Gifted Issues Discussion homepage Forums Recommended Resources iPad apps loved by you and yours?

Hi all,
I'm driven to ask about iPad apps because I let DS5 spend some time with those angry birds today, which I've been avoiding for months becuase I'd rather he not be obsessed with the iPad. But, he had a great time with it, took breaks when frustrated, and figured out how to move up levels quickly. Now I'm thinking It might be time to find entrancing apps for him to use some times.
Searching the threads for ipad didn't bring up too much, even in the ultimate games thread. I did come across a recommendation for the google earth app, which I just downloaded and used a bit. I think my son will love that. I'm particularly interested in apps that would expose him to science, nature, arts, music, but I'd love to hear about any that you and your kids love.
thanks!

We've only played this on a laptop, but Virulent (http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/virulent/id438485177?mt=8) is a free iPad app. It's a fun learning game where you get to be a virus attacking a cell.

[Edited because I can't spell this early in the morning.]

Cross fingers is the rage in my house right now. You can go quite a ways before you have to cough up the $0.99 for the full version (just gets you more puzzles).

ETA now that I turned on the ipad: Crazy Copy (the old Simon game), Sudoku Daily is another free one that my DS5 plays daily. I also plan to download NASA's new ipad app (the other one was a dud.) We also play with iSeismometer a lot, which takes advantage of the pad's accelerometer, and of course, Google Earth.

Stack the states and stack the countries. My kids went from knowing not a whole lot about geography to a TON! My daughter who just turned 7 can identify every country in South America and Asia.

The Brainpop app posts a new educational video every day and has a related quiz.

We like angry birds too! :-)

Thank you for these great ideas! I will start checking them out. I just downloaded the free ibird and it looks amazing. I've come across elements before and am saving that one for a special occasion buy-I think dh, ds and I will all like that one.

Cricket, if you could go on (and on!) with suggestions that would be much appreciated. Cruising app recommendations on the internets at large hasn't led to finding apps of interest.

I might play with the iseismometer for the rest of the day, just the free iPhone app...

I have a similar question about the iMac. Is there important educational software for it that does not have Windows equivalents? We have Windows PCs, and I could pretend that an iMac purchase is "for the children" .

Some scientists use the iMac because it has a Unix operating system, and there is much open-source scientific and programming software for Unix (including Linux). Elementary school children are more interested in games and multimedia software.

We just got an iPad last week. Our current favorites (games, toys, tools):

Toy Physics
Fractile Plus
Molecules
Kakuro Lite

Thanks to all who've posted in this thread! I've already installed several great apps recommended here.

ETA: forgot Quick Graph, which ds prefers to his graphing calculator or Geometer's Sketchpad when graphing for Algebra 2 / Trig.

Love these kinds of threads!

DS 5 loves (in no particular order):
Interactive books - not advanced but super fun
Cosmos
Bartlebys book of buttons

Games
Despicable Me - we didn't see the movie but the app is a hoot, I really enjoy it
World of goo - although DH and DS are stuck on a level maybe I should post it!!
Touch physics
Tiny tower (be aware this one has in app purchases, need to turn that off)
Doodle Jump
Moron test

Creative
Toontastic
Create a car
Make a Martian
I write words

Science
Elementals
SciFriday

My list for our next trip
Roxie doors
Cut the rope
Mushroom age�
Goofy mad libs
Slice it
Montessori crosswords

The iPad really nicely addresses asynchrony - he can do super science stuff and then make a car with crazy parts!

Can't wait to check out what we don't have yet.

DeHe

thanks everyone!!! I am so looking forward to checking out all these apps! Anyone else with an iPad want to share apps?

Bostonian, I don't know the answer about Mac vs PC for kids software. however, since you brought it up, I think you should get one! The children need one! We are a long time Mac family. We make the argument to family members that the Mac may cost more than a similar PC, but it will last at least 3x as long, won't be dragged down by viruses, and pretty much every thing you load onto it or connect to it will work right the first time you try to use it. The grandmother in our family who has the Mac is always able to use her computer and camera to video chat with DS5, for example, whereas the grandmother who has the the PC has computer problems making her unavailable for 50% of chat times.

Sorry ,posted that but wasnt quite done. Just wanted to say that I realized I'm practicing my persuasion skills for convincing the other grandmother to switch to Mac so we can talk to her more easily! Thanks for listening to my spiel!

Thanks for the question and answers. I am so happy to learn so many new app. My kids are so into Stack the State now.

A few more free ones to look into:
Tour Wrist (beautiful tour attractions and 360)
White board (a chalkboard)
Talking Ben (funny)
Simply find it

DS5 is loving rails and trains!
he is also enjoying an app called tree pad.

LOL

Mr W found out about Angry Birds Friday and got a hold of DWs droid this morning, went to the site, and was playing it. Now I am addicted...too

This should be a good thread..

Not sure I'm doing this quote right, but here's some space/solar system apps from a different thread from DeHe

C3
Looks pretty funny, at the bottom of the page it offered bone scan bob - think I might get that too. It's so addictive hunting for the next best app!!!

Thanks beak for the transfer!

DeHe

Thanks for the stack the countries suggestion.

DD7 really enjoys it -- but I think DH loves it the most!

Encyclopedia Brittanica for iPad is now available for $24/year. Web access to Brittanica, including the iPad app, is $70.

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052970204226204576598870117070318.html
Encyclopaedia Britannica Now Fits Into an App
By WALTER S. MOSSBERG
Wall Street Journal
SEPTEMBER 29, 2011

Thank you Bostonian! It's reasonably priced - and I do value the curated work of experts!

from the WSJ article, "Whether or not this new Britannica app is for you will be a personal decision based on what you're looking for; and how much you value an edited, highly curated source over the broader, more easily updated, but crowd-sourced, Wikipedia, which also is available via a variety of iPad apps."

http://allthingsd.com/20110117/game...sses-angry-birds-as-top-free-iphone-app/
Game Written by a 14-Year-Old Passes Angry Birds as Top Free iPhone App
by Ina Fried
JANUARY 17, 2011 AT 5:36 AM PT

While Angry Birds is still the top paid iPhone game, a game written by an eighth-grader has spent the last few days atop Apple�s free charts.
Bubble Ball, a physics simulator, was coded by Robert Nay, a 14-year-old from Spanish Fork, Utah. The game challenges players to use objects and gravity to guide a ball to its destination.

Nay spent the better part of a couple of months writing the game, which debuted in the App Store late last year and is also available for Android devices. In recent days, though, it has been rivaling Angry Birds Lite atop the list of most downloaded free games.

�I was pretty surprised by how well it was doing,� Nay told Mobilized. Nay said he plans to add more levels to the free game and then eventually add still more games as an in-app purchase. He also has some other ideas for games he�d like to write down the road.

Although it�s his first game, Nay has been into computers for some time, including Web programming and helping others with their computers. When he�s not at the computer (or school) he also likes reading, especially science fiction, and playing the piano and trumpet.

Some months back, a friend suggested that if Nay liked his iPod touch so much, perhaps he should try his hand at programming for it. At first he tried the standard Objective-C programming tools, but found the learning curve a little steep. He tried another tool called GameSalad, but didn�t like the results. In the end, he settled on the Corona tools from Ansca Mobile. Corona was easy to use, he said, and also let him write once and publish for both Apple and Android devices.

<end of excerpt>

Good for him. He looks about 10 years old .

can we start another thread like this for android apps? I know there is some crossover, but I couldn't find most of these on my samsung...and I'm contemplating some Kindle fires too...

anyway, my kids (8 and 4.5) love all varities of drawing, sketching, coloring types. DD8 esp likes special effects paint brushes and things that animate.

anything that seems more like a game than work is a winner of course

and the Google SkyMap is awesome!

my kids are young, but we like
-mango languages -introduction levels to see what they are intrested in
-FactrSamurai- is like fruit ninja, but you have to cut down the composite numbers and leave the prime
-Singapore math has a Grade 7 app... AWESOME can't wait till they come out with different levels.
-Mathemagics- awesome little app teaching shortcuts in math

These apps look interesting.

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/01/27/b...e-civil-war-and-world-wars-i-and-ii.html
The Heat of Battle
Apps Explore the Civil War and World Wars I and II
By J. D. BIERSDORFER
New York Times
January 25, 2013

This is such a cool concept for intuitively learning the concepts of coding. Geared at girls, there is a more robust app in the works, but this one is free:

www.daisythedinosaur.com/

visiblebody.com

Cool anatomy apps.

How much is actually educational for real on an iPad vs. fun, pretty, cool, keep 'em busy type of thing? I'm asking for my 4-almost-5 (see threads in Learning Environments). We've resisted the iPad but are considering getting one just for apps (no data plan). Would it be worth it? We are totally iPad naive and also have never used iPhones. The only other thing we'd get it for is electronic music composition, which DH is quite into--we hear there is some great stuff for that. I am NOT interested in games for the sake of games. We already have a Wii if we want that.

Spelltower. I like to play the Rush version. It's kind of like Boggle on steroids.

Merriam-Webster Dictionary (the version without ads)

And, of course,

Night Sky!!

We have a Nook and DD 4 loves Where's my Water. It is a game but a lot of learning that is not as concrete as state names etc. comes from it. I saw someone at the airport recently playing it on what looked like an IPAD

I use mine as incentive for DS8 when he doesn't feel like doing homework that involves written output. I'll have him do a certain amount of work, and then let him take a ten minute iPad break. It's fabulous. I wasn't sure how much I'd use it when I first got it, but it's a really wonderful tool.

My kids LOVE "Draw Something." They initially would take turns using my account on my iPad, but since they've both gotten iPods, they now have their own (using their e-mail addresses) and we all play each other.

Wow, thanks for bumping this thread! I never knew it was here, since I just got my iPad for Christmas this year! I asked on my other board (what can I do on an iPad?) but didn't get much response. That, of course, wasn't in terms of the kiddos. I'm making a list of these suggestions and keeping it on the notepad.

We just got an iPad yesterday. I definitely think there are some purely educational apps out there. Khan academy has a free app. There are also a lot of astronomy apps, math apps, reference apps, etc. I haven't had much of a chance to explore yet so I know that there are tons and tons more out there.

I think that a lot of the apps have a game/fun component to draw the kid in but I don't really see a problem with that. We all like to be entertained.

Love, love, love this thread!

We love Dragon Box (although we have it on our Mac, so I don't know what the iPad iteration of it looks like). DD7, who's not so much into math but loves puzzles and games, is a huge fan. It's actually sneaky algebra.

We took the dive at Christmas, too.

So far, popular apps:
King of Math has timed math quizzes with scores and rank/titles
Chemist is a full on chemistry experiment lab with hundreds of chemicals in the full version
Brain Pop hundreds of animated nuggets of knowledge with quizzes
and Discovery Education has an optimized iPad web interface for its extensive video library.

Thanks Zen - chemist was awesome! DS loved it although he's very annoyed there is no tutorial or instructions. But he got out his chemistry encyclopedia and later stead between making things which are real and inventing things he could name himself. Great solution for a kid who is not getting into the lab for a LOOOONNNG time.

DeHe

I just purchased & installed it on my iPad, and DS8 is loving it so far. (I was trying to explain how it works and he pulled the iPad out of my hand and said in an exasperated voice "mommy, I can figure it out!" lol)

Welcome! Yea, that was our thing too, to do experiments now. We get some science kits and DS7 takes any chemical warnings and "adult only" rules very seriously. Which I suppose is a good thing for a kid who regularly walks around with pizza sauce unbeknowingly smeared on his forehead. Instructions for Chemist would be nice as well as the chemical names on the label information.

The Atlantic has a long article

http://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2013/04/the-touch-screen-generation/309250/
The Touch-Screen Generation: Young children—even toddlers—are spending more and more time with digital technology. What will it mean for their development?
by HANNA ROSIN
MAR 20 2013

about how children use digital technology and how much parents should allow them to. A number of iPad apps are mentioned.

Just found a new game we love--Crayon Physics. We have Android though, so don't know if you can get it for Apple.