conversation-starter Archive

  • Cargo Bot – introduction to algorithmic thinking.

    Cargo Bot is a great little game that has generated some buzz because it was developed entirely on the iPad.  We’ll be looking into that development environment and how it might be useful for a kid to get introduced to programming later on.  For now, […]

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  • Scribblenauts – a great creative, problem solving game

    Scribblenauts was originally introduced to us via my brother’s Nintendo DS.  When we saw it out for the iPad, we jumped on it.  Maxwell, the main character, often finds himself in situations where he needs help.  That’s where you come in.  You create objects (by […]

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  • Stick Dog wants a Hamburger – what my child is reading.

    Recently, I went to iBooks to compare prices with Kindle for a technical book, but while I was there, I started browsing the free books.  I found the Velveteen Rabbit was offered for free.  And Winnie The Pooh is always there free.  And a few […]

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  • I Just Forgot – cute little book with enough interactions to help young readers

    I wasn’t familiar with this Little Critter series, but the dude kind of grew on me.  He’s not perfect, making him much easier to relate to. I like books with a clear, simple message and this one fits the bill.  We go through the day […]

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  • ItzaBitza for the Mac – great for early reading comprehension

    We’ve written about the great ItzaBitza line before when reviewing their app CocoaNaut.  I happened to be reading up on what they’re doing lately, to get any hints about when their next iOS release would be and found out that ItzaBitza is also out on […]

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  • The Three Pigs – pop up book deluxe!

    I remember the books as a kid that had some sort of interaction with them.  Usually tabs you could pull to pop up a tree or make someone’s tail wag or sometimes, change an image in a window by having the “blinds” change.  All sort […]

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  • Max and the Magic Marker – All the goodness of Trace, plus some.

    We love Trace.  It’s a great game. But at the same time, we love Harold and the Purple Crayon. Max and the Magic Marker is their child. Max has got a challenging world he needs to get through – and you’re the one to help […]

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  • Strip Designer – make your own comics with style.

    We’ve used this app a couple of different ways.  I showed it to Sal, thinking we could make comic strips, but we got distracted by the joy of putting moustaches on the photos of him.  Really.  It was kind of addicting.  Spiders were a fun […]

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  • Slice It! Puzzle app fun with flavors of fractions and percentages

    This app has a deceptively simple yet addictive requirement – just slice the shape into the goal number of pieces with the given number of lines, and divvy up your pieces into equal areas. It was simple to pick up and move through the beginning […]

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  • Violet – what our child is reading this week.

    I finally jumped in to get one of the more “interactive” children’s books.  Even though the reviews on this book said it wasn’t that interactive, the storyline seemed more in line with a 5 year old than the other options (Alice in Wonderland and The […]

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