Zeus vs. Monsters

Zeus vs. Monsters is a fun Android app for practicing basic Math skills (addition, subtraction, division, etc).  It has users trying to defeat mythical enemies (i.e. Medusa, Cyclops) by trying to solve equations.  Best of all is the high replay value of the game w/ over 50 levels and 10 bosses to try to defeat.  Also, the game has a detailed report feature that shows exactly how well a student did and which problems they got wrong.

I highly recommend checking out Zeus vs. Monsters by clicking here!!!

Find Zeus vs. Monsters on Edshelf by clicking here.

Tic-Tac Bananas

Tic-Tac Bananas is a fun iOS/Android app that combines learning w/ Tic-Tac-Toe.  This is a 2 player game designed for kids 4-8 yrs old that focuses on: word recognition, phonics, and decoding.  The way this works is the first player taps on a square and then has to select the correct letter to spell out the picture.  If they are correct they get the square and the next player goes, if not the square is still open for anyone.  This is a fun simple game to play w/ high replay value for players.

I highly recommend checking out Tic-Tac Bananas by clicking here!!!

Froggy Phonics

Froggy Phonics is an excellent iOS/Android app for PreK-2nd grade students working on Phonics.  The way this works is a student guides a frog to jump from lily pad to lily pad collecting words that starts w/ a certain letter(s).  As the frog lands on the correct word they gobble up fireflies.  Once a user collects enough fireflies they unlock a "special" feature/photo.  The farther along a student goes the more words they'll unlock (over 900) as well as more boards and other characters.

I highly recommend checking out Froggy Phonics by clicking here!!!

For my Pinterest board on Educational iOS Apps click here.
For my Edshelf collection on Educational iOS Apps click here.

Creatorverse

Creatorverse is a fun free iOS/Android app that is perfect for sparking a kid's creativity.  This app focuses on scientific concepts such as: levers, pulleys, joints, and more as a user creates their very own invention and then puts it to motion.  This is a very user-friendly app that has users selecting from different shapes, connecting them, adding color, and then watching go into action.  Also, a user can browse through other creations and share theirs w/ others.

I highly recommend checking out Creatorverse by clicking here!!!

Below is a brief demo....



Thanks to Edshelf for the tip.

Nabi

This Christmas the kids were lucky enough to receive a Nabi 2 from Santa ;-)  I was very excited about this as we are predominately a iOS family and I have little experience w/ Android devices.  It's unfortunate that after spending a ton of time w/ the Nabi, I have lukewarm feelings at best.  The reason for this is simple, the user interface for the person setting up the Nabi is incredibly frustrating while the child interface is great.

Perhaps, it's because I'm used to working on iOS devices and the iPad but I expected the Nabi to be a lot easier to setup.  My first mistake was using the Nabi before I did any updates.  I highly recommend doing all updates before beginning to get familiar w/ the Nabi.  The reason for this is that the user interface changes once the updates are done and it will require time to get familiar w/ the new controls.  Also, while the Nabi does have a lot of great parental controls that other devices, say the iPad doesn't have, it would take a wizard to figure out how to use them.  For example, I set the default browser in the parental control as a kid safe browser.  This is not what I wanted, I thought it was for the browser my kids would be using not me.  I could not figure out how to switch it back, even after using Google.  (After searching the web, this is one of many issues people are having).

Besides the big learning curve to setup, my other big issue was the misleading information the Nabi gives out.  One of the big selling points of the Nabi is that "Good Morning Red Bird" time setting animation as well as other "goodies".  While I'm sure this works fine, I wouldn't know because what the Nabi doesn't tell you, is there is a fee to "unlock" that feature.  And while that fee might be minimal, on principal alone I don't want to pay for it as it was supposed to be included w/ the Nabi.  This goes for some of their educational curriculum as well.  For example, my 8 yr old son wanted to look through some of their Science apps and when he tapped on the Science button it asked for my password as well as another minimal payment to access it (I will pay in time to "unlock" all features of the Nabi).

As for the good stuff, my kids absolutely love us the Nabi.  We have plenty of iPads and iPhones in this household but all they want to play w/ is the Nabi.  I love how I was able to find them some Android apps that are not available on the iPad and they really like using those.  Also, the size, rub
ber protector case, and camera work nicely and make it easy for my kids to have fun and learn.

All in all, I'd have to say, I do like the Nabi, there is a big learning curve, but once you get passed that, it really is a fun/safe device for kids, and definitely worth the money.

I highly recommend checking out Nabi by clicking here!!!

Google Play for Education

Google Play for Education is a new dedicated online store that looks to be competing w/ Apple in using Android apps on Google tablets.  I've known about Google Play for awhile but recently read on ClassThink that Google Play is now available.  This is fantastic curated site for educational Android apps.  Best of all, a school using Google Play for Education can purchase an app online and then push them out to other devices.  Or they can create a "image" of a tablet and using a built in service on the tablet to transfer it to another.

I highly recommend checking out Google Play for Education by clicking here!!!

Below is a brief demo...

Gus on the Go

Gus on the Go is a fantastic iOS/Android app for students wanting to learn a language.  This is all done through a wide variety of games and exercises such as: matching, bubbles, horse racing and more.  All in all there are over 10 fun filled activities that students can do while exploring different maps and unlocking more and more features.  Just to give an example I let me 6 and 7 yr old try this app out first and they played it for about an hour before I could even sit down to check it out.

I highly recommend checking out Gus on the Go by clicking here!!!

For my Pinterest board on Foreign Languages click here.