Three noteworthy apps for children this week let children freely explore early music and logic experiences.
Sago Mini Sound Box app.For the youngest possible iPad users, ages 2 to 4, there is Sago Mini Sound Box, free on iPad or iPhone. Want to see a 21st-century rattle? This app engages even the youngest child, even toddlers, with musical concepts in a way that can be done only with a motion-sensing touch screen. There are nine sound collections that include chimes, drums or animals. Each tap makes a colorful dot that rolls around the screen; longer touches make higher sounds and bigger dots. This is the first app by Sago Sago, the Canadian studio recently acquired by Toca Boca. The first edition was Sound Shaker.
Pitch Painter app.For preschooler and early elementary children, Pitch Painter, $3.99 on iPad, offers a musical finger painting experience. A child’s finger becomes a musical paintbrush, where colors equal sounds, in this case from musical instruments from around the world. This app was made by Morton Subotnick, a music educator with a history of using computers to help children see musical relationships. Need to know: The menu is rather cryptic, but once you figure it out, there are a lot of cool effects to try. For example, you can make a song and then flip it upside down, or hear it backward.
Bugs and Buttons app.Finally, it’s nice to see an excellent app like Bugs and Buttons, $2.99, for iPhone and iPad also become available for Android devices and for the Kindle Fire and Nook. Children can explore 18 well-crafted math games that playfully infuse mathematical learning with swarms of insects. The activities start easy, and grow harder as your competence in sorting, counting and classifying increases.
