I'm a full-time mummy

I received an email asking whether I will be interested to review this app and I can see how it relates to one of the many activities that my 3 years old boy does everyday as part of our unofficial learning method, I agreed to review this app, hoping to provide more avenues to expose my boy to similar activities on the iPad instead of only on paper and books. Anyway, my review as below...

* Title: Tap and Catch - Which is the Same
* Price: $4.99
* Category: Education
* Released: Aug 03, 2012
* Version: 1.0
* Size: 25.7 MB
* Language: English
* Seller: ariane Inc.
* Rated: 4+
* Requirements: Compatible with iPad.Requires iOS 4.3 or later.

Description from the product page:

"‘Tap and catch - Which is the Same ? -’ is an upgraded application with new functions that have already been downloaded in over 20,000 households in Japan. All you have do to is to do is touch the screen, a task even little children will be able to do by themselves.There are eight screens from which you can choose: the ocean, the South Pole, the jungle, space, the underworld, to name a few. The pictures move with joyful sounds when you touch them. It stimulates the senses of sight, hearing and touch, which will naturally trigger your kid’s natural learning abilities and motor skills.

There is an infinite number of quizzes and games that will keep your child busy for hours."

What's good?

* The illustrations are cute and interesting!

* I used the opportunity in this app to teach my 3 years old boy how to differentiate and identify the animal or objects that are not the same as the rest.

* In our daily activities, I do occassionally give him activities to identify the matching or unmatched items but those are pretty easy (to suit his age) and I do feel that this app is a tad advance for my boy. Actually, I too can't figure out some of the levels in this app (whooopssss!) and I was really excited when my boy managed to identify the matching animals in few of the levels!

Room for Improvement?

* Currently if you select wrongly, there will be a frustrated cloud hovering above the animal. I would prefer if the animal will then disappear, so that we are left with the 2 other possible choices to select from. Maybe my 3 years old boy is a tad young for this app, but I think it will helped tremendously in that way.

You can purchase the " Tap and Catch - Which is the Same " app from the iTunes App Store.

I received no monetary compensation for this review, I was provided with the promo code to redeem the application for free from iTunes Store in order to facilitate my review. All opinions expressed in this post are my own. Please do your own research when purchasing products, as your opinions may differ from mine. And if you'd like to read my previous iPad Apps reviews, you can do so by reading this post of mine called "My iPad App Reviews"

Talk about the weirdest luck I have that I get to review this app! I was posting some articles as usual on my Facebook page (find and like me there will you because I'm pretty active there!) and I saw someone by the nickname of MobileIgromatic commented back and out of curiosity (Ok, fine, I do often check out the people who commented on my posts, especially if they have weird names or interesting profile pictures!), anyway I checked out the profile and realised that they developed these few apps and I was immediately attracted to this app. So I sent a private message to them and the rest is history and yes, you are reading my review as below...

* Title: Magic Sorter
* Price: $1.99
* Category: Games
* Updated: Jun 30, 2012
* Version: 1.2
* Size: 43.7 MB
* Language: English
* Seller: Igromatic
* Rated: 4+
* Requirements: Compatible with iPad.Requires iOS 4.1 or later.

Description from the product page:

"MAGIC SORTER - Sea Tales - 5 in 1 helps develop important cognitive and fine motor skills by dragging & dropping objects to match the silhouettes. With parental assistance it can also develop language skills, for example, by naming the objects, sea animals, shapes and colors."

What's good?

* There are 5 games in this app: Shape, Silhoutte, Size, Puzzle and Color. I think that is awesome as we are not just limited to only 1 playing (and learning!) route.

* It is engaging and interactive and I love the beautiful illustrations and the colors are vivid and very eye catching!

* I can see my 3 years old boy playing the app with ease maybe because he has some practise from our daily activities for our unofficial learning methods lately.

* I use the opportunity in some of the games to teach my boy further, for example in the 'Size' game, I reinforced my teachings on the small, smaller, smallest or big, bigger, biggest concept.

* I am very excited to see the potential of learning with this app while still having fun!

Room for Improvement?

* Other than I think this app should be under the 'Education' category, nothing I can think of!

You can purchase the "Magic Sorter" app from the iTunes App Store.

I received no monetary compensation for this review, I was provided with the promo code to redeem the application for free from iTunes Store in order to facilitate my review. All opinions expressed in this post are my own. Please do your own research when purchasing products, as your opinions may differ from mine. And if you'd like to read my previous iPad Apps reviews, you can do so by reading this post of mine called "My iPad App Reviews"

Here is another fun and educational app which was released few months ago that I get to review with my 3 year old Benjamin:

* Title: ABC Day
* Price: $1.99
* Category: Education
* Released: Jun 01, 2012
* Version: 1.0.0
* Size: 18.2 MB
* Language: English
* Seller: CV. Hompimplay
* Rated: 4+
* Requirements: Compatible with iPhone 3GS, iPhone 4, iPhone 4S, iPod touch (3rd generation), iPod touch (4th generation) and iPad.Requires iOS 4.0 or later.

Description from the product page:

"A- Award winning app that effectively teaches young children to read and write.
B- Bubble-popping, alphabet-singing fun.
C- Cute animal friends introduce kids to the joy of learning.

An outstanding tool for education, ABCDay encourages kids to read, write, play, and sing their way through the alphabet. Straight forward navigation permits easy gameplay, and lively animations captivate children as they plunge into a vibrant undersea world. ABCDay is packed with four delightful sections, each with its own unique music and activities.

(1) Reading Time!
P is for Penguin. Identify letters of the alphabet by reading along to the names of loveable animals living in the aquatic wonderland.

(2) Writing Time!
Catch stars. With the assistance of a friendly turtle, trace a sequence of stars to practice drawing letters.

(3) Play Time!
Tickle a seashell until it releases new friends. Each animal that appears has a letter missing from its name. Test memory and spelling by bursting the bubble with the correct letter inside.

(4) Sing Along!
Sing aloud to the alphabet song. Pop letter-filled bubbles or simply watch them float as the song plays."

What's good?

* It is engaging and interactive and I love the beautiful illustrations!

* I was totally amazed when I saw my 3 year old boy tracing along the alphabet (uppercase & lowercase) in the  "Writing Time!" game by helping the turtle to follow (I said catch) the stars. Currently, I have not gone through the alphabets with my boy as I'm trying to build up his skills and practise in tracing activities. But based on this, I am very excited to see the potential of learning to write while still having fun!

* I also used the opportunity in the "Reading Time!" to teach my boy alphabets in a fun way, seeing the animals animated cutely and the bubbles popping!

* My boy is not at the reading level yet so we can't feedback on the "Play Time!" game at the moment but I will definitely revisit this app when the time comes (I always do that for all my products and apps!).

You can purchase the "ABC Day" app from the iTunes App Store.

I received no monetary compensation for this review, I was provided with the promo code by the sponsor to redeem the application for free from iTunes Store in order to facilitate my review. All opinions expressed in this post are my own. Please do your own research when purchasing products, as your opinions may differ from mine. And if you'd like to read my previous iPad Apps reviews, you can do so by reading this post of mine called "My iPad App Reviews"