Apps for Kids

I recently went to an iPad training for my school district, and I learned so much!  We bought an iPad about 6 months ago, and Mary Scott loves it.  I have found lots of wonderful educational Apps for her that were FREE!  I was going to share some of these Apps because I know lots of people are looking.
Infants/Toddlers
Some are her favorite are interactive books.  They are not in the ibooks, but they are actual apps.  She loves the Wheels on the Bus, Old McDonald, and the ABC song.  The Wheels on the Bus is my favorite because you can listen to it is interactive when you click on things and you can record your own voice singing.  Mary Scott has loved these since she was a baby.
Bubbles- This was free, but I think it is .99 now.  This is a wonderful first app for a baby or a child with  special needs that is just learning cause and effect.  If you run your finger (or any body part) across the screen bubbles show up, and you can also pop the bubbles with your finger.  This is wonderful for isolating the index finger and for visual attention.
Kids Doodle (free)- another great first app.  This lets you draw with your finger, and you can change colors.
Toddler/Preschool
Counting Lite- this may be my favorite free app, and it is one of Mary Scott's favorite too.  The game puts pictures on the screen and you have to touch the picture as it counts the object.  It may have four dogs and you have to touch each dog as it counts, and then once you hit them all it will say 4 dogs, and then go automatically to another screen.  It teaches 1 to 1 correspondence, but I like that is very plain.  It has a white background and displays simple pictures.  There is an easy and hard setting, and the easy only displays objects up to 10, and the hard goes up to 20.
Starfall- This App cost 3.99, but it is well worth the money.  You can go to star fall.com on the computer, which is free, and you can get even more games and activities.  Starfall is used by most preschool and kindergarten teachers.  This game displays the alphabet, and the child can click on the letter, and it goes through a series of interactive screens that teach the letter and letter sound.
School Age
Fry Words (free)- This app teachers high frequency words through the use of flashcards.
Bill Atkinson Photocard- This app allows you to make your own postcard that you can email.  This is a great way to have kids practice writing without knowing they are working:)  You can use your own picture, or choose from gorgeous nature pictures.
Sightwords- Another app with sight words, but this one will test students, and will increase the number of options as the student answers correctly.
Addition Fun Lite- You can add from one to ten, and it will keep track of your score.

I am sure there are a million more apps, but this are the great ones that I have found.  I would love to hear if other people have good apps.

June

The summer is flying by, and I realized I haven't posted anything about what we have done all summer.  We have been having a blast, and I think I enjoy Mary Scott more and more with each age, but I think I will look back and say late 1 and 2 is my favorite.  I love being able to have conversations, and I love that her imagination is starting to come out.  Since Kevin and I have been to the beach, she will get her stroller and start to walk away and tell me she is going to "work" and "the beach."  She is also love playing her baby doll, and it cracks me up to watch her "take care" of her baby.

We also went to member's night at the zoo.  We have passes fore the zoo, and they open it up once a month during the summer and offer free carousel and train rides and some special activities.  They had the elephants out, which was really cool and really smelly!  We went and met up with Katie and her little girl Hannah, and the girls had so much fun!

  How cute is this Carolina Fan!  The rare "cheese" picture, we usually run away from the camera now.

                                                             Sweet big girl Hannah!

                                                             Mary Scott and Daddy!

We have also had Vacation Bible School, which was a lot of fun.  I have been trying to do some fun things with Mary Scott around the house, and have tons of ideas from books and things I have brought home from school.  We made some brownies for a 4th of July cookout, which Mary Scott loved!

Yes, I let her lick the spoon.  What is a childhood without getting to lick the spoon?

We also have been doing a lot of crafts, and I let Mary Scott paint one day last week on butcher paper.  You can see she really enjoyed it, and got it all over her!  I am looking forward to more projects soon.

                                             Serious painter-painting with 2 hands

Showing Mommy the paint on her arms and legs

I have so loved being at home with Mary Scott, and I am so glad of the decision I made, and that we are blessed so that I can stay home.  Now, if I could just get as motivated to clean the house!