Gadgetwise Blog: Three Noteworthy Apps for Children

Here are three recently released noteworthy apps to entertain children during the summer.

A screen shot of the Jungle Book app.

For preschoolers, the Jungle Book, which is available for $4 on Android devices, mixes visually rich 3-D page transitions with nine playful activities inspired from Rudyard Kipling’s story. The background illustrations can be controlled by the tablet’s accelerometers, giving the pages an eye-catching look. The narrated text is available in four languages.

A screen shot of the Toca Builders app.

For ages 5 to 11, Toca Builders ($2 on iPhone and iPad ) brings a new type of block play to your touch screen with six playful building machines and a floating grid. Figuring the controls is part of the fun and challenge; each has different controls and a gentle learning curve, so children learn common touch-screen control mechanics. Like the blocks used in Minecraft, the large blocks here don’t allow for much detail, and removing a misplaced block can be tricky.

Grandma’s Kitchen, created by Fairlady Media.

Four- to 7-year olds will enjoy Grandma’s Kitchen, which is $2 for the iPad and iPhone. Seven food-theme games are presented by an eccentric grandmother figure, who serves up jigs and snappy one liners along with math and reading games. You can customize this app for your child in the parent menu to turn on and off the activities. Don’t tell the children, but the brain behind the grandmother is Connie Bossert,  who has a doctorate in educational psychology.