fun apps for kids

Justin Timberlake dressed as a cup of soup. Michael Bolton vamping as Captain Jack Sparrow. Both are a YouTube hoot. The idea of my kids coming across either one while clicking through to what they think might be age appropriate is not. …

I know I don't have the only 2 year-old who can pick up my iPhone, unlock the screen and navigate apps. And it never fails, when the phone is in her hands, the Nursery Rhyme Karaoke app, Twinkle Twinkle Little Star , is the first thing s…

My kids have a serious iPhone habit, and yes, I suppose you could call me the ultimate enabler since the kidcentric apps on my devices vastly outnumber the ones meant to help adults make a decent mixed drink (ahem). And then there's YouT…

I'm usually the one on kitchen duty, but today, my kids served up some fried sausages, microwaved pears, boiled carrots, and um, pureed sardines. Good thing I wasn't the one eating any of it. Toca Boca, one of our favorite app designers …

There's nothing my kids like more than being read to at bedtime. Whether they're dog-eared or digital, calming, whispering affairs that encourage them to catch their forty winks are the usual go-tos, and Robot Blue From Planet 22 is no e…

Now that you've all got those shiny new iPhones and iPod touches for the holidays (or at least a few million of you do), it's time to start loading up on apps for the kids. A good place to start is our editors' picks for best kids' apps …

This was the year I was going to be organized for Christmas. But let's see...I haven't wrapped a single present, I have three handmade gifts to finish, a family party tonight where I'm expected to bring cookies, lots of cookies, and a me…

I tend to get a little romantic around the holidays. Not in the candlelight dinner with my husband kind of way, but more in the drink hot chocolate, nibble on cookies, music playing softly in the background while my pajama-clad children …

Ask my son to write up his Christmas list, and he'll hand you the LEGO catalog with about a hundred things circled. While I love watching him sit and build everything from the Space Shuttle to a mulitcolored house for all his LEGO mini f…

One of my kids' favorite things to do on my iPad is flip through all the pictures and search for photos of themselves. Yes, they're self-centered like that. So you can imagine their sheer joy at this newest app which makes their shining …

As the proud mama of a shiny new iPad, I've managed to keep my kidlets' touch screen-seeking fingertips off. Now I'm not sure I want to. Blame it on What Should I Draw? an HD iPad app that brings together Mad Libs and drawing in an epic …

In my experience with iPad apps over the last couple of years, I've learned that sometimes the simplest apps are the most entertaining and educational. And that's exactly how I'd describe this adorable new parent-created app for preschoo…

Some of the apps on my iPad blow me away with their technological innovation, their touch-screen capabilities, and their ability to make my kids gasp, shriek or just marvel at how cool they are. But, the latest app they are hogging my iP…

With Halloween just around the corner ( how did that happen?! ), we've been on the lookout for a few cool apps that will keep our kids entertained while we're busy gluing sequins on mermaid costumes and eyebrows on Angry Birds. Let me ju…

I've professed my love for the creative and entertaining apps by Sweden's Toca Boca before, and I know I'm not alone in my admiration if our very vocal Facebook fans are any indication. My own kids already have six Toca Boca apps to give…

I think for those of us moms with fond memories of playing with paper dolls, there's something really lovely about seeing how they're being translated for the tablet age. I love that even on the road, without a pair of scissors, my girls…

If you've ever laughed at JibJab's hilarious ecards, like this one of the CMP staff at Halloween , you know how funny it is to see your own visage shimmying while dressed like Dracula, or busting a Mummy move. And now that they've entere…

Though I was raised on the original Brothers Grimm stories, which are pretty dark, I was always a little more scared of the story of Jack and the Beanstalk . The whole I smell the blood of an Englishman boomed by a big hairy giant? Yeesh…

I get excited about great apps for my kids -- and ticked off by the ones that stink -- but I don't usually think too much about the apps' developers. However, as my kids have started to amass an arsenal of apps on my iPad, I keep running…

I've long been a fan of David A. Carter's pop-up books like One Red Dot , ever since my sister, an ardent pop-up lover, introduced me to them years ago. So when I heard that he had helped develop a new app for the iPad, I could only hope…

One of my kids' favorite things to do with the iPad is draw. Actually, one of their favorite things to do anywhere is draw. So I am always looking for fun coloring apps that can keep the artistry flowing, and that I find easier to justif…

When my kids were little, I couldn't wait to take them to see the fireworks on the Fourth of July. Unfortunately, they didn't want to stay up that late, hated the booms and generally made it hard to relax and say my required "oooos" and …

As soon as I could turn my back on my kids with the safety scissors, I knew it was only a matter of time before they decided to give themselves (or each other) a trim. A far better way to scratch their itch to play hairdresser, comes in …

As much as my little ones love to play with my iPhone, my nearly 7 year-old daughter enjoys her fair share of play time, usually with games that I've downloaded for myself. (Who can resist Angry Birds and Tiny Wings ?) So this past week …