iPreschooler: Favorite Apps from a Three Year Old

I love playing on Mommy’s iPad, and Uncle Matt gave me a hand-me-down iPod touch, so I’m a pretty tech savvy kid. I try out a ton of apps, so I figured I’d update the list. I still play with LOTS of the apps on my iPad and iPhone lists from last year, but here a few of my recent (FREE!) favorites:

• Mickey Mouse Road Rally, Free – Road Rally is awesome. Mommy likes it because it keeps my attention for about 20 minutes, as I follow along the “appisode.” The app is hosted by Mickey, and mimics an episode of Mickey Mouse Clubhouse. It’s totally intereactive – you answer questions, identify shapes, and gesture with the iPad to move the episode along.

• Toca Kitchen Monsters, Free – Toca Boca makes a TON of really great apps; I like Robot Lab ($2.99), Tailor Fairy Tales (Free), and Hair Salon ($1.99) the most. They have bright, colorful graphics and easy to navigate interfaces, and each app has a simple premise. In Kitchen Monsters, you get to choose various food items and then cut, chop, blend, boil, or saute them to cook and feed to a monster. In Robot Lab, you design your own robot and then fly him through the factory collecting stars.

• Jake’s Never Land Pirate School, Free – This is another stellar free app from Disney. Perhaps you are familiar with Jake? He’s pretty popular with the preschool set, and his pirate school teaches shape recognition, music, and map skills through fun games. As you progress through the classes, you earn badges and stickers.

• Reading Rainbow, Free* – If you grew up in the 80s like Mommy, maybe you were a big dork like her and loved Reading Rainbow. The iPad app based on the tv show is AMAZING. I *love* stories, and here you get to fill a virtual backpack with books, which can be read aloud to you, or you can read yourself. There are genre islands to choose stories from, and each book has a game or puzzle attached to it. There are also interactive surprises along the way. *The first 2 books are free, but after that there are subscription plans ranging from about $5 a month for a 6 month commitment, or $10 a month without.

• Mr. Potato Head Create & Play, Free – I love Mr. Potato Head in real life, and the app is just as much fun. If you get bored with the original accessory pack, you can add different outfits for your taters for about $0.99 apiece.

• Songza, Free – Get this app. Seriously. I don’t use this app on my own, usually, but Mommy puts iit on for me and Lulu all the time – it’s a music app, similar to Pandora. You can find playlists based on artist, genre, or mood – or the concierge will suggest music for you. Best of all? It’s ad free!

Did I miss any of your favorites? Leave me a comment!