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Apps for your grandkids

By Rachel - Silversurfers Assistant Editor Apr 2, 2015

Keeping your Grandkids entertained is not always the easiest task especially if they’re cooped up due to the weather or stuck in the car during a long trip.

Thankfully smart phones and tablets have given us millions of apps that can entertain anywhere at any time.

So if you’re looking to keep your children distracted, stimulated, or both here are 10 great apps for kids of all ages.

Education

  • Handwriting Without Tears (iOS) £4.99
  • This handy app projects templates of letters on the screen that children can trace over to learn the letter’s shape and style. Made to appear as a blackboard and with a voice-over coach keeping them up to speed, this app is a great and rewarding way for younger children to learn the alphabet.
  • Comics in the Classroom (iOS) Free, extra stories 75p each
  • From Jack the Ripper to JFK, Comics in the Classroom illustrates the most important moments and figures throughout history in a child-friendly comic book style. Detailing these historic moments is only one part of the app however as the reader also has to choose the correct answers to progress the story.
  • Twelve a Dozen (iOS) £2.99
  • As unique as it is charming, Twelve a Dozen succeeds were many other apps have failed seamlessly blending gaming and education. Somewhat of a mathematical-platform game, you guide a small robot that must multiple, subtract and divide the puzzles that will block your path.

Creative

  • Musyc (iOS) Free
  • One of the most interesting music creators available, this app makes creating melodies and songs fun and engaging. Instead of writing music you draw and place shapes which all make a different sound which can create a rhythm and eventually even a song. It’s addictive but can get noisy so you may want to keep a pair of headphones handy!
  • Drawnimal (iOS) £1.99
  • Mixing traditional drawing with digital twist, Drawnimal is great for younger children. Simply place the phone on a piece of paper and the screen will become an animal’s animated face. You’ll then be given instructions on what to draw on the paper that surrounds it, adding ears, tails and whiskers and completing the drawing.
  • colAR Mix (Android/iOS) Free
  • An interesting introduction to augmented reality, ColAR Mix lets your kids print out characters from the company’s website, colour them in and then using your smart phone or tablet’s camera to bring them to life by turning the pictures into 3D characters on the screen.
  • Toca Nature (Android/iOS) (£1.99)
  • Toca Nature is one of the most creative and charming apps on the market, you begin with an empty world, but soon you’ll be creating forests, mountains, rivers and more and slowly your own unique landscape will form.
  • Watching from afar or moving closer to witness the animals that begin to inhabit the land, the game becomes both creative and meditative as you explore your world.

Games

  • Jack and the Beanstalk (iOS) (£3.99)
  • Part storybook and part adventure game, Jack and the Beanstalk on the surface looks like an illustrated book but it’s much more than that. As you play the game, your choices directly affect the storyline with new sections opening if you collect certain artefacts.
  • The nonlinear choices really put the reader in control and offers great replay value as you search for all the different ways the story can unfold.
  • Subway Surfers (Android/iOS) Free
  • A light-hearted endless-runner game, its nonstop action as you run and jump through a packed train yard avoiding the danger that comes from every angle. A fun romp that’ll keep the kids busy for a few hours and it’s free, so it’s worth giving it a shot.
  • Scribblenauts Remix (Android/iOS) £0.79
  • One of the most unique games around, Scribblenauts is a platform game were the only way complete the puzzles is to summon objects and people from a massive database of content. You just have to type in what you need and it will appear, a fantastically simple premise that can become as complicated as the player desires.
  • A must buy at 79p, it’s a fun way of expanding your children’s vocabulary and they’ll be having too much fun to notice!

Do your Grandchildren have any favourite apps?

 

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Rachel - Silversurfers Assistant Editor

Hello there! I’m Rachel and I’m the Assistant Editor for Silversurfers. I work behind the scenes to bring interesting, informative and entertaining subject matter to the Silversurfers community. I hope you enjoy the features we have shared with you. Please feel free to comment below and share your thoughts with us, we love to hear from you!

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