September iPad apps that will entertain toddlers

The weather is fabulous, but if it were up to our toddler he’d be on the iPad for hours a day. We limit his time to about 20 minutes a day on the iPad.  Usually it’s when we’re cooking, cleaning or just need a short break.  For now, open up the windows, enjoy that cool breeze and have your toddler check out these great (Free!) apps for your iPad. 

Amazing ABC’s Alphabet Learn and Play by Amazing eLearning

Last month we reviewed Amazing My First Words, which still remains one of our toddler’s favorite apps. It’s not too surprising that Amazing ABC’s Alphabet Learn and Play would be enjoyed as much by a 23 month old.

The music and graphics are the same, which might explain part of the enjoyment.  This app takes a bit longer to go through because it teaches the alphabet.  “A is for apple”, “Q is for question” and on it goes through the alphabet.  The letter and spoken words are shown at the same time, which lets toddler get used to seeing certain words in print.

There is also a section where you can trace the letters and a game that allows you to pick the letter that’s being said.  Sometimes those two areas do make the app crash.  We also wish that the phonetic pronunciation was included in the alphabet learning, but it’s a free app that toddlers will love playing with.

Baby’s First Moo

Remember when you first saw a screensaver for a computer?  You were mesmerized by those moving shapes and lines, trying to predict what they’d morph into next.  Baby’s First Moo is like that for babies.

It’s a great app for 6 month old to kids 3 years old.  Baby’s First Moo has a series of outdoor scenes with some of the animals that live there.  There’s a sheep bouncing across a field, an elephant walking in the jungle, a camel in the dessert and many more.  When you touch the animal they stop walking, their picture gets bigger and they then make whatever sound they do.

The graphics in the app range in appearance from painted lush looking jungles to a sharp and crisp looking field.  This is a relaxing app for toddlers that exercises their mind and relaxes them also.

Baby Touch!

Toddler Mojo has enjoyed this app for a couple of months.  We haven’t mentioned it because the pronunciation of the words was horrible and the music was too loud.   The free version Baby Touch! plays the face of some very cartoon drawn animals with the name of the animal written underneath it.  You can scroll back and forth to different animals with the aforementioned music in the background.  A full version of the app is available that includes transportation, vegetables, fruit, food, flag and car logos.  (Babies need to learn car logos?)

The developers at Baby Touch! realized their mistake, lowered the volume of the music and re-recorded all of the vocabulary with a native English speaker.   Those two changes have improved the app and made it one that toddlers will enjoy and parents can tolerate.

Do you have a kid’s app that we need to know about?  We’d love to hear your recommendations!  We have a BubCap on our iPad and it helped save our sanity.  The BubCap is a simple piece of material that goes over the on/off button, which prevents your toddler from continually hitting it.