Coloring App Review

As you can probably tell from my previous post, I love iphone and ipad apps to keep my kids busy and focused when it's important.

I need to share a really great app with you! The iCrayonMaker app for the ipad (also available for the iphone) is phenomenal. My 7 year old, 5 year old, and 2 year old all loved it equally and for different reasons. One app that pleases all of my kids is hard to find!

This app allows you to take boring old virtual crayons and mix them to create you own color. Once you've created the perfect color, it's magically turned into a crayon which you can use to color with in another screen.

My 2 year old loved physically swirling the colors together and watching the shade change. The more you mix with your finger, the more they change. My 5 year old loved testing out his knowledge of what colors you can mix together to make other colors. My 7 year old loved taking the crayon she created and drawing a picture with it. She especially loved the fact that you can turn your color into glitter! Awesome.

My favorite thing about this app, besides the fact that it gave me at least 20minutes to fold a load of laundry, was the paper texture on the coloring screen. It's textured almost like construction paper to make you really feel like you are coloring with crayons. I'll admit it, I got a little carried away creating my own shades of crayons and making a unique rainbow picture. :)

Another great thing about this app is that it's created by a mom. She has agreed to give away 5 free apps (either for the iphone or ipad) to our readers. All you have to do is take a peek at the app here: http://www.freemyappsnow.com/iCrayonMaker.html and tell use what you think you'll like about it. You can also friend her app at the facebook page (of follow her on twitter here: @freemyappsnow. Please tell her we sent you!

After you check out the link, comment and let us know what you like about it. Make sure we have access to your email so we can notify you if you win. We'll choose 5 lucky winners and award them a super special code to input on their device to get the app for free. Too cool!

Our contest will go until Jan 21st. Good luck and tell your friends!

Will Work 4 Apps

Can you put a price on your sanity? No?

A little bit of quiet and calmness sounds like heaven to me. Lately, I've been finding solace in apps. Whenever my toddler gets a little crazy, I start frantically flipping through the app store on my iphone or ipad to find something that will hold her attention and let her focus on.

Being able to finish a meal in an actual sit-down restaurant has finally become reality thanks to the little piece of heaven I like to call the iphone. Waiting at the Dr.s office for once didn't cause me to hyper-ventilate because the two year old had Elmo singing along with her. Once again, thank you Elmo.

Bliss. All for the price of $2.99.

Let's look at the other end of the spectrum. My 7 year old daughter will not clean up her room for anything. I've threatened, taken away prized items, promised trinkets, and done a whole reward system. Nothing has worked. She's now kept her room clean for a complete week thanks to the new Spongebob Marbles and Slide app. I can't complain. It cost less than what I was paying her to do it with an allowance.

Even better are the free versions of the games. It's nice to be able to play and get completely addicted to a game before spending the money on it i.e. Angry Birds.

The fact that my kids are learning and using some logic and reasoning to play some of the apps is a bonus. My two year old has learned most of her letters from an app and is constantly coloring and drawing. My 5 year old son has been working so hard trying to figure out Spongebob Marbles and Slides. When he beats a level, he's so excited and proud. My 7 year old has been working on flash cards to learn math facts. There's just nothing wrong with that!