Highlights My First Hidden Pictures

A fun hidden picture app for the very youngest detectives

Grade: A- | Age rating: 4+ | Price: $1.99

Highlights My First Hidden Pictures is a fun app and a great way to introduce toddlers and preschoolers to the delight of hidden picture puzzles.

Kids can look for almost a hundred objects hidden in the eight included illustrations and get clues whenever they need them with no penalty.

What’s Hot:
We’re not surprised that this app is polished and intuitive, since it’s basically just an easier version of the Highlights Hidden Pictures app (which we know and love).  These classic illustrations are easy on the eyes and looking for the hidden objects will provide your kids with hours of quiet, thoughtful fun.

The music and sound effects add to the experience, but you can turn them off if you’re somewhere silent.

What’s Not:
We’d still like to see more puzzles included in the initial purchase price, because once you solve them, you’re done.  You can get two extra puzzles by registering and many more with in-app purchases (which you’ll need to turn on in your settings if you’ve previously turned it off).

The Bottom Line:
One of our favorite things to do when we were kids and still fun today in a more high-tech way.

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We tested version 1.3.1, which is compatible with the iPhone (OS 3.1.3 or later),  iPhone touch, and iPad. Developer Mobad Games. Read our disclosure policy.

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Cake Doodle

Make yummy-looking virtual cakes on the iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch

Grade: A- | Age rating: 4+ | Price: $0.99

Cake Doodle is a fun, creative app that lets you bake and decorate all kinds of delicious confections without the mess or calories!

Choose from eight cake flavors, twelve cake styles, 49 frosting colors, and 71 cake toppers.  Do you see now why this is so darn fun?

What’s Hot:
Cracking the eggs, slicing the butter, and stirring with your fingers.   You’re really only limited by your imagination when it comes to these cakes.  Also?  The short baking time is a definite plus.

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Schoolhouse

An iPhone app for practicing math, spelling, time, and money

Grade: B+ | Age rating: 4+ | Price: $0.99 per topic

Schoolhouse is an educational app for kids in kindergarten through 5th grade who need or want a little extra (and fun) practice with math, spelling, time, and money.

What’s Hot:
There are great graphics and the app reinforces a positive attitude every time the student stops by telling your child that they “rock”. Read more…

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Interactive Alphabet

A sweet educational app for babies, toddlers, and preschoolers

Grade: A- | Age rating: 1+ | Price: $2.99

Interactive Alphabet for the iPad and iPhone is such a lovely way to experience the alphabet, that kids will want to play it over and over.  Maybe adults too.

From a home screen kids choose from among 26 colorful letters (that look a lot like refrigerator magnets).  Each page has an age appropriate original illustration (like “D is for Dinosaur”), background music, and an animation for your child to discover.

It’s very simple, but the best things in life often are.

What’s Hot:
We don’t really have space to list all the things we love about this app, but a few stand out.  The hamster hiding under the hat for the letter H?  Cute!  The Northern Lights above the igloo on the letter I?  Authentic.  The sun that you can make rise and set on the beach for the letter B?  Cool!  Watch out though, if you make the sun go all the way down, you’ll think the app has crashed.  It hasn’t—it’s just night. Read more…

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Let’s Bead Friends

Make virtual friendship bracelets on the iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch

Grade: B | Age rating: 3+ | Price: $0.99

Let’s Bead Friends allows crafty kids of almost any age to design simple or elaborate friendship bracelets and send them to their loved ones via Facebook or email.

What’s Hot:
Real crafting is messy!  With this app you can have all the creativity without the chaos.  Sometimes that’s exactly what you need as a parent.  Choose from five bead shapes, nine colors, and ten designs every time you add a bead, then finish your opus off with a personalized charm or two.

What’s Not:
This app is fun, but it probably has limited replay value for kids over 8.  It definitely provides creative enjoyment, just probably not hours of creative enjoyment.

The Bottom Line:
A nice, simple outlet for your kids’ creativity.

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We tested version 1.0, which is compatible with the iPhone (OS 3.0 or later) and the 2nd generation iPhone touch. Developer i-itch Inc. Read our disclosure policy.

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Sound Touch

An addictive sound app and recognition game for babies and toddlers

Grade: B+ | Age rating: 1+ | Price: $1.99

Sound Touch is the most addictive app my one and a half year old daughter has played since Itsy Bitsy Spider. There are six different themed menu screens, each holding clip art pictures of animals, household items, means of transportation, etc.

Touch an object and then the screen flashes over to a real life picture of the object as it plays the real life sound the item would make. From cows to a knock on the door, children can develop sight and sound recognition.

What’s Hot: I think it’s great that there are four different real life pictures and sounds for each object. So as the child keeps touching the elephant they get a different sound and different looking elephant each time.
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ABC by Paul McDougall

A sweet, eye-catching alphabet book app with a charity angle

Grade: B | Age rating: 2+ | Price: $0.99

ABC by Paul McDougall is an alphabet storybook app with adorable, not-so-scary monster characters and witty prose.  If you’ve got to learn the alphabet (and you do), this is a good way to do it.

You can feel good about buying this app too, because profits are being partially used to donate print copies of the book to libraries and hospitals in need. This is what we in the iPhone and iPad app reviewing business call a win-win situation.

What’s Hot:
The quirky monsters and color palette are very appealing, as is the writing (“C is for Chelsea, the charming young carrot” for example, and “D is for Dana, the dog who loves donuts”). Read more…

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MathGirl Number Garden

Don’t look now, but your daughter is doing (and liking) math

Grade: B+ | Age rating: 5+ | Price: $1.99

MathGirl Number Garden is a sneaky educational app masquerading as a fun game tailor made for girls.  They might think they’re earning points to redeem for rainbows, flowers, and bunnies, but really they’re practicing arrays (a visual, right brain math exercise).

What’s Hot:
The garden theme and pastel colors are so darn cute.  Girls will be falling all over themselves to play for points and then redeem them in order to decorate their gardens.  We especially liked “unlocking” the various high ticket items like soccer balls, tire swings, and ponds.  Read more…

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