Car games, coloring books and portable DVD players are so last year! Tech savvy fathers everywhere are downloading kid-friendly iPhone applications to keep their kids busy while away from home.
Creative kids may like applications that allow them to “draw” or “paint” on your phone, without the mess. LilSugar.com recommends 123 Color, Color and Draw for Kids, Faces I Make, Doodle Kids and Kids Paint. Each costs $1 to download and could provide your children with hours of on-the-go entertainment.
Kids of all ages may also enjoy The Pianist ($4), which turns your iPhone into a piano.
Other games recommended by Parenting.com include Memory Match ($2), Snowman 3D ($1), WordSearch Kids ($1), Tic-Tac-Toe (free) and Infinite Maze ($1).
Several free applications that may help keep your kids occupied while away from home include Wooo! Button, Penguin Whacker, The Pool, Checkers, Kids Bingo and MadLibs Lite.
Fathers who want to encourage learning for their preschoolers may choose to use learning applications such as Highlights Hidden Pictures ($2), Super Why ($3), Lola’s Alphabet Train ($2) and Letter Writer Oceans ($1).
An important parenting advice tip is to always be prepared, especially when away from home. These, and other, applications can help keep all the members of your family engaged at restaurants, in the car or other destinations.
I would also add Weetwoo, a fun safe video player with nicely organized lists of YouTube videos. Great when you need 20 minutes of calm. Another reason to throw out the DVDs…!
I love Juicebox Software! They have GREAT kid-friendly apps that I can put on my iPhone and use to entertain my toddler for hours. These apps are great quality and designed very well. They just launched the Animal Coloring Book app for Android mobile devices, which my daughter is obsessed with. This simple, digital coloring book offers an array of themed pages to color. You can choose Farm, Jungle, Marine or Insect themed pages, and color and save to the Gallery for printing or fine-tuning at a later time. It’s so great! Animal Coloring Book entertains children with its simplicity and endless possibilities of creations. Definitely check it out!