Even more must-have iPad apps for kids

Now that my 6-year old daughter has begun to recognize 3-letter words and is curious to know the spelling of any new word she comes across, I am hoping that she will pick up the habit of reading. Reading printed books, not the e-book kind. That hasn’t stopped me from helping her with some interactive learning books & apps on the iPad. My earlier list of must-have iPad apps for kids had a few activity based apps, spelling apps. This one has books mainly and a few activity based apps – all making for great learning though.

Blue Hat, Green Hat: $4.99

The description over at iTunes says: OOPS…” Blue Hat, Green Hat, Sandra Boynton’s famous and funny book, comes alive with sound and zestily ingenious interactivity. This wonderfully clever digital book app will surprise kids and grownups alike. Turkeys may also enjoy it, if they can ever figure out how to turn the dang thing on. Apart from the amazing interactivity, what I liked is the fact that the narration is in a British accent – thank God for that.

Drawing Pad: $1.99

An extremely easy-to-use drawing app, Drawing Pad comes with options that simulate crayons, pencils and paint brushes. Kids can add some stickers for some extra fun. As the PR blurb says: Cheaper than a box of crayons! Drawing Pad is a mobile art studio designed exclusively for the iPad! The beautiful user interface puts the fun into creating art 🙂

The Going To Bed Book: $2.99

Even better than the ‘Blue Hat, Green Hat’ one, this is another winner from Loud Crow Interactive. The little discoveries that kids make as they read along, poke at the characters is joyful to say the least.

Meegenius: Free

While its a free app, most of the books available are paid (from $1.99). The books are devoid of any ‘interactivity’ and pop ups which is actually refreshingly different…more for parents, perhaps?

Rapunzel: $3.99

This one’s the Avatar of e-books: full of popups, 3D animations and so on. Some may find this distracting as the kids are more interested in the effects than the story.

Read Me Stories: Free

One of my favorites, the app encourages you to open it daily – in order to add books to your ‘library’. Many of the books are free with paid versions starting at $0.99. The books have an element of interactivity in them – the illustrations are top class, worthy of the slick iOS interface.

Touchy Books: Free

Like MeeGenius and Read Me Stories, this ones free too with in-app purchases galore. The stories have interactive elements but not as distracting as the ones in Rapunzel.

If you own an iPad and have a toddler or pre-schooler at home, give these a try. Such apps reiterate the key success factor of the iPad for me: great apps that cater to a variety of needs, are slick as hell and so easy to use that even a pre-schooler can master them. Not just master them but crave for them. OK, that may not be healthy as I would still like kids to develop a love for the printed book. But these apps go a long way in encouraging their need to learn in away only a device like the iPad can. There, mandatory plug for Apple done too.