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Review: Two addictively fun apps for toddlers (and parents)

Posted Apr 20, 2011 by Courtney Cairns Pastor

Updated Apr 20, 2011 at 05:10 PM

I adore my iPad, wiping it lovingly with its dust-free cloth after each use and shelving it high in my bedroom, far away from little fingers.

So an app has to be exceptional for me to let a certain sticky-fingered toddler sit down with mommy’s iPad (as I hold it, though. I’ve seen how he hurls his toys across the room when he’s done with them).

I’ve been enjoying two worthy children’s apps that make the fingerprints, banging and occasional slobber worth it – Tap Tap Baby and the Three Little Pigs.

Nosy Crow’s interactive retelling of the Three Little Pigs is beautifully illustrated, fun and funny and – whoops on my part – a little scary for kids new to the story. The first time we read/played it, my 20-month-old got so sucked into the plot that he began to whimper as the wolf huffed and puffed.

The tale is the traditional one but feels fresh. As you read along, by yourself or with the narrator, you can tap characters to hear one-liners. You can flick them to make them jump and spin and toss sticks, straw and bricks to build their piggie houses. You can even play the villain’s role and blow the houses down.

The vivid backgrounds almost look three dimensional, and you can zoom in to see details or tilt your iPad for a broader view of the scene.

It’s designed for ages 3 and up, and those children would get the most out of it. My son touches the screen but doesn’t always understand how to make characters move and talk. I do it for him (OK, I also do it for me, because those little pigs just crack me up and I like to make them run from the wolf). But the app captivates him, too. He sits more still for the Pigs than any book or television show.

I’m excited to see Nosy Crow’s future projects, including Cinderella this summer and Little Red Riding Hood this fall.

Tap Tap Baby, meanwhile, is geared more for my son’s age, and he takes the lead when we play, toggling between screens and squealing when he taps something and it responds to him. From MoonFry Labs, Tap Tap Baby is three games in one, with lots of bold colors, silly sounds and animal noises to keep the 0-3 crowd entertained.

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It stars a giggly monkey. One game is a landscape, where your child taps the sun, tree, house and more for visual and aural surprises. I thought we had uncovered everything after a couple of weeks until my son accidentally (?) touched another part of the graphic and the monkey popped up with a “peek a boo!”

Another screen is the monkey’s face, which will laugh, growl and cry when you tap it. This is high comedy for toddlers, and mine especially likes it when I imitate the monkey.

The third game offers no monkey but has another baby and toddler favorite – animal sounds. Touch one of the animals, and it will make the appropriate animal noise. My son can’t get enough of the cat, whose “mrow” is just like our cat’s.

The only downside of the games, if there is one, is that now every time my son sees my iPad, he yells, “Monkey! Monkey!”