I was browsing through my old drafts when I ran across this post I never published. This was written a long time ago, I’m guessing in 2009 or 2010. I almost just deleted it, but then I opened it and smiled at the memories. It also inspired me to talk to you about how going …
Last week I shared 5 Basic Android Apps you must have. This week we will be talking about 5 great preschool apps that you will want to add to your phone or tablet for your kids.
Zane, my 4 year old, has sleeping problems and for a while he was waking up at 3am. We tried everything we could do to try and get him back to sleep, but it just wasn’t working. To the point of exhaustion we gave up and would take him downstairs and snuggle with him as he watched cartoons. But when we got our first tablet, I had a great idea. Instead of taking him downstairs I would let him play games on my Galaxy Tablet while snuggling in bed.
If you are going to add one kids game to your phone or tablet Kids Mode is the one to add! You enter your child’s date of birth and the app will pull games and videos from all over the web that are age appropriate for your child. You will get games and videos from Disney, Nickelodeon, PBS, YouTube and more. The only thing you have to remember is you do have to have a internet connection for this game to work
This was one of the first apps I ever put on my phone. This is aimed more at younger children, but even Zane likes to play with it sometimes. This app locks your buttons so your children cannot accidentally get into something you don’t want them to. Toddler Lock then lets them draw in colorful lines and shapes and as they draw your phone or tablet will make pretty bell tones. This is great for even the littlest of children you trust with your phone.
This is one of the first painting app I added to my phone and it has been one of my sons favorites. I’ve tried other coloring apps, but really this has been the best. I thought that changing the colors would be complicated for Zane, but he proved me wrong. With this paint program you just pick your picture, your color and then each section fills with color as you touch it. Zane has a habit of enjoying coloring the whole page one color.
This is a great app to help your child work on there numbers and counting. I like this companies other apps, though the lite versions are more obvious on their limitations. On the alphabet one you only get up to letter H. I’m really considering buying the full version of these.
This isn’t just one app but a series of apps that are just great! They may not be as flashy as Kids Connect the Dots but Five Pumpkins apps are full from A to Z. These were the first educational apps I had on my phone and I love that they grow with the children. They have very basic beginner skills like colors and shapes but they also do letters and numbers and then they have sight words and days of the week and months!
I didn’t want to just give you educational apps for our kids, it’s good to offer them some fun sometimes too. We actually have the full version of Grow, but we got it free on the Amazon App Store. Zane has a fishing game he likes too, but I asked him which he liked best and he said he likes grow the best. You basically move your fish around the fishbowl eating fish that are smaller than you and avoid bigger fish. As you eat fish you grow and once you are big enough you can start eating the bigger fish.
This is a pay only app, again we got it free from the Amazon App Store, but I really like it. It’s a mixture of different kids on matching, color, number games. Every time you get the answer right the monkey will jump and eek at you. I think one reason I like this app is that it also works on listening skills. You have to listen to what you need to do at each level. This is something I’m really working on with Zane.
I hope you find these apps useful and enjoy teaching your children through a great tool as your phone or tablet. Let me know how your children enjoy these apps too! Next week I will be sharing some more apps so if you want to stay connected you can subscribe to PepperScraps in your reader or you can get it straight to your email subscribe to PepperScraps by email!
What are some of the apps you have tried with your kids? Do you have a favorite app? I would love to have some more for Zane!
I remember making these no bake cookies with my mom when I was little. Of course we just made them we didn’t associate them with Dinosaurs. I loved how Stacie renamed these cookies and gave each ingredient a creative dino twist. You can check out her recipe here: Dinosaur Snacks: Yummy and Icky Treat.
Ingredients: Sugar (crushed bones), Butter (fat), Oatmeal (Dead Grass), Peanut Butter (Dead Bugs), Cocoa (Dirt), & Milk w/Green Food Color (Swamp Water)
The boys took turns adding ingredients
I quickly boiled the sugar, butter, cocoa, and milk
The boys spooned out the cookies (though halfway I had to take over)
Zane practiced his letters while we waited for them to cool
They loved these cookies! My husband super duper loved them! I was surprised to find each cookie only 128 calories and way worth it!
Do you have a creative recipe that you do with your kids? Have you seen a cute food recipe you want to do with you kids?
I found this fun activity at Family Fun and it was so much fun I had to share. This is another way to get your kids to “cook”.
We made our caterpillars first. I was actually very proud of Zane because he was the one to point out that the caterpillar turns into a butterfly.
We painted the clothes pins ($ Tree is a great place for these) with glitter glue. We used a brush to spread all over the clothes pins.
Then we added googley eyes and pipe cleaner antenna. That made us caterpillars!
We then made the snack mix in snack bags. I put different ingredient options for Zane to add to the bags. Pretty much everything got dumped in, but you could take your time with your preschooler and have them plan out their snack mix.
Zane was very proud of his Butterfly Snacks.
I thought his butterflies turned out great and we may make them again for a treat for a play date or to brighten a friends day. What’s also nice is if you use good glue to glue things down you can just reuse the caterpillar part of the butterfly over and over.
Could you see yourself doing this with your kids?
At the end of last year I was doing one of my favorite little series, A Craft A Day. But life got busy, as it usually does around Christmas, and the series had to be put aside. But I’m bringing it back!
A Craft a Day gives you five activities that you can enjoy with your kids, one for each day of the week. Some weeks may have a theme and some may not but either way we are going to have some fun together. Most of these activities work well for preschoolers, but you may be able to adapt them for your toddler.
I will post them on Saturdays so you can use the weekend to get any supplies that you may need.
I’m working on a letter based curriculum with Zane, so each week will be based on a letter of the alphabet.
Week one will be all about the letter A. We will be doing lots of Apple activities. Week two will be the letter B and we will be doing butterflies and bug activities! And we will go all the way through the alphabet.
Zane and I will also be focusing on a subject each day.
You don’t have to worry about subjects but I figure when you see the activities you may see a pattern.
Now I’m not supermom and I don’t expect you to be either. We don’t always get to each activity, sometimes life is just too busy.
Hopefully you may try one or two of these activities with me and my kids! You don’t have to do every single one. You don’t have to be doing preschool with your child.
I just hope to give you a resource for some great fun with your kids!
If you do any of these crafts and happen to take a picture or write a blog post about it please make sure and share your link in the comments. Also don’t forget to link the original crafter! I may feature you and your blog on the following weeks post!
What are some of the gifts you received this week?
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