Category Archive: Best Apps for Kids
How To Introduce Kids To Artificial Intelligence
January 4, 2020
Our kids will grow up in a world completely surrounded by artificial intelligence. A.I.-driven algorithms already shape how our kids choose videos, shows, music, and movies on streaming services. You can introduce your child to artificial intelligence with the free Talk to Transformer site. You simply give this powerful A.I. model a piece of text–a favorite […]
Creative Galaxy Inspiration
May 23, 2019
When was the last time you visited an art supply store with a kid? Even though smartphones and tablets help kids make creative projects, it is important to keep real life art around the house as well. You can also try Creative Galaxy, a kid’s TV show created by Amazon Studios. The show follows the adventures of an alien […]
Playing Pokémon Go Together
April 3, 2017
Have you tried Pokémon Go with the kid in your life? I loved playing the popular app with my almost 6-year-old daughter. The game turns your real life neighborhood into a digital map filled with creatures to discover. We walked around our neighborhood, photographed digital creatures in the bushes, captured Pokémon and met other kids playing the game. Best […]
Professor Astro Cat’s Solar System
February 25, 2016
Does the kid in your life dream about visiting the stars? For the second year in the row, I served as a book app judge for the Cybils Awards–the annual Children’s and Young Adults Bloggers Literary Awards that celebrate the best books and apps. The winning app was Professor Astro Cat’s Solar System, an interactive science textbook […]
How To Beat Math Anxiety
November 10, 2015
Do you have scary memories of math? If you suffer from math anxiety (and I most certainly do), you need to work hard not to pass on this fear to your kids. While researching my book, I turned to Laura Overdeck and her excellent Bedtime Math books for support. Overdeck worried that most math workbooks and […]
Electric Company Collaboration
November 3, 2015
The primary advice I give parents in Born Reading: Bringing Up Bookworms in a Digital Age is deceptively simple: “Share a book, app, eBook, audiobook, or any kind of literary experience. Don’t let your kid spend too much time alone with a device.” It can be really difficult to find apps to play with your child, since […]
Sharing Apps with Family
June 2, 2015
What’s your favorite app to share with the kids in your life? Last month, the Joan Ganz Cooney Center asked me to write about the “Preparing for New Experiences” section of its free interactive book about Family Time with Apps. My essay explored lots of different apps that parents and children can use together, but my […]
Hat Monkey & Interactive App Play
May 12, 2015
Does the kid in your life always want to play with your smartphone? Children just want to understand these digital tools that parents use every day, and you can help them. Author Chris Haughton created the Hat Monkey app, a satisfying way for kids to engage with adult technology. The app contains simple technology that your kid can play with inside […]
Toontastic Joins Google
February 4, 2015
Google has acquired Launchpad Toys, the makers of the Toontastic storytelling app. Now you can download Toontastic for free (along with the company’s TeleStory app). I interviewed Launchpad co-founder Andy Russell a couple times while writing Born Reading: Bringing Up Bookworms in a Digital Age. His company creates apps that let kids make their own cartoons using digital characters and powerful special effects. “Our nearly four million storytellers […]
Interactive Apps & eBooks for Kids
December 18, 2014
When was the last time you shared an app with the kids in your life? Below, I’ve created a long list of great apps that parents and caregivers can use with kids. Born Reading: Bringing Up Bookworms in a Digital Age illustrates the art of “interactive reading,” simple techniques developed by experts over the last 25 […]