Apple posted another great section on the App Store for those of you who have preschool and kindergarten aged kids (and since updated to apps for elementary kids). There were some really good app recommendations through the various sections.

Possibly my favorite section was the ‘Books’ section, because these books are full blown apps, and not just books. They can be fully interactive, with games, videos, story telling modes, etc.

Here’s a screen shot of some the selection that is offered, click on the image to enlarge:

An app that caught my attention in the ‘Family Time’ section is The Land of Me – Story Time.

This allows you to create your own story with your kids! You can choose the hero and the story they embark on, as well as the tone of the story. This app could really get the creative juices flowing for your children. The app is for iPad only and is $2.99.

Another great app to look into is Bugs and Numbers. Many kids hate the concept of learning math, unless of course it can be made into a game!

Full of games, puzzles, and activities, this app will help make learning math fun for a child!

This is the main synopsis of the app from the App Store:

Bugs and Numbers provides an extensive collection of unique games dedicated to learning and practicing a wide range of math skills in a non-traditional way. Organized into three basic stages, the app grows with your child through 18 games ranging from basic counting to early fractions. Designed around a bug city, each game is crafted for a basic set of math skills with an eccentric and fun parallel to our own society. Imagine serving bugs food at the local diner that happens to spin on an old vinyl record, or help ferry ants across water in an egg carton. It’s fun, unique, and most importantly, educational. 

Bugs and Numbers is for both iPad and iPhone, and is $2.99.

Hopefully this will give you some good apps to help you play with and teach your young ones!

Do you have someone that just loves to mess with your iPhone? You know what I’m talking about, you get back to your phone and your wallpaper is your friends face, or he/she makes it where your phone says ‘meow’ when you type in ‘now.’ Those kind of pranks can leave you searching for the culprit at times.

Here is the app that can help you catch those conniving friends of yours.

Big Brother is an awesome free app that you can put on your iPhone, that will take incriminating photos of the people that are trying to prank you.

Here is how it works:

You open the app, and you set up a lock code, similar to the phones lock screen. The code has no real effect on the phone, just the app. Someone can press the home button on your phone and exit the app without entering the code, BUT the app will take a picture of the person who exits the app!

So what you’ll want to do is, before you leave your phone on your desk, open up Big Brother, then lock your screen and walk away – that will set the trap.

Basically the app will take your picture if:

You exit the app, you enter the wrong code, you enter the right code, plus it will geotag the photo with a location and time stamp. Once the pictures are taken, it will email you the photos, the location, and the time.

Here are a couple screen shots of what the app looks like:

The above screen is is the basic overview of the app, showing you all the different app interactions and who has messed with your phone.

The above picture has an individualized view of a single interaction within the app. As you see there is the date/time, the photos of the culprit, and the geotagged location of where the interaction happened. Just like that, you have caught the prankster.

Check out the app, it’s really cool, and can come in handy! Head here!