With all of the hype about the recent Barbie movie, why not try out a Barbie coloring app? In the free version of this app, users can color a limited number of Barbie illustrations (including a Barbie with an artificial leg and vitiligo).
If you love Wordle and you think your child might enjoy it too, if it weren't for some of those really obscure vocabulary words.... try Spellie! Just like Wordle, Spellie isn't found in the app store, it's available for free, on the web and you can play whenever you'd like! Spellie has an easy (4-letters, one hint already given) mode, medium and hard mode. When you solve a word on Easy or Medium mode, you also "unlock" an emoji for that word for your "collection." The app gives hints if you need them and there's a number of different options in the settings (capitals vs.
Daniel Tiger helps parents navigate challenging situations with kids, this app helps parents navigate the shows! Many thanks to the dad who told me about this app in a conversation at the library. If your family has watched Daniel Tiger and later wants to remember the song for a particular topic, this app is the perfect tool to find it quickly and easily.
A multiplayer strategy game with lots of options to customize preferences. In this game, players can choose what sort of garden they want to play in (a kitchen garden or a bed of tulips), how many players (1-4) and whether they are real people sharing this app with you or whether you want to play against one or more "computer players," which language you want to play in (English, Dutch or French), and several more options specific to the game. Once you've made your choices, players will see a grid of circles.
Do you have loved ones who live far away or who can't visit you in person as often as they'd like? Try out Caribu. Both parties download the app and then you call each other in the app. Choose a book to read together or a page to color together or one of the fun, kid-friendly simple games to play. You'll be able to see a video of the other caller while you're reading (or coloring or playing) together.
Because it's nearly impossible to accurately represent the sizes of countries (on a round planet) on a flat map, the world maps that we are accustomed to seeing are distorted. This app is a great way to get a real sense of how large different areas of the world actually are. Simply tap and hold on the country you'd like to explore (or state in the US) and it will highlight in a color.
Videos real people signing common sentences. Watch the short videos, practice the signs yourself, then play a game where you have to identify which signed sentence the person in the video is signing. The videos include a wide variety of ages, races and abilities. In addition to the sentences being signed and written out on the screen, there is also a voiceover speaking the sentence and small illustrations making this app accessible even for non-readers. A great option to learn some useful phrases!
Grab a photo from your camera roll and play along with this app created by Harvard University. There are three things you can choose to do with each photo: talk about the photo, decorate the photo (using virtual stickers and markers) or (my favorite) play hide and seek. The first option gives discussion prompts. The second gives you access to a number of different colors and some silly "stickers" like cartoon eyes, bunny ears, etc.
Try out improv with cartoon characters! In this app, designed to be a way for parents and kids to practice creative conversational skills, players take turns making two silly animals talk together. You can choose the scene and have a structured set of conversation prompts or create your OWN setting with photos from your camera roll. The app records what you choose to have each of the animals say and then you can choose to save the video to your camera roll or just choose another scene and play again.
Battle your friends (or enemies or strangers or the app itself) using VOCABULARY! In this wacky app created by The Oatmeal, you spell words to send out battalions of exploding cats to counteract your opponent's cats. You can play solo (against the app) or you can play against strangers or you can set up a game for a friend to join and you can play on your own devices against each other.
