A collection of 48 wordless comic strips, featuring the cute characters from Studio Pango. Being able to read pictures is an important early literacy skill, as is sequencing (knowing which parts of a story come first, second, third, etc.). This app is a great way to practice both of those skills! Your child can explore these comics on their own, or you can invite your child to narrate the story of each comic as you "read" through them together.
An engaging way to explore the universe and get a sense for the relative size of things. Simply by swiping left or right, the user zooms in towards the tiniest thing in the universe and zooms out to see... the whole observable universe. Each of the items can be clicked on to learn a little more. Some of the images are animated and some are not, but they're all cute illustrations and are accompanied by fascinating, yet light-hearted information.
Build whatever you want to build in this lunar landscape! There are blocks of bricks, metal, slime, even blocks that aren't "blocks" (like legs, tiny Martians, signs and flags and more). Most things can be stacked on other things to make wacky structures or make a very proper and matching village if you prefer. Some blocks have inhabitants that appear as soon as they're placed, so you can watch your structures come to life.
A delightful, if sometimes creepy adventure game, featuring 5 little botanical friends who scurry around a tree, solving puzzles in their quest to save their tree from parasites. This game has some challenging spots (I'll admit to looking for walkthrough cheats when I got stuck a few times), but the gorgeous artwork, music, and whimsical storyline are fantastic. If you (or your child) have arachnophobia, you should know that there are some creepy spider characters in the game that are a bit ominous, but other than that, it's pretty kid-friendly.
This app is based on a story of two friends (a person named Lassa and a pink rabbit) going shopping. In one segment of the app, you can read the story (there are no recorded narration options, so you'll have to read this one yourself), but there are four other segments! One is just like the book, but with no words. Perhaps you'd like to re-tell the story in your own words (or your child can re-tell the story) or maybe you'd like to tell a different story that goes with these pictures?.
In this game, a spaceship crashes on earth and all of the passengers on the ship are scattered into the surrounding areas. One creature, Morphy, remains in the ship and he must go out and locate and return all of his shipmates. Luckily, he has the unique ability to adapt to his surroundings by taking on characteristics of the earth animals he encounters along the way. Players control Morphy's movements and must navigate through this world using direction arrows and a jump key. As new animals are discovered, tap on the animal to add them to Morphy's trait options.
Learn about women in science! This app features the stories of women scientists across the ages -- from long ago scientists like Marie Curie and even the ancient Greek Hypatia to modern day scientists like Christina Hernandez of NASA. Each featured scientist includes a short (sometimes only one paragraph) summary of their work.
Podcasts for kids in one app, no subscription required! This app includes 6 different audio shows for kids. The app is free to download and listen to the first episode of each show, then you can pay once to listen to the rest of the episodes in each show. If you're looking for a way to enjoy audio stories without the wide-open options of the regular Podcasts app or the ongoing payments of a subscription model like Pinna, then this is a good option.
Did you know that food recommendation charts look different in different countries? Not just in what sorts of categories food is divided into (is fish a separate category from meat?), but also what shape the chart itself is in? For instance, in Lebanon, it's shaped like a cedar tree! In this free app, players can choose a country to explore. You'll see each country's food guide, then be presented with about 8 different food options for breakfast, 8 new food options for lunch, and 8 again for dinner.
Another Sago Mini world to explore -- this one is all about camping! Right now in 2020 there's not a lot of vacations that you can safely take, but camping is one that's relatively isolated and outdoors. If you'd like to use an app while you're on your way to the campsite or to get your kids excited about camping in your yard or just to pretend to make some s'mores over a candle in your house, try out Sago Mini Camping.
