Best iPhone applications for your preschooler
Posted on August 25th, 2008 in Doodads, Tips for Doodaddies, activities, toys
Handing your iPhone to a toddler is crazy, you say?
And I respond, “Why? It’s going to crash every half hour anyway!”
I’m not that reckless, really. Boobaby’s pretty good with electronic equipment — she reprogrammed the car’s oxygen sensor this morning — so I wasn’t too worried about how she’d treat my $200 chunk of not-very-much (but oh-so-delicate) metal.
And besides, we were flying.
Get in an airplane with a napless, constipated two-year old and all rules about entertainment are off: we’d let her watch Canadian ice-fishing bullfight porn if it would keep her occupied.
But Boobaby is an interactor: if we have her watch a movie, she’ll soon be singing about the plot at the top of her lungs. (Pilots freak out when they hear “NEMO and MICKEY! And SHARKS SHARKS SHARKS!” sung to the theme from The Love Boat.)
So in preparation for the flight, I got a bunch of potentially distracting iPhone apps to try out on her. Here are the very unscientific results of our little test, in descending order by how long Boo was distracted by each one.
1. Scribble.
Total distraction time: about 29 minutes.
This is a simple (and free!) drawing program: you touch a color and pull your finger around the screen and you get a drawing. But, most importantly, there’s pink, and so Boo will ask to play this over and over. The cutest part: when Boo touches a color on the screen, she examines her fingertip to examine the dollop of ink she believes to be there.
2. 300 Bowl.
Total distraction time: about 17 minutes.
Boobaby’s actually astoundingly good at this game, which requires only a simple finger flick to send the pins flying with a satisfying clatter. Her best score is 145, although I managed to beat that pretty easily by staying up until 3 a.m. playing over and over again.
[iTunes Link] — Hurry, it’s half price this week!
3. Preschool Adventure.
Total distraction time: about 10 minutes.
This app isn’t bad, although not really very educational — the matching isn’t really matching. You just click the pink sea anemone and it says, after the fact, “pink sea anemone.” Still, Boo seemed pretty into it, if only briefly, and for a dollar, it’s not bad.
4. ABC Letters.
Total distraction time: about 5 minutes.
This one will probably work when she’s a little older. Some of the fonts display the letters in a completely illegible form, sadly — this one needs a little work. Still, Boo does seem to be getting something out of it.
5. Bubbles.
Total distraction time: about 30 seconds. Mom and dad distraction time: hours and hours.
Another free one: All you do here is drag to create ethereal bubbles, then tap to pop them. Boo got the idea and decided it was boring pretty quickly. Working Mom and I — well, we’re sort of addicted, sorry to say.
I’d also give an honorable mention to “Matches,” although it’s a little clunky and not really age-appropriate for us. How about y’all fellow followers who’ve succumbed, like I have, to these infernal devices? Got any baby-with-the-iPhone favorites?
Yeah, I Twitter, don't laugh. 
August 25th, 2008 3:13 am
What a great break down! LoL. I don’t have an IPhone but my cheap little cell does distract my sometimes screaming 1 year old in the back seat. If I set it to make obnoxious bell noises when she presses the keypads. But than however it sets off my 3 year old who wants to play with it too. So in general - I have considered purchasing the family plan to keep everyone happy. That’s what it’s for right? Have a happy Monday!
August 25th, 2008 7:46 am
Dizzy Bee free or Dizzy Bee $2.99 are both AWESOME and keep my 3 and 3/4 year old occupied for hours. HOURS I tell you.
August 25th, 2008 8:32 am
This is funny and whatever keeps them quiet right?
August 25th, 2008 2:04 pm
I think the app store does sell a canadian ice fishing bull fight porn game — it’s awesome! Not kid friendly, I suppose — but still pretty neat.
August 25th, 2008 4:09 pm
Totally agree! And those keep even a 1st grader happy too!
August 25th, 2008 4:10 pm
Oh, and ditto on Dizzy Bee, Dex loves it.
August 25th, 2008 4:12 pm
Oh, and the Jirbo matching games!
August 26th, 2008 10:33 am
“we’d let her watch Canadian ice-fishing bullfight porn if it would keep her occupied.”
Funniest thing I’ve read all day. Thanks. I really like your blog. I found myself on Alltop, and didn’t know what it was. I came over to check out my neighbors and I’m really glad I did. I’ve found some great sites. I just subscribed to yours.
August 27th, 2008 12:47 am
Thanks, everyone! Can you believe I hadn’t even seen the “Jirbo” one? The iPhone App Store search is pathetic.
August 27th, 2008 12:39 pm
Labyrinth LE is free and fun. You try to roll a ball through a maze without it getting stuck in a hole. My 4 year old likes to watch me suck at it. Hours of giggles.
Oh, and don’t neglect the iPod part of the iPhone. The Sesame Street Podcast is great, and also free. A rip of her favorite movie (currently Sailor Moon, I kid you not) will keep any kid quiet on a plane.
August 27th, 2008 3:32 pm
Thanks! We’re not quite up to tilting yet, but I’m sure we’ll get there in a year or so.
And yeah, we’re complete Sesame Street Podcast junkies — we love funny words. Boo still uses “gigantic” and “pumpernickel” and loves to shout “It’s a mystery! It disappeared!” when we can’t find something.
August 28th, 2008 7:43 am
Thanks for these ideas and the comments are great, too. I found you with a Google search.
My 2-1/2 year old niece LOVES "Bubbles", I barely walk in the door and she says "I wanna play Bubbles".
"Tap Tap Revenge" is a good game with rhythm but she’s not quite coordinated enough for it.
"More Cowbell" mimics Christopher Walken in his SNL skit. You can shake the iPhone or tap it to get the cowbell sound. I’m working on teaching her how to say "I gotta have more cowbell!".
"Jared" is a ridiculous app that just shows a happy face singing very off key but she is fascinated by him.
She’s getting pretty good at playing "Football Lite". She’s actually taught me how to use it.
"Bubble Wrap" has potential for when she gets a little older but "Bubbles" still trumps.
October 22nd, 2008 9:33 am
I had a hard time finding a good game for my 3 & 5 year olds, so I wrote one!
It’s a simple game, more of a toy really, that lets kids stack up blocks and knock them down by throwing balls at them. Good for playing while sitting in the shopping cart!
So many kid games on the iPhone seem to have so many buttons and levels and barriers to fun for young hands and minds that I wanted to make something that couldn’t “break” and the game wouldn’t end just because their fingers mashed all over the screen.
Anyways, check it out if you’re interested - my kids (and my friends’ kids) love it!
October 22nd, 2008 10:09 am
@Erich - Thanks, I’ll take a look!
November 20th, 2008 6:24 am
We also wrote one as well after seeing how mesmerised our nephews, nieces and friend’s kids were with the iPhone!
Our game is called WaKi SNAP! and it’s based on the simple kid’s card game ‘Snap’. It’s got cute graphics and moving cards and is a simple 2-Player game that kids can play with their siblings or their parents on the same iPhone at the same time.
November 21st, 2008 4:22 pm
@wakiapps - Seems like it’s more of an older-kid app, though, no?
g.
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