SAFELY SPOTLIGHT
Safely’s Top 5 Picks for Family Friendly Apps
by December 1, 2011 • 1:59 am
I know finding kid-appropriate apps can be hard. I thought I’d share my top 5 picks. Here they are:
Best picture book: PopOut! The Tale of Peter Rabbit
PopOut! The Tale of Peter Rabbit is an adaptation of Beatrix Potter’s classic children’s tale. The app is a modern “pop-up book,” that has a bunch of fun widgets for your little one to play with. If you’re not around for bedtime, your kid can listen to a virtual narrator read the story.
You can get PopOut! The Tale of Peter Rabbit on both Android and iPhone for $4.99.
Best family friendly game: Cut the Rope
Cut the Rope is an immensely popular family-friendly game (it has been downloaded over 45 million times). It features a cute little monster that needs you to feed it candy to survive. It’s quite a puzzler that will challenge your 8 year old—and you.
Cut the Rope is available on both iPhone and Android for 99 cents.
Did you know your iPhone is a musical instrument?
Got a youngster who’s musically inclined? Check out Smule’s Ocarina. Blow into your iPhone’s microphone and press the “holes” that appear on the screen. Your iPhone will spit out tunes that sounds like they’re from The Legend of Zelda.
Ocarina also lets you hear music other people are making with the app, so you can share you masterpieces with the world.
Ocarina is available on iPhone for 99 cents.
If you’re not an iPhone user, check out Etherial Dialpad, a cool music app for Android. It’s free on the Android Market.
Travel the stars with your smartphone
Looking for some educational fun? Google Sky Map uses your phone’s camera to create an interactive map of the night sky. It’s sure to be great fun for your Jr. astronomer.
Google Sky Map is included by default on many Android phones. If you don’t have it, you can get it here for free.
Got an iPhone? Check out Star Walk, which has many of the same features for $4.99.
Get serious with Princeton Review’s SAT Vocab Challenge
If you have a high schooler that’s preparing to take the SAT, check out Princeton Review’s SAT Vocab Challenge Volumes 1 and 2. Each volume includes hundreds of SAT words and timed challenges to help prepare your child for the big day.
If you have an iPhone you can snag volume 1 and volume 2 for $4.99 a piece.
Does your kid have an Android? Point them towards Flash of Genius: SAT Vocab. It’s available on the Android Market for 99 cents.
What are your favorite family-friendly apps?
Join the conversation on Twitter with @Safely.
