some of you know, a few weeks ago Bitty Bug asked for a "body book" out of the blue. She was sitting in the recliner and we were on the couch when she just brought it up out of nowhere. We are still not entirely sure what sparked this seemingly sudden fascination with anatomy. She is not a big fan of going to the doctor. Hubby and I explain things pretty realistically to her though. We use anatomically correct words. She likes Doc McStuffins. I don't know! We didn't dawdle over it too long. I pulled up the Barnes & Noble website and literally searched "body book" in the kids section. I showed her the results. She was so excited about what I showed her saying "Yes, that's my body book!". We went to the library first but we did end up buying a "body book" for her. She's "read" through it every day since. It's definitely a favorite. She loves the illustrations. 

    So now, my (almost) 4 year old knows about all sorts of organs, how blood works, and what some of the different body's systems are and what they do. Hearing her say "digestive system" or "skeleton" is the cutest. 

Here the things we've been learning about or working on.

• Counting to 100

• Uppercase and lowercase letters

• Months of the year

• Days of the week

• Winter (anything from the weather to birds migrating)

• Body systems, bones and organs

• Coins, bills, and sorting

• The Presidents of the United States

• Manners and etiquette

• Reading (letter sounds and 2-3 letters words)

  I'll be sharing more soon about the different ways we're learning these things!! 

 
   

Martin Luther King Jr.

     “If you can’t fly then run, if you can’t run then walk, if you can’t walk then crawl, but whatever you do you have to keep moving forward.” - MLK JR

Credit: Erickson

      I've always admired him. He was a strong man, a faithful man, and certainly an American hero.  We'll make a day of learning about King and civil rights. I like to read and listen to his iconic Dream speech. My kids may not fully understand now but I want this part of our history to be remembered by them. It's never to early to begin teaching them about these things, in my opinion. If you're looking for last minute ways to honor the day with your kids:

    A while ago we borrowed this beautiful book from our local library. The illustrations are just incredible. It definitely caught the attention of my little ones. They bring the content of the book to life.

   Do you have netflix? Click here or search "Scholastic: Amazing America". The third episode is 10 minutes attributed to King's life.

   Here's a printable crossword and a craft from crayola appropriate for older kids. A simpler coloring page from teachervision for younger ones.

    Some other interesting things to read:
Tuscaloosa News - April 11, 1963 - Negroes to Defy Ban 
The Letter from Birmingham Jail 

 
    If you really want to have fun make a cake or cupcakes in honor of his birthday! He would have been 85 years old today.

Young Kids Aren't As Selfish As People Like to Think

      This Christmas season has been different for me. I have such a natural joy in my soul. Honestly. I’m not trying to be a cheeseball. It’s like my perspective of the whole holiday has broadened. My thoughts aren’t so narrow and selfish as they used to be. Though, I have a long way to go still.

     I’m attributing these changes in me to my children. Having three people become the priority in your life over yourself in every way is a challenge but it has the potential to create beautiful change. I hope that’s what it does for me, anyway. Even being married is a learned prioritization of another over yourself. You have to make yourself do it. It's not like that for me with my kids. I wear myself ragged trying to do and be everything for them. Something about having children, at least for me, is absolutely humbling (in the most vividly real meaning of the word) and I doubt I'm the only one to feel that way. I can visualize all of the potential on the paths at their small feet.

     At the same time, I see the inborn ills of humanity in my children. I see greed and vanity and selfishness during this holiday season. As their mother, I realize my whole life purpose now is to guide these small loves of mine to compassion, love, and selflessness. I can’t show these things without learning them myself and all of this is, by far, the hardest thing I’ve ever needed to do.

     I see my sweet, spirited Bitty Bug gazing at all the stuff in the catalogs and in the store. “I want . . . I want . . . I want. . .”. I don’t think there is anything wrong with simply wanting things. At just three years old, she is still so innocent and unaware. She just sees these dazzling ads, beautiful dolls, and fun toys and she just inherently has the urge to possess it all. I think there is a problem though when you become unfoundedly entitled, envious, or obsessed with getting more and more. This is fueled early and easily in our society. We are surrounded with consumerism and greed. We let it take us over. I want an alternative experience for my kids but I want balance too. I don’t want to cut out gift giving or go straight to homemade-only presents (honestly, that would be much more work on my part, right now!) I just want to start curbing these gut reactions in my Bitty Bug.

    So, we decided to have our little daughters (Bitty Bug, 3.5 and Sweet Pea, 2) pick out gifts for each other and their new baby pumpkin. I was thrilled with them. We explained to them on that shopping trip that we were “thinking about brother and sister” today and not ourselves. I took Bitty Bug with me and the hubster took Sweet Pea. I just kind of walked around the store and asked what she thought her sister would want or need. “What do you think her favorite color is?” and “Which one of this or this would she like better?” I wanted her to be focused on thinking of someone else. That’s a very big thing for a 3 year old to do! VERY big! She pointed out some things she wanted. She told me about all her dinosaurs (again). She initially wanted to get one thing for her sister but it was way over the little budget I gave her (5 dollars). Then, as we went down one more aisle, I noticed a little dress up purse and pointed it out to her. “What do you think of this?” and she gasped and exclaimed “Look! It’s pink! [Sweet Pea] has that one. It’s pink for her. I have a purple sparkle purse. I put all my crayons in it. [Sweet Pea] wants that one. Yeah.” I was delighted. Same thing for Pumpkin. She saw a wooden, rainbow stacking toy and decided “He will like those colors! He can play with me!”. I know I beamed with pride. It might seem like such a silly thing but she showed so much thought and she was so happy to pick those things out herself. Sweet Pea had picked out things for her sister and brother that I would’ve picked out myself. A little yellow car for Bitty Bug and a tiny stuffed monkey for Pumpkin. Bitty Bug LOVES hot wheels and she also likes the color yellow (second only to pink and purple and sparkles). I don’t know if my 2 year old is really that intuitive or if it’s a perfect coincidence. On Christmas day, I’ll have them give those gifts to each other instead of just putting them under the tree. We’ll definitely do the same thing next year.

     Although, I may be doing shopping the day before Christmas to keep things a surprise between them because Bitty Bug has told Sweet Pea about her pink, sparkly purse only 15 times now. Somehow it all goes right over Sweet Pea's head or she simply doesn’t hear it. Then again, when my sister and I bought each other Christmas presents we almost always ended up giving up hints and guessing what we got each other before Christmas morning!

SMILE! A Few Incredibly Helpful but Super Quick Tips on Potty Training

1) Lower your expectations. Whatever they are. Lower them. A bit more. A bit more. Ok good.

2) Get over it. The inevitable mess I mean. The pee in the car seat, the sudden accident right after your offer to go to the potty is vehemently turned down in the middle of Target, and the surprisingly large pile of poo left in the closet that you had to sniff-search for. Now go buy some stock in Febreeze and carpet cleaner. You're welcome.

3) Do the slosh test. That kiddo is gonna wanna carry the potty seat full of pee into the big toilet all on their own and you certainly wouldn't muffle their independence by saying no (riiiight?). Fill that potty seat up with water and go ahead and see how far you can make it go in a small area. Now you'll be prepared to identify the height and width of splashes when it's a potty full of pee. Just tell yourself that pee is sterile. It'll be ok. (Calm down. Don't really waste time doing this. If you do, while you're busy doing this your sweet child is probably going to be ripping a poo-filled diaper off or squatting happily on the rug.)

4) Giant feces. Surely by now you're over poo. You've probably seen a variety of colors, shapes, and textures. (Oh hush with the "Ewwww" you whiner.) Somewhere between 2 and 3 years old kids begin to develop a talent. This talent is creating the most gigantic turds you've ever seen in your time on earth.  This is why parents take their kids to the zoo. The dung in the elephant exhibit makes every parent feel better about the commode-clogging feces from their own talented spawn.

5) Lose the attitude. I don't care where anyone is on the potty training spectrum. From newborn elimination communicator pro all the way to the parent saying $#!& my kid is now 62 months old and is still scared of the potty. Knock on wood. Hold your tongue. Speak not. Ever heard of karma? Potty training regression is like karma for know-it-all potty trainers that think the fact their kid plopped a pile on the porcelain at 18 months means they win a prize. The only prize is that you did NOT have to fully change that would-be nasty diaper. This is a participation game people. Accept your "participation award" and move along. Let's all be glad that one day our kids will at least be too embarrassed for us to wipe their bums so surely they'll manage to figure it out by then.

6) Be prepared to accept a high five and a proud hooray every time YOU use the bathroom. It's a perk. Nothing wrong with that. Until your 3 year old is declaring "GREAT JOB POOPING, MAMA! You gotta flush! Did you wash your HAAAANDS?!" in the echo-prone public restroom.

7) Do whatever the heck works for you kids. We're teaching beings that would biologically prefer to squat by a bush alone to instead sit awkwardly on top of a large, cold ceramic bowl that makes a loud flushing sound. THEN we push it further by limiting the amount of time they get to splash in the sink and make bubbles. And we expect this to go well! So, by all means: bribe, reward, sing, dance, make a chart, and give yourself a cookie and when you've accomplished this task publish it on facebook!! (Muahaha now all the non-parents are freaking out about their feeds being covered in potty-success announcements accompanied by turd-in-bowl pictures. Calm down. You'll likely be giddily filling in your status bar with something similar one day. Really though people: turd-in-bowl is unnecessary.)

8) This is really a close follow-up to #5. Don't lick your fingers. Ok, really though. Poop and pee won't hurt you, friends. We don't rub our eyeballs or pick our noses whilst disposing of a certain toddler's mess, right? Feel free to make a face and congratulate the kiddo on their impressive odor but don't freak out over every (inevitable) mess.

9) Give yourself a *high five* if you thought I was building a potty training acronym for the word "SMILE".

This Week's Library Grab

     Here are the books we picked out at the library this week! Quite an eclectic selection, I think. Some we've read before and some we haven't. The kiddos are enjoying all of them.

    This is a beautiful book highlighting Dr. King's "I Have a Dream" speech. I don't think it could ever be read too many times. The illustrations are beautiful too. I love that my 3 year old and almost-2-year-old are all ready beginning to learn about such very important public figures.

 

     This is a very colorful book with a short, sweet style to it. I love it almost as much as Frederick.  

    There are some things we want our kids to learn about and never forget. The Great Depression is one such thing. Children's literature like this is an easy, beautiful way to share such history even with the smallest kids.

    Dinosaurs + numbers. Just what my 3 year old needs. I'm convinced she can soak in just about anything if it is somehow tied in with dinos.

     Our local library has a fantastic kid's non-fiction collection. They have books from Pebble Plus to Kid's Britannica. They are great resources. My kids love these books just the same as the fiction. The colorful pictures don't hurt.

Turning Everyday Chores Into Big Learning Opportunities

     My kids (3 and almost 2) love to learn. If circumstances allow us I hope to be able to homeschool them. There's a lot of emphasis on going to daycare/preschool/kindergarten for toddlers to pre-elementary kiddos these days. Whether you work at home or out, stay home part time or full time, use a sitter, or send them to an in-home or typical brick-and-mortar daycare one of the top priorities you probably have is giving your kids opportunities to learn. Not just to learn mundanely but to experience new things, discover their world, and to thrive while they do it!

   I know all sorts of parents. Single parents, married parents, military parents. SAHM, SAHD, WAHD, WAHM, WOHM, WOHD (do you know what all these mean??). There are parents who travel a lot for work. There are parents that have an in-home office. Some parents have flexible schedules and some have strict itineraries. I know that every single one of them wants this same thing for their babes: the best.

    This constant want for our kids is what drives us crazy, makes us feel guilty, and leaves us wondering if we did the right thing or did enough. It's why we've become obsessed with structured learning, book-work, and the-next-best-thing in education. There are some very easy, simple ways to incorporate learning into the every day. We just have to take advantage of these little opportunities.


#1. Just talk. Talk to your kids. No subject is too small or too big. Want them to learn a language? Talk to them. Want them to learn to read? Read with them. Talk to them about reading the books. I know when I take the opportunities to really communicate with my kids, hear their words, and use words they've yet to hear their little minds are blossoming. Suddenly, a week later they are bringing up some random conversation about how the traffic lights mean stop on red and go on green. They start to understand. That means they can start to share with me in turn their own ideas about all these things in the universe. They start to form questions.

#2. Kids are naturally curious, inquisitive little sponges just sitting there waiting to soak up every morsel available. You know all the things you just know because you do? There's a lint trap in the dryer. Our money is printed and/or minted and has inherent set value. Candles and crayons are both made of wax. Gravity makes us fall and keeps us from floating away. Light bulbs were invented by ________. Yeah, we've all ready learned. We know the answers. Kids have no idea. It's why they are so busy. It's why they test things. It's why they pick at, poke, and bang on things. They are little scientists making observations! They are so eager to know what we know and they will go about making discoveries in their own special ways.

#3. Watch them. Observe them for a while. See what makes them tick. What brings that sparkle to their eye and the light into their face?

    Take these things: communication, their natural sponge-likeness, and your observations and go with it. There are some things nearly every parent, no matter their situation, can do to incorporate opportunities for learning into the blah, every day, normal activities. These opportunities are easy to miss. I get so involved in just getting things done around the house sometimes that rather than involving the kids I just do my best not to trip over them. If they are kept involved while I'm doing a chore then they 1) are doing something productive by learning how to clean, 2) are getting quality time with me and 3) aren't somewhere else making another mess or meddling.

Before I go further let me just say: I get 100% that sometimes we just need to get things done without being slowed by sweet little helpers. ;) Sometimes we need quiet, we just need space, or we need them to PLAY ALONE in their rooms without mama or daddy or the TV entertaining them. Sometimes we do want the TV to entertain them for a half-second so for that precious half-second we can feel like we're ahead a bit. No doubt. But, that's not always the case.

Like I was saying, it's simple to turn every day things into grand opportunities to learn. Here are my favorite ways to do this with my kids with every day chores:

- You're vacuuming. In whatever words, explain how it works. Talk about pushing and pulling. Talk about how to get around and under furniture. With hardly any effort you've incorporated a great lesson on spatial concepts. This also works well as you teach them to clean up their room by looking behind the bed for toys, putting the books vertically on the shelf, and picking the blocks up and in the right bin.

- You're switching out the loads of laundry. This is another easy one for spatial concepts (in and out of the washer and dryer) but it's also great for sorting, searching, and counting. Dump that bottomless hamper of laundry on the floor and give your toddler or preschooler a task: find all the socks, find all the white (or whichever color) clothes, find all the clothes that belong to ____ (whichever person). This gets you a variety of lessons in recognition. Depending on their age(s) they can learn new item words and what those words go with (towels, shirts, pants, or socks). They can learn how to hone in their observation skills and assess a group of items for differences and similarities. They can learn colors in a way that gives them an idea of a range of shades and hues rather than just one basic bold color. (I just made sorting laundry with your kids sound fancy.)

- Take it a step further with that laundry. Have them count out 2, 3, 4 items at a time to bring to you to put in the washer. Have them help you switch the load over to the dryer counting all the way through the load whether it's 10 towels or 20 random pieces of clothing. Another thing you might try is talking about the color of every item. Make it a game of eye-spy. "Bring me something . . . green!" You're kids will be counting and learning about colors in a tangible way. 

- How about implementing some opposites while you do the dishes? Fill the cup. Empty it. Scrub the plate on the top and the bottom. This bowl fits inside the other: one is big and one is small. Turn the water on hot then on cold. Turn the water pressure up high or low. Dry the plate really fast or dry the plate really slow. Maybe some of your dishes are smooth and some have some sort of texture (rough, bumpy, etc). One that's a bit more advanced: some are opaque and some are transparent.

- You're sweeping. Instead of sweeping with the normal hurry-get-that-clean method try making shapes. We have one big broom and a slightly smaller broom (and we did have one that was actually from the toy section but it got broken . . . note to self: get another one) so the kids can "help" me. This might be something more for the older kids when it goes beyond a large circle but you can have them "draw" shapes on the floor with the broom. Make a copy-cat game of it. If you happen to have large tile trace the squares.

- OR, If you have a large enough space you could turn all this into a red-light/green-light style game. (Again, this may be more apt for the older ones.) Start at one end of the room and assign each kid a "spot" near the other end to sweep as much junk into as they can (you could even mark the spot with painter's tape). "Sweep!" and "Freeze!" If they don't freeze in time then back to the beginning. If they leave a large dust bunny or a trail of cheerios behind it's back to the starting line. All of this is a combined exercise in observation, coordination, and self-control. There are some other ways you could go about doing this. For younger ones, choose a general corner area and/or make a line with that tape. Encourage them to look under and around any furniture for trash to clean up. Show them how to manipulate the broom and make small strokes.

Bonus: your kids are learning to CLEAN. There are way too many people in the modern world who have no clue where to start when it comes to cleaning or picking up after themselves. Starting really early and making it fun is an easy way to make a habit of it. One day even if they choose to be slobs (like me) at least you know you've done your due diligence making sure they have the skills necessary to finish a load of laundry, hand wash dishes, or to tell the difference between dish soap and detergent. ;)


     You may all ready be doing these sorts of things and not even realize it. Keep it up. If you have other ideas like these I'd love to hear them!

The App Store is Celebrating Itself

Dearest owners and lovers of the iPad, iPhone, and iPod touch:   


    Apparently, it's the Fifth Anniversary of the Apple App Store. This means there are several pretty cool free apps available right now! They've shot up to the tippy top of the Top Charts list so go into the App Store, click on the "5 Years of the App Store" at the top of the featured page or navigate to the Top Charts page and check out the list of free apps.

App Store Screenshot

  There is one in particular that I think is awesome for the kiddos called Barefoot World Atlas! I all ready have it on our iPad 2 and I'm installing it on the iPad mini right now while the kiddos are sleeping.

It is chock full of info about several different cultures from around the globe and some fascinating geography facts. It navigates just like Google Earth. You can scroll through a list of countries to get specific content or just hop around the globe clicking on different native animals, flags, or landmarks.

Where's My Water and Tiny Wings might also be fun for the kids (and you) plus there are several other non-kid things for anyone who just happens to love cool stuff on their iPad.

These are also available and many are normally priced over 2-3 bucks. Click to find out more about each app on the iTunes website:

How to Cook Everything

Tiny Wings

BADLAND

Traktor DJ

Infinity Blade 2

Where's My Water?

Over

Superbrothers: Sword and Sorcery EP

Day One (Journal/Diary)


 AND to add a huge whopping pile of sprinkles to the icing on the cake Angry Birds Star Wars just so happens to be free temporarily as well!! It's AWESOME. I finished the free version way back when it first came out so the moment I heard the full game was free I got a little too excited. As if I don't waste enough time on such things all ready. 

The Latest: FREE Apps and Such

   Ok, I said I had some more things to share so here I am not waiting too long to share! YAY! We had the iPads uncharged and put away for a few weeks. Because, sometimes techno-guilt strikes and we need a break. Well, we pulled them back out. After 1000 updates I went searching for some new games. I hate spending money on games I haven't played around with firsthand so I tend to scour the free lists and do some googling first. Here are the new additions to our iPads for the kids:

Agnitus - Games for Learning

Agnitus - Both girls have gotten into this one. My three year old is flying through all the little games and she finds all the characters to be very amusing. She has no problem navigating and there are plenty of different things to do within this one app so it keeps her little brain busy. Downside: although it is initially free, any additional mini-games cost extra. However, once you see what is available you may not mind spending a few extra bucks on it. There is a really cool curriculum-style system to it and you can even see report cards of the kiddo's progress through each learning component. Go here to see more about what this one is all about. Oh, and P.S. It's also compatible with multiple languages.
Available on:
ipad

ABC Music by Peapod Labs

ABC Music - This is a nice little dictionary style app from Peapod Labs. Instead of sticking with the typical alphabet learning games or a general touch music game they've combined the two into what is essentially an interactive musical encyclopedia. It is chock full of music and simple tasks. Huge plus: words are in English or in Spanish. We aren't a bilingual family but I like to expose my kids to different languages and cultures. I know there are plenty of bilingual families out there that could really get some use out of this feature though. The navigation can seem a little sporadic or random until you get used to it. Every letter links to a pop-up with links to new pages for instruments starting with that letter. If you click the A in "Guitar" it may seem to suddenly take you over to Accordion. This doesn't take long to figure out or get accustomed too. It's a nice introduction to music for younger kids and perhaps a good vocabulary tool for older ones. Go try this one ASAP because it's only free for a limited time!  
Bonus: Go here, scroll down, and download their free printable coloring book.
Available on:
ipad
ipod touch
iphone

Sago Mini Sound Box by Sago Sago

Sound Box - When you search for this one in the app store type in Sago Mini Sound Box. There are tons of apps with variations of the "sound box" name so it's not easy to find that way. This is a very, very simple concept. Sago actually has (what looks to be) three super neat games for young toddlers. Both my kids (3 and almost 2) liked this but it would appeal to the smallest of tablet-wielding littles. My younger definitely liked it more than my older one. Some kids may get bored of it quickly. For whatever reason this game was free. The other two by Sago Sago are currently $1.99 and $0.99. No idea what the reason is for the pricing variation but it is why I only have the Sound Box app.  Anyway, this game is colorful and reactive. It has a very clean layout. It responds to the slightest touch by adding colorful shapes to the screen or manipulating them about. There is a set of 9 different noises to make and it's super easy to go back and forth between the different noises. No doubt though, some of these sounds have the potential to get annoying so fair warning there.
Available on:
ipad
ipod touch
iphone


And finally . . .

PlaySquare by PlaySquare, LLC

PlaySquare - This is another free for a limited time app. It looks like this one may be one heck of a spendy one in the future too. The gist is that all the kid media masterminds (Nickelodeon, Sesame Workshop, and LeapFrog) have come together with MIT to create what is alleged to be the first "touchable television". Impressive. Read more about that here. Right now this is free and starts out with one VERY interactive episode of Word World (you may or may not be familiar with it but it's what is shown in the image above). Later on new episodes will possibly cost you 1-2 bucks a pop. It's really up to each person individually to decide whether it's worth it. My 3 year old is a fan of Word World (say it five times fast!!) anyway so she was all about this. She dove right into figuring out the word games. I think it has a lot of potential but I'm not sure we'll be doling out all that much on it later since I can manage time to incorporate the proposed lessons for the kids in other ways and let her just enjoy the show(s) on regular TV (errr netflix/DVDs) when it comes down to it. I won't lie though my first thought was "this would be awesome for trips!" add a couple new game-video-episode things on the way there and on the way back. Easy.
Available on:
ipad



I'll post about my findings for us adult people soon! Enjoy!