Duck Duck Moose Apps – free today! August 26, 2016

Duck Duck Moose

It’s been awhile. Our summer has been PACKED with activities. I’m looking forward to the fall when things slow down, and we are back into our homeschooling rhythm and routine.

I saw this fabulous deal today…seriously DO NOT miss out on this freebie deal. Duck Duck Moose made all their apps free today. I simply love their learning apps for kids. They develop wonderfully interactive and engaging apps. I haven’t ventured over to check out their offerings in a while since we are well past early learning apps. Some of our all time faves: Old MacDonald, Wheels on the Bus, Fish School, Moose Math, Park Math and Word Wagon….plus a lot of others.

I am excited to get out Pet Bingo, Chatterpix and Wizard School which are targeted towards older elementary kids.

Ages: 2 to 12 (depending on the app)

L@WS

Summer Reading Programs 2016 May 10, 2016

Scholastic Summer Reading Challenge. This year’s Be a Hero and Read Challenge invites students to help Read for the World Record. A free online program designed to motivate and excite your children around reading books this summer. There are special books to unlock and rewards to earn as you bank your minutes. The Summer Challenge is an easy and fun way for kids to log the minutes they spend reading as they earn rewards. You can also organize your local school group to read together to see how much your school reads together.
Book Adventure | Free Reading Program. Sylvan’s Learning Centers. Book Adventure is a fun, free way to motivate your child to read! Kids in grades K-8 can search for books, read them offline, come back to quiz on what they have read, and earn prizes for their reading success. Program is on-going.
Summer Reading – Barnes & Noble. The Barnes & Noble Summer Reading Triathlon is here to help encouraging you to read books of your own choosing and earn a FREE book, simply by following these three easy steps: 1. Choose 3 of the 4 listed activities and record your answer in your Reading Journal. 2. Bring your completed journal to a Barnes & Noble store between May 17th  and September 6th, 2016. 3. Choose your FREE reading adventure from the book list featured on the back of the journal. 
Half Price Books – Feed Your Brain Summer Reading Program

For kids 14 and under:

1. Read for at least 15 minutes each day for a month. (Grown-ups may read aloud to kids who are still learning.)
2. Add up your minutes and have your parent or guardian initial each week.
3. Once you’ve read 300 minutes, turn in your completed reading log to earn your $5 HPB Bookworm Bucks reading reward for the month. This is only good for June and July 2016 only. Bookworm bucks expire September 1st.

We’ll award one top reader per age group each month with a TOP READER prize – a $20 HPB Gift Card!*

Reward Your Kid With Rewards Calendars How about earning free tokens on their next visit to Chuck E. Cheese’s? Print out a free rewards calendar to get started. Mark the days off with a pen or sticker as your child accomplishes their goals. Bring in the completed calendars to your local Chuck E. Cheese’s and receive 10 free tokens as a reward. You can do this as many times as you like before 12/31/16, but only one chart may be redeemed per child per day.

LifeWay’s national summer reading program helps promote the love of reading books as well as encouraging the love of God’s word through reading his Scripture.

Source: LifeWay R.E.A.D. – Summer Reading Program for Kids – LifeWay

Lifeway is a chain of Christian bookstores. If you have one near you, your child can participate in their program which runs from June 1 – August 31 for students in 1st to 6th grade. Read six books and memorize six Bible verses. Complete the downloadable reading journal and turn it in at your local store for a free book and Bible.

Soar With Reading – a joint project with JetBlue and Random House Children’s Books.

This is not a traditional summer reading program sponsored by Jet Blue. Your child gets an opportunity to help donate Magic Tree House books to needy children during each entry period. Your child will have to draw on their knowledge of geography and the clues given by Mary Pope Osborne to figure out where Jack and Annie are travelling for their next adventure. Each correct entry will be entered into a drawing for a free airline flight for two and hotel accommodations. (this year’s contest has not be launched yet.)

Make reading fun with our Summer Reading Program | TD Bank.

Hey kids in grades K-5, participating is easy:

 Read 10 books this summer.

• Print out the summer reading form.
• Write down the names of the books you’ve read
• Take the form to the nearest TD Bank
• Receive $10 in a new existing Young Saver account
• Excellence in Reading – Mensa for Kids.Earn a commemorative certificate in recognition of your outstanding achievement and get an Excellence in Reading T-shirt, too! The Mensa Foundation recognizes and encourages education, gifted youth and lifelong learning through programs like the Mensa for Kids Web site and other activities. To encourage the joy of reading, the Foundation has developed the Mensa for Kids Excellence in Reading Award Program! Read and earn a free t-shirt and award certificate. This is a year-round program.

 

Of local interest to San Diegans, your child can earn free admission to the San Diego Fair by reading 10 books. You can download a reading log here.

For Homeschoolers:

Pizza Hut BOOK IT! Program. Pizza Hut has a homeschool reading rewards program that allows you to participate in a reading rewards program. Enroll here for your K-6 (5 to 12 years old) students.

Homeschool Buyers Co-op has summer reading program that gives each participating student a chance to win for every hour read. You may also count listening to audio books or time you spent reading to your child. You must log in your daily reading on the Reading Champions to earn your chances to win prizes from the Community Treasure Chest. The program runs from June 1st to September 1st.

Always, sign up for your local library reading programs. Happy reading this summer with your kids!

L@WS

P.S. If you are at a loss for picking good books for your kids to read, check out my blog about Good Literature here: http://wp.me/p1M41l-XW

WeDo 2.0 Curriculum Pack – One cent sale! (regular $289.95) February 13, 2016

Built on Next Generation Science Standards, the WeDo 2.0 Curriculum Pack aids second through fourth grade educators in delivering key science content.

If you have the Lego WeDo kits which introduce robotics to 2nd to 4th graders…this upgrade kit (targeted to teachers) is only ONE PENNY right now.  Quick jump on this here:  WeDo 2.0. It’s legit…I just got this for my Jr. First Lego League team. We will now be able to get to interface with our iPads. Learn more about WeDo here: WeDo

L@WS

Lots of currently free apps from Toca Boca, Boca, Tiggly and Swiggles November 6, 2015

Source: Tiggly Doctor: Check up on your verbs in this fun spelling game on the App Store

Source: Tiggly Story Maker: Build Words and Record Your Own Tales on the App Store

Source: Tiggly Submarine: Preschool ABC Game on the App Store

Source: Bamba Surprise on the App Store

Source: Toca Hair Salon on the App Store

Source: Swiggles – A fun and simple game for toddlers on the App Store

Source: Swiggles Colors on the App Store

These apps are currently free, but I don’t know how long they will last. The Tiggly apps are aimed at early learning skills. The ones I linked are best for ages 3 to 6. They introduce spelling, phonemic awareness and vocabulary. Tiggly has designed these apps to interact with Tiggly toys, but you can play using the touch screen option. There are other Tiggly apps that are also free like Tiggly Chef, Tiggly Safari, Tiggly Draw, Tiggley Addventure, Tiggly Cardtoons and Tiggly Stamp which focus of early math skills.

Bamba is another maker of early learning apps which are aimed at a slightly younger age range at 2 and up. The one I linked is aimed more at preschoolers while their other pretend play apps like Bamba Burger, Bamba Ice Cream, Bamba Pizza and Bamba Post Office are fun for younger kids.

Toca Hair Salon is just fun playful app for ages 3 to 6. Toca Boca develops some of the best apps on the market for this age group. They should be scooped up when they are free. These are must have apps. Younger kids can also play with Toca Boca apps as tapping and swiping will always do something on the screen.

Swiggles is a decent app for very young kids in the toddler age range. It will flip through the silly monster faces with a peekaboo effect with one type of app motion like swiping, tapping, and shaking. The second one names the colors as the faces rotate through. It’s fine for a free app, but I wouldn’t actually pay money for this one.

Other app makers that I like for the younger set (ages 2 to 5) which may or may not be free right now are Tizzy, Wonderkind (makes the uber fun Seek and Find and Tiny apps), Fairlady Media, Gazilli, Dr. Panda, Duck Duck Goose, Tropisounds (wooden puzzles), Wombi puzzle, Tribal Nova, Little Bit Studio (math), Build A Word by @Reks, Playsmart-Kids, Bugsy, Klicktock (hidden pictures), Innovative Mobile, Fisher Price, Lego Duplo, Lakeshore Learning Materials, Tappi Bear (just for fun) apps. Older kids also still love to play these apps as well though they may not want to admit it. There are plenty more out there that I didn’t list on here.

For toddlers and preschoolers, hands down the best app bargain is the Teach Me series of apps which go from toddler to 3rd grade which you can read about here: http://wp.me/p1M41l-fU

L@WS

 

Fireworks Lab – currently free

Source: Fireworks Lab on the App Store

Fun app for toddlers and preschoolers to play with fireworks. This app is normally $1.99. Design your own displays and tap to make them explode across a starry night sky.

Recommended for toddlers and pre-K. Older kids may still enjoy this, but this game play is very simple which makes it perfect for the younger set.
L@WS

Ticket to Ride Pocket – currently free

Source: Ticket to Ride Pocket on the App Store

Source: Ticket to Ride Europe Pocket on the App Store

This is one of my all time favorite German style board games to play. The mobile pocket versions is totally free right now. This is an award winning app. This is perfect to whiling away time on your holiday travels for yourself or the kids. I love that you can opt to play locally over wi-fi or bluetooth so that you can play with whoever you are hanging out with.

I love that Ticket to Ride engages you in thinking strategically since you are not building routes in isolation.

Recommended ages 8 and up.

L@WS

ETA: Be sure you are looking at iPhone apps on your device.

Dr. Panda’s Mailman – free for a limited time. October 26, 2015

Source: Dr. Panda’s Mailman on the App Store

We love Dr. Panda apps over here. This is such a fun app for kids ages 4 to 6 to engage in pretend play. You get to be a mailman and deliver mail to 10 different animals in different places as you explore the Dr. Panda world. This is an award-winning app for children. Grab this deal while it’s free because this app for the iPad/iPhone is normally $3.99. Just in time to save this game for holiday travel entertainment.

Recommended for ages 4 to 6.

L@WS