Free App Friday: Wildable

Become an animal and take a walk on the wild side!

Wildable is an exciting iPhone and iPad app that invites kids to enter a 3D natural world where they can become any animal they find and explore.

Have you (or your kids) ever wanted to swim like a fish, soar like an eagle, or climb like a squirrel?  Here’s your chance!

Want to try it for free?

How to enter

It’s easy peasy.  Just leave a comment below by Tuesday, January 31th, 2012.  The next day, we’ll choose 5 people at random and gift this app to them via email.

And the winners are…

Congratulations Laurel, Norma, Grace, Helene, Fay!  Check your email.

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Jumbline 2

Fans of Text Twist rejoice!  Now you can anagram on a smaller screen

Grade: B+ | Age rating: 6+| Price: $2.99/1.99/1.99

Jumbline 2 for the iPad, iPhone, and Android has finally solved one of the major stumbling blocks of online anagram games: typing answers.

Big fingers and small keypad don’t mix when speed matters.

How did they do it?  With a finger slide mechanism, of course!  Reorder a set of random letters as fast as you can by dragging and dropping them, then swipe your finger below to submit your words.

Why we like it:
Sometimes you feel like racing against the clock, sometimes you don’t.  With Jumbline2, it’s up to you.  You also get to decide whether you want your BIG word size to be 5, 6, or 7 letters.

You get points, but the heart of the game is continuing to advance to the next level.

There are a couple extra anagram games included (Cloud Popper and Star Tower).  They’re fine, just not as good as the Classic game.

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We tested version 1.81, which is compatible with the iPhone, iPod, and iPad. Requires IOS 3.2 or later.  Free versions available as well.  Developer: Brainium Studios LLC. Read our disclosure policy.

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W.E.L.D.E.R.

Oh, the joy of finding a really good new word game

Grade: A- | Age rating: 9+| Price: $0.99/1.99

W.E.L.D.E.R. for the iPhone and iPad takes a little getting used to, but man, is it ever worth it.

The object of the game is to form as many vertical and horizontal words as possible on an 8×8 grid.  No backwards and vertical words allowed!  As you advance through the levels, you unlock new swapping skills, such as the ability to jump, reverse and group tiles.

Why we like it:

Gorgeous graphics and sound effects and a completely scalable and replayable game.   If you love Boggle, Text Twist, and Bookworm, you’re going to love this app.

Words with Friends gets lots of publicity these days, but you know what?  I don’t want to play with my friends.  But maybe that’s just me.

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We tested version 1.11 which is compatible with the iPhone and the iPad (OS 4.0 or later).  Developer Ayopa Games LLC.  Read our disclosure policy.

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Doodlecast for Kids

Record your voice as you draw, then play back your animated sketch

Grade: A- | Age rating: 3+| Price: $1.99

Doodlecast for Kids for the iPad and iPhone lets kids bring their artwork to life.  They narrate as they draw, then play the animated sketch back as a video — it’s ingenious!

The app starts kids with a series of 20 drawing prompts, which include themes (fast, yucky, messy, loud) and elements (water, park, mouth).  Kids draw with their fingers.  Then, things get interesting.

As your child is drawing, she can narrate.  Like this:  “The big…  angry… orange… dinosaur… in the flower hat… ATE MY DAD!”  The app records both the drawing sequence and the child’s voice, and the video playbacks (which can be exported) are priceless.

Why we like it:
It’s creative.  It’s unique.  It’s got the potential to be really, really funny (you should see my 9 and 12-year-old kids dueling with this app.  It’s a wonder they haven’t broken our iPad in their efforts to outdo each other.)

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We tested version 1.2, which is compatible with the iPhone, iPod, and iPad. Requires IOS 4.3 or later.  Developer: zinc Roe Inc. Read our disclosure policy.

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2011 Readers’ Choice Awards Winners

Our readers weigh in on the best kids’ apps of the year

After three weeks of voting, the polls are closed and the results are in.  While we like and recommend every one of these wonderful apps, only three could win.

If you’re both the lucky recipient of a new iPad this holiday season and a parent looking for good apps for kids, we encourage you to check out our Best Kids Apps of 2011 and this list of the Readers’ Choice Awards finalists.

And now, the winners:

1st Place…

Al Yankovic: When I Grow Up, a digital adaptation of a wacky book for the young and young at heart, handily hooked first place with an overwhelming 27% of the vote.

Tons of interactive touches — like shaving a tarantula and massaging a gorilla — made this a hit with our readers.  Don’t feel like reading aloud yourself?  Not a problem.  Weird Al will do it for you.

2nd Place…

Indie hit, My PlayHome, takes home the silver medal this year.  Haven’t tried it?  You should.  It’s a sweet and simple interactive playhouse that’s good for girls and boys.

Parents like the non-violent, open-ended style of play the app encourages.  Kids enjoy making discoveries in every room (the toilet really flushes!  you can pet the cat!  there’s cold pizza to eat in the fridge!).

3rd Place…

In late voting, Bugs and Buttons surged ahead to narrowly beat out its closest competitor (the very worthy Toca Doctor, which we also love) to capture third place.  Your kids will use fine motor skills while learning to count, sort, and recognize patterns.  They’ll never realize this, of course.  They’ll be too busy picking apples, flying butterflies, and catching fireflies.

Congratulations to all our winners and nominees, and thanks for all you do.  Here’s to another great year of fun, wholesome, and educational apps for kids!

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Best gift of the season? The Kindle Fire

The iPad finally has a worthy challenger, and at half the cost

According to Nielsen Co., for the second year in a row, the most wished for holiday gift is the iPad.  The prices-starting-at-$499 iPad, that is.  Up until now, there haven’t been many good alternatives.

Until lately, I haven’t been very impressed with Android tablets.  I test drove a bunch of them, and briefly owned the Samsung Galaxy Tab, but returned it after two frustrating months.   Then, two weeks ago, I got a Kindle Fire.

I still prefer my iPad, but if I were buying my first tablet (or a gift, either for an adult or child) this holiday season, I’d totally go with the Kindle Fire.  Here’s why:

1.  It’s compact

I love how easy it is to slide the Kindle Fire into a purse or carry on bag.  At 7.5 x 4.5 inches, it’s about the size of a trade paperback and much, much thinner.  Even kids can hold it with one hand (though mine grip it with two, the better to prevent their sibling from grabbing it and running).

2.  It’s tough

The iPad screen is gorgeous, but glass.  The lightweight, chemically-strengthened Kindle Fire display is some kind of plastic that is allegedly 20-30 times stronger than plastic. I have no hesitation throwing it into a bag with keys, a phone, and all my other junk.

3.  It’s affordable

At just $199, you can buy two Kindle Fires for less than the price of a single iPad 2.  How many kids do you have?  If you have more than one, it’s a total slam dunk.  The Kindle Fire battery doesn’t last quite as long as the iPad’s, but it’s in the same league.  You can stretch it farther by turning down the brightness and turning off the wifi.

4.  The Amazon Appstore for Android is just so great

Amazon knows how to make shopping easy, intuitive, and fun.  It’s a real  pleasure to browse apps, games, and movies on this device.  And they offer one paid app free every single day, which is totally fun.  Who doesn’t like free stuff?

5.  It’s also got books, email, and web browsing

Of course you can also read on it, check your email, and browse the web.  I appreciate the versatility, but honestly I seldom get the chance to use these features when my kids are around.  I’d rather read on my regular Kindle anyway.  Since it’s not backlit, it’s a lot easier on the eyes.  Magazines are nice on the Fire though, since you can see them in color.

>>Read more about the Kindle Fire on Amazon

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2011 Best Kids Apps Readers’ Choice Awards

Vote daily for your favorite kids’ apps.  We love them all.

The nominations are in, and we’ve got ten finalists.  Now you tell us which of these apps deserve to take first, second, and third prize in the 2011 Best Kids Apps Readers’ Choice Awards.

We’ve enabled daily and multiple voting so that really big fans (i.e. your mom) can support more than one app and show their love more than once.

This poll will close on December 27, 2011 at noon PST and the results will be announced later that day.  Good luck!

**Thank you all for your participation — this poll is now closed.  Looking for the results?  Here you go:  Readers’ Choice Award Winners.

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2011 Readers’ Choice Awards Nominations

Nominate your favorite kid’s app and win a $50 iTunes gift card

So, we’ve told you what we think are the 10 Best Kids Apps of 2011, and now we’re giving you a turn.

Because this is an experiment our first attempt at this, we’re keeping it simple.

Choose any kid-friendly app you like, even if it already made our list or wasn’t launched this year.  To nominate it for the Best Kids Apps 2011 Readers’ Choice Awards, simply leave a comment below with:

1) The complete and correct name of the app
2) A link to the app in the App Store or Android Market
3) A one-sentence description of the app

This time next week, we’ll comb through the comments and publish a list of  finalists.  Then we can all get busy voting!   Just to be seasonal, we’ll also randomly choose one nominator and give them a $50 iTunes gift card.

Thank you all in advance for participating — you make our job fun.

***Nominations are now closed.  Voting will begin 12/6/11***

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