You know, for kids!

When we pick up the little guy there is a familiar routine: “Hey, Buddy! How was your day?” “Good”, he says. “Can I check my dragons?” Out comes the iPad and it’s off to DragonVale.
Many of us got new gadgets for our holiday gift, and we immediately started filling them up with apps to play with. We’re no different. Truth be told, there are more apps on our gadgets for him than for us. We thought that we’d share some of his favorites with you.
The dragons in question come from DragonVale, of course. DragonVale starts you off with a floating island, and you create a habitat that you think will be fun for your dragon. You feed them, give them treats, and watch them grow. Little guy likes to name them after his cousins, and he’s learned how to breed them to get little dragons. As your dragons grow and you become more successful as a breeder, you get more islands and perks. The game is free, but little guy quickly discovered that you could buy some game items. We were quick to disable the in-app purchase feature.
If bedtime is a challenge for you, then get Nighty Night! HD. Designed by Oscar nominated animator Heidi Wittlinger, it makes you responsible for tucking in a barn full of sleepy animals. It’s an interactive book. As you turn off the various lights, the scene grows darker, the sheep and cows yawn and toddle off to their stalls and the chickens head to their roosts. The animation is very simple but very clever, and the music and soothing narration put little ones in the mood for some shut-eye. You’ll be ready to hit the hay also.
iAllowance gives your child a virtual bank. You can add in chores and achievements and give them a monetary value. It is also a great tool for teaching your little venture capitalist the value of budgeting.
If you have a budding Jackson Pollack on your hands, give them Doodlecast. There are a number of drawing and sketch apps on the market, but this one has two really cool features: It will give you suggestions and questions to jumpstart the creative process, and it records the audio as you draw. You can then save and share your little animation with your friends and family.
If you’re sick of those irritated feathery creatures (we’re getting tired of saying it) you might give Topple a try. A very basic game, it presents you with a series of blocks that you have to stack, kind of like Tetris or a reverse-Jenga. The cool thing is that all of your blocks have faces, and if you’re not a good stacker the expressions on their faces will let you know about it. And they’re funny.
Stack the States is a good one for trips. Instead of angry blocks, you have happy states. As you learn the states and their capitals you stack them up. As you answer questions you earn points and build your own map of the United States. As you earn bonus points you get other features that show you landmarks, and you get access to other titles.
We’re suckers for a good flight simulator, but they can be kind of complicated for little pilots. Flight Control gives you an airport, and you manage the airplanes. The cool thing is that you can play with someone on another device, and chat with them as you share flying duties. “Roger, Roger.” “What’s your vector, Victor?”
We don’t quite understand it, but kids like zombies. Plants vs. Zombies is you against a mob of creepy zombies. You have an arsenal of plants that zap the zombies before they invade your home. As you progress through levels, your zombies get creepier, your plants get more powerful, and your levels get more challenging. It’s done in a very kid-friendly way (no Call of Duty carnage) and you have to plan your strategy carefully. Don’t run out of seeds for growing ammo!
Okay, this one lets you build a custom car and perform death-defying stunts. Neat controls, fun music, and exciting rewards for successfully completing a stunt. Truth be told, we just like this guy’s name: Kick Buttowski: Loco Launcho.
Sometimes it helps to just plug the little buggers in. We have some playlists put together specifically for little ears, so we use iTunes and the Cloud to keep him quiet, but Spotify or Pandora would work, also. This is not really an app or a game, but comes in really on long trips, so we thought we’d add it.
Save this one for yourself: TimeOut. It’s for tracking how long your little gremlin is in the corner. You set the time, and a sad, crying face will slowly go to a smile as the time elapses. It also saves a log of all of your child’s sessions. You can show them the log and say, “Didn’t we just talk about this?”
So, a nice little list of great apps to get your tot on the tablet. Now if they can come up with a charging app so the thing isn’t always dead when we get it back…