When I think of the cool factor that toys have these days, my head spins. And I feel real old. And I try to stifle my jealousy that I didn’t have stuff like this when I was a kid. When I was growing up, we had toys like Sea Monkeys. Which I guess were cool in their own right. Except mine. I followed directions in my Sea Monkey Welcome Kit which advised me to put the little tank in total darkness for a bit – apparently when brought back out to the light, the “monkeys” would perform back flips and other such wonders.
I pulled my Sea Monkeys out of the dark to find that half of them had died. I guess they were scared of the dark.
I got pissed and dumped the entire tank into our larger fish tank. Dinnertime came early that day for our goldfish, Laverne and Shirley.
Anyway.
iPads – straight up cool, right? Facebook, Weather Channel apps (you know I’m obsessed with Weather Channel) and all sorts of other fun wonderments that give you the chance to completely waste your day. But it’s an entertaining kind of wasting, so you don’t mind.
iPads are seriously awesome for kids. I refused to believe this fact until I begrudgingly set Lily Bean loose on mine. Within minutes she was sailing from app to app and it wasn’t long before we realized what a powerful learning device this hunk of metal could be. Flashcards, music, alphabet, matching, spelling, coloring, motor skills, critical thinking, problem solving – just to name a few. You will find a bazillion free apps that are appropriate for kids – and even more paid apps ranging from less than a dollar to a few bucks apiece.
Lily is fascinated with helping me bake, so one day on a whim, I downloaded the Cupcake! XL app for $.99. It annoyed me to purchase an app – I like to stick to the free ones. But after watching her play this app for (literally) hour upon hour over the past few months, I know it was 99 pennies well spent.
She has a blast making all sorts of cupcake creations… take a look!
First you need to choose your cupcake liners – make all 12 the same or mix and match.
Choose a recipe, drag your ingredients into the bowl and swirl your finger on the screen to mix them together.
Into the oven they go – set the timer!
Now you get to choose your topping(s). Frosting, candy, letters, sprinkles – the library is extensive.
Lookin’ good!
You can add candles if you want. Light the candles and blow on or shake the iPad to put them out.
Time to swipe off the wrapper and dig into that cupcake!
All the fun of making cupcakes, with none of the calories. This app is will entertain the masses. There are other versions, made by the same developer – toast, buffet and pie that I can think of off the top of my head.
What are your favorite iPad apps for kids?
Note: This is NOT a sponsored review. Just a cool app that we used our own pennies to purchase, thought was mad cool and I decided to share.