There are so many moments when I have been saved by iphone and ipad apps, like the time I needed to buy a dress for a function and my two year old daughter happily sat playing wheels on the bus in the corner of the change room while I made my way through 10 dresses (none of which I ended up buying by the way), the many car journeys, meals in restaurants, sporting events and plane journeys apps have saved the day, but  the app time I love the most is when I am working and daughter pulls up a chair the ipad and “works” beside me…..

Our favorite apps we have tried and tested are:

Apps for Ages 1-3

Sound Touch -

360 Sounds & Images Of: Animals, Birds, Vehicles,
Musical Instruments & Household.

The app opens right to the activity, without a main menu. It’s broken into 6 categories, which are shown at the bottom of the screen as pictures – animals, wild animals, wild birds, vehicles, musical-instruments and household. Each page has 12 items displayed with bright, cute cartoon items. Tap a picture, and a real life photo of the item pops open, accompanied by the sound it makes. Tap the picture anywhere, and it disappears.
http://www.soundtouchinteractive.com/

Music Colour -

a variation on Sound touch, Music Colour combines learning colours with classical music, the app is tap based so very easy for toddlers to use.

The app includes 37 full length classical pieces and 360 HD images
http://www.soundtouchinteractive.com/musiccolor/

Peek A boo Barn

Inside a little bouncing barn, friendly farm animals are waiting to pop out and surprise your little one. Try and guess who they are; tap the doors to find out! App comes in 9 languages the graphics are cute and the app is easy to use. http://www.nightanddaystudios.com/app/peekaboo-barn/

Wheels on the bus

Wheels on the Bus is a fun, interactive musical iPhone book, based on the popular children’s song. An original production by Duck Duck Moose, Wheels on the Bus includes fresh illustrations, creative interactions, and live music. Designed for children of all ages, starting as young as 18 months. http://www.duckduckmoosedesign.com/

Baa Baa Black sheep

another great app by duck duck moose, Baa Baa Black sheep is an interactive puzzle where toddlers find and match shapes, load the sheep into the boat and explore 3 underwater scenes looking for their puzzle pieces. http://www.duckduckmoosedesign.com

Great Apps for ages 3-5

Puzzle Pop

Being a family that constantly loses game parts and puzzle pieces, digital puzzles have been a god send. Puzzle pop has 27 levels of slide and place puzzles with great graphics and sounds. http://www.duckduckmoosedesign.com

Park Math

Any game with the word math in it makes us feel good about our kids playing it – right?Park Math introduces early math concepts to children in Preschool and Kindergarten (ages 1-6). Park Math HD (for iPad) includes additional math activities for First Grade. www.duckduckmoosedesign.com

Richard Scary’s Busy Town

Game starts by child picking character, getting them dressed then navigating through busy town completing tasks (Open the dishwasher and start the vacuum cleaner.  In the grocery store you might be looking for asparagus or beets; you can use the scale and open the cash register.  In the firehouse you’ll hunt for boots, spray the fire hose, and ring the alarm bell. ) http://www.nightanddaystudios.com/app/busytown/

Sound Shaker

Choose whistle, drum, barnyard animal and mystery sounds then create music by simply tapping and tilting. Each tap adds a sound and a graphic, Repeated taps generate new sounds, while longer taps grow sounds and trigger surprise animations. Tilting makes sounds spin and collide in fun combinations. http://tickletapapps.com/soundshaker

Monkey Preschool Lunchbox

A fun app that includes 6 different games, matching, counting, match the letter, spot the difference and puzzle. Cute animation and reward “stickers” after each game. http://www.monkeypreschool.com/lunchbox.php