With the dizzying amount of apps out there, it can be hard to find ones that are both fun and educational for your child. Here are a few guilt free iPhone and iPad apps that keep children’ s minds active and prepared for the classroom:

For Toddlers:

Green Eggs & Ham by Dr. Seuss Join Sam-I-Am in this interactive eBook as he offers his friend green eggs and ham here, there, and everywhere! As the narrator reads the story, the words are highlighted for your child to follow along. Touching the objects featured on each brightly colored page brings up their associated word. Your young reader will learn new vocabulary as they interact with the story. Kids can even personalize the eBook by recording their own voice narrating the story. This rich and immersive book is a great way to get young readers excited about reading.

ABCmouse. com Visit the Zoo Interactive Series This zoo app is an amazing new way for kids to learn about animals and their habitats. Toddlers can explore realistic animal exhibits with photorealistic animals that make sounds true to life. This app features illustrated facts about animals, read by the app’ s animated zoo guide. After each session, children can test their knowledge on the set of animals they just learned about with a multiple choice quiz feature. There are also a variety of Easter eggs hidden throughout the app that your child can discover. When your children have learned everything in this app, they can advance to the next set in the ABCmouse. com series.

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Animatch With its supercute animal graphics and funny animal sounds, Animatch is perfect for kids of all ages. This simple electronic matching game featuring 30 farm and safari animal cards will keep your kids educationally entertained, all while developing their concentration, memory, and cognitive skills. When kids succeed at a match, they’ re rewarded with happy animal sounds and the animal does a cute jiggle. Its simple and engaging design works for children as young as 11 months old. Even adults love playing Animatch and parents will have fun taking turns playing the game with their kids.

For Preschoolers:

Magic School Bus:

Oceans by Scholastic Go on a wild ride with Ms. Frizzle and her class to explore ocean life on the iPad! Based on the book The Magic School Bus: On the Ocean Floor, this interactive storybook app is teeming with science facts, videos, photos, and games. Your kids will be encouraged to take chances, make mistakes, and get messy as they discover plant and animal life, coral reefs, and the ocean floor. The book takes more advanced facts and brings them to life so that kids can see cause and effect in action. It’ s an interactive and exciting reading adventure that any kid will love!

TeachMe: Kindergarten Teaches kids age appropriate sight words, addition, subtraction, spelling, and writing letters and numbers. An animated teacher, Mimi Mouse, guides your child with verbal instructions and feedback. Kids stay engaged as they earn a coin for every three correct answers. They can use their coins to buy virtual stickers to place onto fun backdrops or to buy fish for a virtual aquarium. The sticker scenes can be saved as wallpapers or emailed to family and friends so that everyone can enjoy the fun. To encourage your child’ s progress, you can select what subjects you want and set the difficulty levels to best suit your child.

The Monster at the End of This Book Sesame Street fans will love this interactive 12 page rendition of the best-selling classic storybook from the 1970s. Join Grover as he tries his very hardest to tie down pages and build brick walls to keep readers away from the monster at the end of this book. As the book’ s words appear on each page, various characters say them out loud and reveal hints that help kids interact with the book. This story is a humorous way to open up a dialogue between parents and children about emotional expression and any fears they may have. While they learn early reading skills, they’ ll be laughing and having a great time.

Sources: Parenting. com • iTunes • Amazon. com

G M H T O D A Y M A G A Z I N E MARCH / APRIL 2015 gmhtoday. com

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