The iPhone Mom

Kezza Bee is a cute app for toddlers and young preschoolers. Kezza Bee is on the search for some flowers but she’s having a hard time finding them. Lucky for Kezza there are friendly farm animals around who are willing to help her out. Kezza talks with an animal and they tell her where to look next for her flowers. Your child’s job is to tap on the thing that Kezza is looking for. This will take them to the next screen where they’ll find a new animal to visit with. There are also navigation arrows at the bottom of the screen which will take them forward and backward within the app. When Kezza finally reaches her flowers she’s so happy she does a song and a dance. This is actually an animated video that plays when your child taps the screen. The animation in Kezza Bee is bright and colorful and the app’s pacing is age appropriate for young children.

Price when Reviewed: $.99 (Sale price, limited time)

See the app in iTunes

Seller: KEZDAM PTY LTD

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

We love Fisher Price at our house and the Little People have been a part of my life for almost ten years now. They’ve been in storage for the past few years but I’m sure we’ll be pulling them out soon for Baby J. Since we’re big Fisher Price fans I was excited to hear that they’ve entered the world of iPhone apps. I was able to test out all three apps – Chatter Phone, Little People Farm and See & Say. My favorite turned out to be the Chatter Phone.

Chatter Phone – The classic Chatter Phone is displayed on the screen. Tap the numbers on the dial, hear them read aloud and watch them spin around. If you tap on the telephone receiver it will ring. This was cute but I really like what happens when you tap the Fisher Price logo in the middle of the phone – it changes what’s on the phone dial. Instead of numbers you now have the letters A, B, C, D, E, F, G, A and a musical instrument. Tap on the letters and hear that musical note played by the instrument. You can tap on the instrument to change what you hear. Your choices are piano, recorder or violin. If you tap the Fisher Price logo again the dial will change to show people’s faces on the buttons. Each person has an occupation and when you touch their button you’ll call and “talk” to them.  This app is a great twist on a classic toy.

Price when Reviewed: $.99

Little People Farm – This app takes you on a trip to the Little People’s Farm. There are things to tap on the screen and some games to play. In the barn the Little People are hiding in the haystacks and you need to find them. There’s also a game where you match turtle shells and a place where the Little People sing and dance for you.

Price when Reviewed: $1.99

See & Say – Your iPhone screen becomes a See & Say with six different animals. Tap the arrow and watch it spin around to one of the animals. Now you’ll see an animated cartoon of the animal followed by live action video where you’ll learn an animal fact. If you shake your iPhone the six animals are replaced by a new set. I liked how real animals are incorporated into the app and the cartoon ones are pretty cute themselves.

Price when Reviewed: $1.99

I’ve gotten word that three new friends have moved into the Peekaboo Barn. Rabbit, Mouse and Chicken have come to join the party. If you already own the app then you can invite them into your barn with a free update. To celebrate the new friend’s arrival Peekaboo Barn has given me FIVE promo codes to give away. Leave a comment if you’d like to enter to win a code. I’ll randomly draw five comments on Friday evening and the winners will receive an email from me.

Also, Peekaboo Barn and Peekaboo Wild have been updated to run on iPads too. They’re not designed specifically for the iPad so you’ll need to enlarge the app (which affects some of the resolution) but the game works great!

Peekaboo Barn – $1.99

Peekaboo Wild – $1.99

If you’re ready to turn your iPhone into a mooing, beeping, trumpeting piece of noise then you’re ready for this app. Sound Touch features four categories, each with twelve different sounds. For those keeping track that’s 48 wonderful sounds.  Each sound is represented by a picture on a button. Tap the button to hear the sound and see a real life picture of the thing that makes it. The categories are animals, wild animals, transportation and musical instruments.

Sound Touch is simple and fun. Sure to capture your toddlers interest and drive you crazy with the noise.  But I’ll take being driven crazy in exchange for a few minutes of toddler distraction when needed. Plus, the app features an accordion and I think it’s wonderful that oft forgotten instrument got some iPhone app love.

Price when Reviewed: $.99

Seller: Sound Touch

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

iCanMoo takes the idea of using an app to teach animal noises and gives it a twist – real live animals! No cartoons here, this app features actual factual animals. It’s divided into four different games:

Tap & Learn – Nine animal pictures are shown on the screen. Tap on one to hear the animal’s name and see a video of the animal in action.

I Can Moo  - This is similar to Tap & Learn except after the video you’re asked to “cock-a-doodle-do” or “moooo”. Make the noise into your phone’s microphone and you’ll be rewarded with more video.

What’s That Sound? – You’ll hear an animal noise and have to tap the animal’s picture that matches the sound.

Find My Match – A memory game featuring the animal pictures. When you make a match you see a video for the animal.

I really like how iCanMoo uses real animal footage. I’ve got to keep this one away from my older girls though. After watching the video showing what a real turkey (not a cute, happy hanging out with the Pilgrims & Indians turkey) looks like they’d probably never eat a turkey sandwich again. I’m not sure I will!

Price when Reviewed: $1.99

Seller: iCanMoo

I think that Tap & Learn Animals is best suited for older babies and toddlers. It’s divided into two sections, “Tap and Learn” and “Choose and Learn”. In “Tap and Learn” you tap on a picture of an animal and then hear it’s name and sound. There are twelve animals to choose from. Six on the first screen and then swipe left with your finger to see another six. In “Choose and Learn” the app asks “where is the…” or “do you see the…” and you have to tap on the animal it asks for.  Tap & Learn is a simple app but it’s well done with cute animals and realistic animal sounds.

Price when Reviewed: $1.99

Seller: Anna Islamova

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

Nursery Rhymes are a subject where I’ve shortchanged  my children. They’re just not something that I read much of when my kids were little. I know that they’ve learned a few in school but I’d be surprised if they knew about Old King Cole and they’d be shocked to learn about poor Peter Peter Pumpkin Eater’s wife.  Well here’s an app that  can help out any other nursery rhyme deficient mothers out there. The Mother Goose Classics app currently features nine classic nursery rhymes. They are Humpty Dumpty, Jack Be Nimble, Jack & Jill, Hickory Dickory Dock, Mary Had a Little Lamb, Hey Diddle Diddle, This Little Piggy and Pat a Cake. There is also a free version that features three rhymes.

The characters from the nursery rhymes appear on your screen and you tap on the one that you’d like to hear more about. (Only three characters show up on the screen at a time so you’ll need to scroll to the left and right.) Each nursery rhyme is presented over several screens. Tap on the text to hear it read aloud. Each rhyme has some animation to it and if you tap on the screen you can watch more things happen.

If you’re looking for a good introduction to Nursery Rhymes this isn’t a bad way to go and the animations are humorous. Personally, $1.99 for only nine rhymes feels a little high to me. Hopefully more rhymes will be added in future updates.

Price when Reviewed: $1.99

Seller: Raizlabs Corp.

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

If my baby’s fingers weren’t a slobbery, sticky mess from teething I’d show her BalloonMaker. It’s brightly colored and simplistic and I think she’d be intrigued. So much so that she’d be reaching for the phone even more than she already does. Which I can’t have given the state of her fingers. Death by slobber is not the way my iPhone wants to go.

Here’s the rundown on BalloonMaker. It gives you a screen full of blue sky and fluffy white clouds. Tap the screen and a balloon appears. Tap again and again to fill the screen with balloons. If you hold your finger on the screen the balloon will blow up larger than if you simply tap. If you keep your finger on the screen you can drag the balloon around. The balloons  will float to the top of your screen and if you turn your phone they’ll readjust and float to the top again. They move around and bounce off each other. You can pop the balloons by tapping on them. They make a satisfying pop sound and explode with sparkles.

That’s the extent of the app and it’s perfect for young toddlers with short attention spans who love balloons. Which is just about every toddler I’ve ever met.

Price when Reviewed: $.99

Seller: Troy Tegeder

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

Field Flier is a simple app that will appeal to young toddlers. It features a little Robin bird who will fly around your iPhone screen, exploring his world. Your child controls Robin’s flight by tapping and dragging on the phone’s screen. Robin can fly up, down, left and right. As he flies you’ll notice little circles on the screen. Tap on one of these and Robin will stop and do something. He might nap, hide or swing. The app has twelve different actions to find on the screen. If you shake your iPhone you can hear Robin’s happy chirping.

Field Flier has cute graphics and the animations worked smoothly. I liked how you could control where Robin flew on the screen. He’s not forced into a set path and you’ve got the freedom to direct where he goes. Older children might grow bored with this app but it is perfect for toddlers. They will enjoy making Robin fly and finding all the silly things that he does.

Price when Reviewed: $1.99

Seller: zinc Roe

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

My baby is about 6 1/2 months old and we are beginning the grabby phase. She’s trying to get everything within her reach with her slobbery fingers. I had her on my lap when I tried out DJ Baby and she was fascinated. Fascinated and determined to get her wet fingers on my iPhone. She’s been fairly indifferent towards “Baby” apps in the past so this is an endorsement, slobbery fingers and all.

DJ Baby is a simple screen. There’s a record turnstile, four colored buttons and a small button with music notes on it. Tap the different buttons to hear different “samples” and “scratches”.  I can’t tell you how un-hip it makes me feel to type those words. I’m so far removed from the DJ scene it’s not even funny so go ahead and laugh. You can also slide your finger on the record just like a real DJ. Tap the musical notes button and you’ll get some background music. Shake your iPhone and you’ll hear my favorite “track”. Keep tapping and sliding while you find your groove.

I think that little ones would be completely enthralled with DJ Baby. It’s a simple, colorful app that provides a good amount of silly fun. My two suggestions for the app are to add in more tracks and if there’s a way to record and replay your creations that would be excellent I think that feature would make the app even more appealing to the preschool and young grade school peeps.

Price when Reviewed: $.99 – on sale for limited time

Comet Coast also provides a free flash version of DJ Baby so you can try before you buy.

Seller: Comet Coast

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