This Week’s New Educational Apps

Image of Peter & the Wolf from iTunes

• Doodle Tales This is a free app for doodling and creating storybooks that’s well worth a look if you’ve got kids who like to draw and paint. There are a couple of branded in-app purchases with stickers and backgrounds, but the app works perfectly well without them. iOS only. Download it here.
• Peter & the Wolf The film from which this e-book has been adapted won an Oscar, and the app offers beautiful animation and stunning graphics. Best to check it out before putting it in the hands of very young children, though, as it could be a bit scary. iOS only. Download it here.
• Oceanhouse Media, creators of the I Just Forgot and If I Ran the Zoo e-books, has put its Smithsonian “omBooks” (digital books) on sale through May 14^th. Each of the five titles, including Woolly Mammoth in Trouble and Polar Bear Horizon, is on sale for $.99. Oceanhouse has also launched an education center on its website, designed to help teachers, parents and homeschoolers use the omBOoks as teaching tools. Finally, teachers who visit the company’s Facebook page can enter a contest to win ten Oceanhouse Media apps of their choice.
• Willbee The Bumblebee This new app from Kiwa Media looks like lots of fun for the under fives, with lovely illustrations, lots of interactive coloring activities and a touch-to-spell feature that spells out any word when you tap it. iPad only. Download it here.
• The Tate Gallery has just launched a new app, Damien Hirst, to complement an exhibit of the Young British Artist’s work at London’s Tate Modern museum. The exhibit is the first major U.K. show of Hirst’s oeuvre. The app offers plenty of visuals, text and insight into Hirst’s revolutionary artwork. iOS only. Download it here.

Image of Peter & the Wolf from iTunes

By Nell Wulfhart