The iPhone Mom

My seven year old daughter uses the word “stinking” when she wants to give a phrase some extra oomph. It might be “stinking mad” or “stinking funny” or “stinking cute”. The last one makes no sense (because can something be stinking and cute?) but when it comes from her you know exactly what she means and that it’s the highest of praise. Now that I’ve explained let me tell you that “stinking cute” is the phrase that came to mind when I saw the animals in Jumble Zoo. I promise, it’s a good thing!

Jumble Zoo features flashcards of zoo animals. Each one is divided up into three body parts – head, middle and bottom. You can swipe your finger across the screen to change the different parts and make some pretty silly animals. When you’ve matched up the correct parts the animal is shown in it’s “habitat”. Now you can tap on the pull string (that doesn’t sound right but I can’t think of a better word) at the top left of the screen to see the animal on a plain white flashcard background. Here you’ll also see a microphone icon on the bottom right. If you tap that you can record yourself saying the animal’s name. From then on you’ll hear the animals name when you match up the body parts.

Right now Jumble Zoo features 9 different flashcards,  7 animals, 1 zoo keeper and 1 zoo visitor. I absolutely adored the graphics in this app. The app costs $1.99 and I’m hoping more animals are added in future updates. Because the world could always use more stinking cute zoo animals.

Price when Reviewed: $1.99

Seller: Stuart Eaton

Shake the animals will help your child learn animal names in three different languages: English, Spanish and German. Begin by selecting a language. Next a cute illustration of an animal appears on your screen. Shake your iPhone and you’ll hear a rattle noise and then the name of the animal. Shake the phone again to see a new animal.

I think that it would be helpful to see the animal names written on the screen as well in addition to hearing them spoken. I also think it would be nice if there were a way to see the animal and then choose which language you’d like to hear so you could compare the three languages. The illustrations in Shake the Animals are charming and the animal names are pronounced by native speakers, which is a big help if you’re trying to learn the language.

Price when Reviewed: $.99

Seller: Rosa Barranco de Helfrich

Disclosure: I received a free copy of this app for review purposes.

The See, Hear & Spell app is a set of flashcards designed to help your child learn animal names and/or how to spell them. I tried out the Wildlife Series, but there are also  Ocean Life, Fruit & Vegetables, and Shapes and Transportation series available. The idea behind the flashcards is simple. You will see a picture of a bird, bug or mammal (wildlife) on the screen. Tap the screen to hear the name of the animal. Tap the small ABC button on the lower left of the screen to see the animal’s name written out. Now if you tap the screen you will see and hear the name being spelled out, letter by letter. Swipe your finger across the screen to flip to a new flashcard. If you tap the filter button at the top right of the screen you can choose which wildlife cards are displayed. The photographs are very nicely done and there is a nice  variety of wildlife that’s represented. I’m also impressed by the large number of flashcards included in Kids Flashcards: See, Hear & Spell.

Price when Reviewed: $.99 – on sale through the end of 2009!

Seller: Moblast Technologies

Disclosure: I received a free copy of this app for review purposes.

Who Am I? is an animal trivia game. It gives you three clues and then you have to guess what animal it’s talking about. When you’re ready to see the answer it will tell you the name of the animal and show you a picture. There are eight-five animals to learn about and the app is very educational. The $4.99 price tag seems a bit high though. I’d hope that for that price there are frequent updates with more animals.

*A free version of Who Am I? is also available. It has clues for seven animals.

*Nth Fusion has let me know that they plan to offer discounts on their apps a few times a year.  

Price when Reviewed: $4.99 As of 1/8/10 now only $.99

Seller: Nth Fusion LLC