Need 
a new word game to fill your spare time? SpellTower borrows from a variety of games (from Boggle to Tetris) to create something unique.
Tag Archives: educational apps
Apptastic: Alphabeast
Learning the alphabet is always easier for kids when there’s some fun attached. Alphabeast is a flash card app that has received several awards for its clever extras, which range from playable musical instruments to spinning bow ties. It’s all wrapped together by illustrations from children’s author Chris Judge.
Apptastic: Tally Tots
Looking 
to add the 1-2-3s to your child’s A-B-Cs? TallyTots is an educational app that teaches toddlers to count to 20. Rather than making learning a chore, it rewards them with interactive games as they learn their numbers. (For example, after the number 7, they’re asked to build a sandwich with 7 layers).
Apptastic: AccelaStudy
One 
of the annoying parts about being a grown up is that finding the time to learn new things can be a challenge. If you’re trying to take up a second language, the AccelaStudy app lets you do so on the go, with smartphone-based interactive quizzes and memorization tricks.
App Review: TableTots
Spinlight Studios has 
created some of the best educational apps for iOS. AlphaTots and TallyTots let kids work by themselves, but TableTots brings parents more into the mix. This extraordinarily versatile app lets parents put together hundreds, if not thousands, of lessons in everything from letter and number recognition to spelling and math. The only real hiccup is there’s no tutorial for putting those lessons together, which generally means some hunting and pecking before you know what to do. There are some good pre-set lessons, which are good starters, but some parents may get frustrated before finding them. There’s also no way to save scenarios you’ve created — a minor annoyance, but something that’s worth correcting.
The app won’t know when a child gets an answer right or wrong, either, but there’s no getting around that — and it encourages parents to be actively involved with their children as they learn, something that’s hard to complain about.
App Review: Britannica Kids: Ancient Rome
History can be boring — and the encyclopedia is 
seen by many as the product of a bygone era — but Britannica Kids: Ancient Rome is a wonderfully educational and entertaining way for kids to learn more about the Roman culture. There are the usual (and expected) walls of print, but they’re not the chief focus — and they’re extra helpful, highlighting difficult words and offering definitions so kids don’t get frustrated. But it’s games like the timed quiz, magic square, and puzzles that users are more likely to spend time with. While they’ll learn less with these than they will by reading, they will be engaged and spend more time with the app. It’s not cheap, but Britannica packs a lot of value in this one.
App Review: Revolutionary War
Most people don’t look too 
much further than the BBQ or pool on July 4, but the Revolutionary War app puts the story of the War of Independence in perspective, offering a mix of informational essays with videos, biographies, and original documents in the form of the Journals of the Constitutional Congress. It’s good for kids and a nice refresher for adults who have forgotten their grade-school history. The app is laid out fairly well, but parts of it seem rushed. Freezes and crashes happen occasionally and some of the graphics are more simplistic than they should be. At the time of this review the $4.99 price is about a dollar more expensive than we’d prefer, but as an educational tool, it’s first rate.
App Review: i Learn With Poko: Seasons and Weather! HD
Weather skills might seem self-evident to 
some parents, but for toddlers, they’re an introduction to the world of science. i Learn With Poko: Seasons and Weather! HD gently eases kids into the differences between seasons and how to dress for each one — and even manages to sneak in some calendar education. The app is split into three levels for different age groups (though most young kids are likely to hop between them), giving it a wider range of appeal. It’s an app that requires no reading skills, letting users learn at their own pace, regardless of age. Ultimately, that means most kids will have fun with it, prompting them to play longer (and, ideally, learn more).
App review: Redshift – Astronomy
Astronomy isn’t a scientific path for weaklings, but with 
Redshift – Astronomy by your side, you’ll be better armed to explore the mysteries of the cosmos. With an incredibly deep catalog of heavenly bodies and more data about each than you know what to do with, this app is an exciting, interactive way to learn about the universe. Rather than just being a data dump, it’s also an interactive tool, showing you what’s above you in the night sky and helping you identify constellations and planets. Kids who want to learn more about planets and stars can use the app’s “travel” mode to “fly” to a location and orbit the planet or star. It’s a bit pricey, but it’s a perfect companion for stargazers — and an embarrassment of riches for students looking to learn more on their own or for a tricky homework assignment.
Chris Morris: Journalist 