App review: Wombi Ice Cream Lite

I have recently fallen in love with the free and lite version of this great app Wombi Ice Cream Lite .  It is super cute and deals with a subject that most kids love: Ice Cream!

What is so great about this app?  It can be fantastic for following directions, giving directions, understanding negatives (the one that is not...) and memory.  I have found that nearly all my kids will request this as a reward once they've played it once, which makes for a great way to sneak in some more practice for their memory and following directions in a fun and creative way.

The idea is that there is a cast of three characters who place orders at your ice cream shop.  There are five flavors of ice cream and five cones and cups and you are responsible for figuring out what the person wants. It begins with simple orders of one flavor and continues to get more complex.

The only complaint that I have for this app is that it can be tricky to get more than one flavor to stick on the cones and you have to be sure to stack the second and third scoops to the sides to be able to pile on a fourth and fifth scoop.  This issue aside, I love this app.  I had purchased the full version, but I found that for following directions, having so many choices (an additional 5 flavors plus toppings) was just too much distraction.  It was fun just to play, but just got a little too complex for my younger crowd.

A very fun app that can be an excellent way to work in some memory and following directions in sessions or at home!

App Review: Line up

A the moment I have a lot of kids working on following directions and understanding basic concepts and Line Up is great for working on these issues.  This free app addresses patterns, following directions, colors, and size.  It's super cute as each pattern shuffles out and a white one walks in through the upper door.  Next you select what color (2 or 3 depending on the level) and size (at more advanced levels) and your person slides down the pole to join his buddies.  My kids will usually stay engaged for about 10 minutes, which is about as long as I would want to target this, so it's perfect.  I love the concept, the ability to choose difficulty level, and pattern work is something that can be boring for a lot of kids so this app can be very useful.  With some younger kids I also this for following directions and as a fun introduction to patterns and how to figure out "what comes next?"  

Give Line Up a try and I would also recommend any other apps that busy things comes up with, they are always well made, fun, and educational.

Review of three apps: Robots Are Taking Over!

I work with a lot of young kids, and one thing that most of them have in common is a love of robots.  These three apps are wonderful: Robot Puzzle , Robot Workshop , & Kids Robot Puzzle Factory.  Note: these are all apps that have a free version that can be upgraded to unlock the full app, I recommend trying out the free, but be prepared to buy them as they are really well done apps.  They are great for working on requesting, turn-taking, body parts and problem solving.  The kids on my caseload all seem drawn to these games, and frequently one of the first verbal requests they develop is "wobot!" I like that these games can be short, can be played multiple times, or can be played in order and engage them for a whole session.  There are some kids I've worked with that this is the only thing they want, therefore providing lots of requesting opportunities.  We also work on receptive language by giving and following directions and body parts.

The one pictured below is my favorite, Robot Puzzle.  It has several puzzle levels of increasing difficulty that are just fun to complete.  Also, when the puzzle is done kids yell "YAY!" and balloons are released on the screen that they can pop.  Not only do the clients enjoy the challenge of the puzzles, but also the reward and balloon popping as well!

 This next is from Robot Workshop.  It has all the same robots from the last app, but in this one you choose from those shown below and put together just one.  Fun, but not quite as engaging.

 This last one is Kids Robot Puzzle Factory.  A totally new cast of robots with a free version that includes 3 robots, or upgraded for $1.50 for 15 different robots.  They start out as just a shadow which are replaced by pictures as one is completed the first time.  These ones are a lot of fun as once they are put together they animate which my kids always seem to enjoy.

There is a lot of potential in these apps to target a myriad of areas if you take time to think about them.  These are fun, engaging, and motivating.  I use these at least once a week, and sometimes more as they make excellent rewards as well if the child is only allowed to play one or two puzzles.

Try them out and prepare to have kids requesting them at every session... which is great because now you have a bargaining chip to get them to try some other tasks that you've been trying to get them to do!

App Review: Quick Artic

This app is hard to find!  I found it by accident, and now when I search I can never seem to find the page. Quick Artic is an articulation app that offers real pictures.  It's not the best, and some have reviewed that it force closes, but so far I haven't had any problems with it, and it's free, so I have even less to complain about.

It has a good number of real photos for almost every sound, although not all the pictures are great, some are terrible, but for the most part they are adequate especially in a pinch.  It also has tracing for correct and incorrect answers within the app, which is good, unless you accidentally touch the back button which erases all the data.

Overall, for free I think this is worth a try, but it's definitely not a stellar app.

SLP App Review: iStoryBooks

If you are looking for free books on your tablet iStoryBooks app you should look into.  They have a good collection of simple stories that most kids are familiar with.  One of my clients would request Cindrella at every session, which was great for working on narrative storytelling, prediction, and discussing emotions.

You do need internet access to be able to download the story, so it's not very useful if your tablet isn't tethered, or near wifi, but you can pre-load the story and leave the app open and it will work later.

The writing isn't the best, but the books are enjoyable and most are good for beginning readers (around 2nd grade) or younger if you don't mind supplying/working through the difficult words or just using it for the picture description.  It's also great for working on sequencing as you can take screenshots of the stories to prompt clients after reading or to have them sequence in the correct order.

Overall, this is a good, free book app that has come in very handy when working on reading and narrative storytelling with kids.

App Review:Counting Numbers Game for Kids

I just found this: Counting Numbers Game for Kids.  I recently started seeing a 6 year old who is having significant difficulty learning to recognize numbers in English and Spanish.  I found this app and it has been really fun for her to work on her numbers.  I usually have her say each target number within a game in English and Spanish or ask her to identify a target number in either or both languages.

There are several different number games, including connect the dots which morphs into a full picture once all the dots are connected.

It is a cute game with lots of potential for working on numbers and following directions, along with some descriptive language within the connect the dots activity.  It also includes opportunities for following directions and turn-taking.