For children that are just learning to write letters, the iPad
presents a great opportunity. Obviously, tracing a letter with your
finger isn't the same experience as drawing it with a pen or pencil, but
it can be an important first step to helping your children on the way
to becoming great writers.
There are loads of lovely spelling apps for kids on the App Store, mainly involving choosing letters to make up simple words - Alphabet Car
is one of our favourites for its novel control system, in which you
tilt your iPad to drive your bus into the letters on a road to pick
them.
Kids Song Machine HD - £1.19 - iPad
If your child has ever been to a play group then they'll know all the
words to various classic nursery rhymes off by heart already. The
sing-along app Kids Song Machine
has all the classics, like Old McDonald, Row, Row, Row Your Boat and
Itsy Bitsy Spider, presented with some gorgeous graphics with which your
child can interact.
Smurfs' Village - free - iPhone, iPod touch, iPad
Since farming games don't rely on quick reactions, shooting people or
violent themes, it's no surprise that many of them are aimed at
children. There's one important caveat to be aware of in the form of
in-App purchases, but on the whole, these sorts of games are ideal for
young children.
They basically revolve around growing crops, earning money and buying new things to upgrade your burgeoning farm or village. Smurfs' Village is a perfect example of the genre on the iPad. Your Smurfs potter about planting crops and waiting for them to grow.
