Another month down, so time for another roundup of the best apps for children on iPhone and iPad – this time cherry-picked from apps that we wrote about in June.
This time round, famous characters like Winnie-the-Pooh, Mickey Mouse and the Peanuts gang are rubbing shoulders with the best that independent developers have to offer, with creativity in plentiful supply this month.
Read on for our pick of June 2013, and don’t forget to let us know your thoughts in the comments section.
Mr Shingu’s Paper Zoo (iPhone / iPad)
“An absolutely marvellous iPhone and iPad app from Stormcloud Games that gets children to make their own menagerie of (virtual) paper animals: pelicans, lions, pandas, owls, snakes and a host of other creatures. The app teaches them to fold each animal using on-screen sheets of paper, with dotted lines and draggable dots showing kids exactly what to do – instructions that can also be used to make these animals in the real world.”
Get it now or read our article
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Toca Builders (iPhone / iPad)
“Have you ever seen or played a game called Minecraft? You could describe Toca Builders as a Minecraft for kids. Or rather a Minecraft for younger kids, because Minecraft is hugely popular among older children already. Toca Builders isn’t a clone though: it’s as inspired by sandbox construction toys like Lego, providing a colourful virtual world where everything is made out of blocks.”
Get it now or read our article
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Classic Winnie-the-Pooh (iPhone / iPad)
“Here’s a treat for anyone with fond memories of A.A. Milne’s original Winnie-the-Pooh stories, and the illustrations that accompanied them. There’s an app for that… The app collects those original stories, adding colour and animation to the illustrations. Actor Rufus Jones is on board to provide voice narration, too.”
Get it now or read our article
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Night Zookeeper Teleporting Torch (iPad)
“Draw pictures and write stories about magical animals… Enter a world of Spying Giraffes, Time Travelling Elephants and scary Fear Monsters… Kids will get new missions every day (“like a never-ending activity book”), with the idea being that giving them an idea about what to draw will stimulate their creativity more than a blank screen would.”
Get it now or read our article
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Where’s My Mickey? (iPhone / iPad)
“Starring Mickey Mouse, it’s the latest in Disney’s series of ‘Where’s My’ physics-puzzle games, following the popular Where’s My Water?, Where’s My Perry? and Where’s My Summer? Here, it’s Mickey collecting water across more than 100 levels, spread over five episodes.”
Get it now on iPhone, now on iPad or read our article
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Math Elements (iPad)
“Developed by Finnish company Skillpixels, it’s aimed at 4-8 year-old kids learning mathematics. The twist here: they get to teach it too… The pitch: ‘Your child trains their favorite mouse character to compete and win challenges against even the smartest of cats.’ The theory being that they’ll learn better if they’re teaching the game’s 100 levels to a virtual character.”
Get it now or read our article
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Pan: The Fearless Beribolt (iPad)
“It tells the tale of a “young purple panda in the clouds” named Pandora Beribolt, or Pan for short. The storyline sees her setting off with friends to find her family. Expect 16 pages of interactive scenery, a pair of animated shorts bookending the story, and a photo booth feature for kids to take snaps with Pan and the other characters.”
Get it now or read our article
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Caspar Babypants Music Time (iPhone / iPad)
“Have you heard of the Caspar Babypants children’s albums? You’ve probably heard the previous work of their creator Chris Ballew. He was in a band called Presidents of the United States of America, whose hits included ‘Peaches’ and ‘Lump’. Nowadays, he makes music for children under the Caspar Babypants name. And now there’s an app for them.”
Get it now or read our article
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Play-Doh Create ABCs (iPhone / iPad)
“As the name makes clear, it’s educational in focus: designed to get kids writing and reading the alphabet. Where does the squishy bit come in? Well, kids get to trace every letter using virtual Play-Doh, unlocking objects (alligator for ‘a’, car for ‘c’ and so on) as they go. Those objects can then be customised or squished, as your child prefers.”
Get it now or read our article
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Gro Recycling (iPhone / iPad)
“It’s an attempt to teach children about the recycling, er, cycle through a fun game for iPhone and iPad.
It’s based on a set of recycling bins, who kids have to feed rubbish to and make new things. ‘Whatever you produce – a bottle of lemonade, a jar of jam or a can of pinapple rings – it will come in handy,’ explains the App Store listing.”
Get it now or read our article
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Gomma Friends (iPad)
“It’s partly a dress-up app. Children create outfits for eight animated characters in various scenes, from a beach or a jungle to a magical fairy world. The twist: in Gomma Friends, every time your child creates a scene, they’ll unlock “gifts” in the app’s album section: paper models that you can print, cut out and set up in the real world.”
Get it now or read our article
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Monsters University (iPhone / iPad)
“It’s actually two mini-games in one, with more promised in future updates by publisher Disney. One mini-game is called Catch Archie, and sees you chasing the mascot of rival school Fear Tech – Archie the Scare Pig – through 30 levels, jumping, sliding and dodging obstacles as you go. The second is called Toxicity Challenge, and involves running through sewers against the clock.”
Get it now or read our article
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A Cautionary Tail (iPad)
“It’s an Australian animated film starring the voices of Cate Blanchett, David Wenham and Barry Otto that’s been winning high praise at film festivals around the world this year. Now it’s got an app… adding interactivity to the film’s characterful 3D animation.”
Get it now or read our article
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Charlie Brown’s All Stars! (iPhone / iPad)
“It’s a follow-up to It’s The Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown, which we really enjoyed in November 2012, and like that app it’s an animated storybook-app based on the Peanuts characters. ‘Take to the mound with Charlie Brown, swing a bat with Linus and make a very special uniform with Lucy and the rest of the team…’”
Get it now or read our article
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A Shiver of Sharks (iPad)
“This new interactive app introduces kids to some of the wonderful collective nouns for ocean and water-dwelling animals – who knew that a group of flamingoes is called a flamboyance? Or that a group of crabs is called a cast? The gorgeous, colourful illustrations feature lots of hidden animations to discover, and combine with the rhyming text to make for a very engaging read.”
Get it now or read our article
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Scooby Doo: Stickers with Sounds (iPad)
“There are a growing number of digital-stickering apps on iPad, which try to capture the fun of sticker-scene books in the real world, with none of the mess (or tears over stickers that have lost their stick)… Here, it’s Scooby, Shaggy and their friends who are the sticky stars of the show, with a series of scenes and poses for kids to get creative with.”
Get it now or read our article
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Dr Panda’s Handyman (iPhone / iPad)
“Focuses on home improvement. The virtual kind, meaning your kids won’t be bashing at your walls with hammers and nails… The app includes 13 different activities for 2-6 year-olds, each introducing a different tool and/or job. Kids can also mix up their own digital paints to give each project a splash of their own colour.”
Get it now or read our article
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Kids Learn Mandarin (iPhone / iPad)
“The app is aimed at 2-8 year-olds, which is quite a wide range. It includes a numbers lesson, eight games, a video and 20 digital stickers for free, with 11 more lessons unlockable as in-app purchases up to a maximum of £5.49 for the lot… With everything unlocked, kids will learn more than 240 Mandarin words by playing games.”
Get it now or read our article
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Strawberry Shortcake Berry Best Friends (iPhone / iPad)
“It’s the first official storybook-app for Strawberry Shortcake’s TV cartoon, and sees her crew getting prepared for the Berry Bitty City Talent Show. Expect a story blended with animation, mini-games and activities. The latter include a virtual manicure, hair-styling and a fruit-matching game, as well as digital colouring with scenes from the story.”
Get it now or read our article
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ZoLO (iPad)
“ZoLO isn’t new: it was actually invented in 1986 as a wooden, painted playsculpture set by the Museum of Modern Art in New York. Now, in 2013, there’s an iPad app for that, which aims to be just as open-ended and creative a plaything as the physical toy it’s based on.”
Get it now or read our article
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That’s our pick, but what apps have your kids been enjoying in the last month? Post a comment and share your views!