iPod Apps for Older Kids

Posted on April 15, 2010 by LJ Earnest
Categories: Software

Photo by William Hook

My daughter loves my iPod Touch. When I first got it I thought I would load up some games for her so that I could use the device as a distraction and a reward.

I went looking for suggestions, and while I found many lists of software appropriate for small children (toddlers and preschoolers), I had a difficult time locating software for a second-grader.

By some experimentation, I have come up with 10 applications my daughter loves:

Doodle Buddy

Free. My daughter saw this game before on a friend’s iPhone and asked me for it the minute I bought my Touch. Doodle Buddy allows you to draw on a blank canvas, on copies of saved photos, or play tic-tac-toe. It’s a great game for doodling.

Bubble Wrap

Free. What child doesn’t like to pop the bubbles in sheets of bubble wrap? BubbleWrap lets you do this virtually.

Spongebob Diner Dash

Lite version: free; full version $4.99. My daughter loves Spongebob Squarepants, and in this game Spongebob is playing host, server and busboy in a busy diner.

Disney All Star Cards

$2.99. My daughter wanted a game to play Go Fish. This suite of card games also includes Hearts, Crazy Eights, Solitaire, Memory Master and a Card Toss. It was well worth the price.

Waterslide

Free. My banker told me about this one. You are going down a waterslide, tilting the Touch to steer. It’s fast paced, challenging, but not overwhelming.

Sheepstacker

Lite version: free; full version $1.99. In this game you drop sheep on top of each other to form a tower. It reminds me very much of Wallace and Gromit: A Close Shave. Very cute, and challenging without being too difficult.

Mancala FS5

Lite version: free; full version $1.99. This is a great game of Mancala, which can be played either against the Touch or another person. It’s got great graphics, and the game is easy enough for a grade-schooler to understand.

Tooples

Lite version: free; full version $1.99. My daughter likes to play Yahtzee, but I wanted a Yahtzee game without all the frills. Tooples answered that need. All it does is a straight-forward Yahtzee game, without any rule changes or heavy graphics and sound.

TanZen

Lite version: free; full version $0.99. This tanagram game has great controls to allow you to drag the pieces of the original square into various shapes. Very relaxing.

Koi Pond

Full version: $0.99. While this is not a “game”, it is an interactive fish pond, with adjustable settings. You can feed the fish, move the water, and have the fish “nibble” on your still finger. During the holidays the fish turn colors and are fed with gingerbread men. Even though it’s not a game, my daughter loves to play with the fish.

Do you have any recommendations for games?

Photo by William Hook