Toys ‘R’ Us Great Big Christmas Book: There’s an App for That

Halloween’s over and you know what that means?  That’s right, the Holiday shopping season cranks up a notch.  While the shelves might have been touting dancing Santas and singing reindeers for a few weeks now, marketers and retailers have been working overtime for months in preparation for the upcoming Holiday season.

As mentioned before, many of us bloggers were attending holiday previews way back in May, so, be prepared to see an influx of holiday coverage on blogs this year, NKT included.

We can’t cover holiday shopping without highlighting the thrill of the hunt—for kids, that is!  While many of us plan to scour the malls, websites and shops for the best deals, in many cases, it all starts with that carefully-crafted Christmas list.  And guess what?

Of course, there’s an app for that.

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Happy Birthday, Elmo! And a Review of the Monster Maker

I’m not sure if you’re aware, but today is America’s favorite fuzzy red monster’s birthday.

Yup, Elmo turns 3 today (again, I know!) Happy Birthday, big guy!

In honor of Elmo’s birthday, I thought I’d mention this new app released by Sesame Workshop, which just so happens to feature the birthday boy himself.

Elmo’s Monster Maker App, which is now available on iTunes, is an app where kids of all ages can create their own monster. With all the different body parts, the choices are limitless as to how many unique monsters can be created. With this app, kids become more aware of several different body parts, with a little Sesame Street-style creativity.

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Free Fun with Halloween Photocraft

351663_4There are tons of great Halloween-themed apps out there right now, but Halloween Photocraft is a great, fun free app. With this app, you can either take a photo or use an existing photo and add all sorts of fun Halloween graphics.

After finishing your creation, I love how you can just Tweet it, Email it or add it to the photo library directly from the app. Easy peasy! Halloween Photocraft is a perfect app to use while you’re out and about enjoying all the Halloween festivities. This app is ad-supported, but best of all, it’s fun and free! Check it out in the App Store.

Myhomework App: if only it did the homework

myhomeworkThe start of fall and the beginning of the school year definitely go hand in hand. And with the new season and new school year often comes a new calendar of activities and yes, homework! As a writer, I will always be a fan of the old fashioned calendars and journals. But, let’s face it, being on the computer all the time and having an iPod/iPhone always onhand has changed the way we keep track of things.

For the older students, luckily for them, there are a ton of great free apps that will help them to stay on task and get their assignments and activities in order. The MyHomework app has great graphics, which resembles a physical planner and can be used for assignments, tests, notes and much more. This straightforward and extremely user-friendly app is one of the most downloaded educational apps on iTunes and best of all, it’s free!

A student named Kyle does a quick overview and review on YouTube, which I thought was great!

Connect the dots, la la la

We recently booked our flights to attend my cousin’s destination wedding in Hawaii next month.  We’re extremely excited, but right now, the thought of flying 10+ hours with a very active toddler gives me the shakes.  Someone hold me.  Though used to road trips where you can pull over if needed, uh, there’s no pulling over on a direct flight that long.  I’m already plotting the activities, books and games that we’ll use to entertain him.  So, while perusing the latest iPhone Apps with our trip in mind, I came across Join the Dots Lite.

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Join the Dots Lite is an app that allows the user to connect the dots and then color the image, just like the olden days.  (Except instead of crayons and coloring books, it’s fingertips and iPods!)  It features 3 different lines to connect, as well as 8 kinds of colors to paint. Best of all, it’s a free!  Who doesn’t love to connect the dots?  The app is suggested for kids 4 and up, but I’m excited to download it so I can connect the dots and have the kid color it!  Teamwork!