I am currently on vacation in Switzerland with my family and my sister got us hooked on Monument Valley. Ella (8) and I just figured out the last level. What a beauty of a game. Absolutely stunning. My respect to the makers, USTWO.
Just launched: Plants by Tinybop
I am so incredibly excited for my friends at Tinybop: They just released their second iOS app called Plants, a vibrant, interactive diorama of the world’s biomes!
Plants is the second app in Tinybop’s Explorer’s Library. The first, The Human Body, reached the #1 spot on the App Store’s education charts in 143 countries and was named one of the App Store’s Best of 2013. Like the Human Body, Plants is a slow-play app which aims to help kids make connections about the world and prompt big questions. Can’t wait to explore it tonight with my kids!
Buy Plants for $1.99 in iTunes. And most of all, make sure to check out this epic (!) stop animation by Kelli Anderson.
Luckey Climbers
A Luckey Climber is a three dimensional sculpture designed for children to climb on.
Made of bent plywood platforms that are suspended by steel pipes and cables, climbers are visually elegant works of art that are also part jungle gym and once alive with children they become what Thomas Luckey called “fountains of children.“
Absolutely love this.
(Also, made me think of this episode…)
Paper Dresses
The cool mom of the day award most certainly goes to Angie, mother of 4 year old Mayhem. Together they create elaborate dresses out of paper.
(via Anju)
Paolo Creative Toy
Paolo is a toy after my own heart. Totally modular and slightly goofy. Each Paolo box comes with 122 durable figure pieces and 50 plug-in connectors that let you or your kids concoct creatures of the most fantastic kind.
Toca Lab
I am a huge fan of Toca Boca apps and always get excited when a new one is about to launch. I am counting the minutes until Toca Lab launches tomorrow. Toca Lab lets you explore the colorful and electrifying world of science and meet all 118 of the elements from the periodic table.
You Don’t Know Africa
I remember learning and knowing all of the African countries in High School. I am glad David Bauer built You Don’t Know Africa to help me refresh my memory. There’s worse ways to spend a few Internet minutes. So, go ahead, play.
OTO Cardboard Ice Cream Truck
I just got a personal hand-delivery of one of the first OTO Cardboard Ice Cream Trucks by no other than the inventor, Måns Swanberg, himself. (I wrote about the Kickstarter back in March.) If you’re a parent of a little one, you might want to bookmark this one. You can even create a custom plate in your kids name. Totally adorable. My kids will be giddy when they get this for the holidays. A total winner!
UPDATE: Måns just emailed me with a discount code! Use SWISSMISS at checkout and get 10% off.
Team Tattly took it for a spin, 5 minutes after arriving at Tattly HQs. of course. And, I took over a shift as well.
Smileball
Ladies and gentlemen, here goes your day: Smileball – the first smile-controlled pinball game. Play it online.
(Thanks Daniel)
Camper Play Tent
This Camper Play Tent would have made me *so* happy as a little kid.
The Human Body
The Human Body, the first app by Tinybop is finally out. It was illustrated by the wonderful Kelli Anderson, who wrote an interesting blog post about the process.
The Human Body lets you explore a working model of the body. Every part is beautifully animated and interactive: the heart beats, guts gurgle, lungs breathe, the skin feels, and eyes see. Designed for kids ages 4+ to discover what we’re made of and how we work.
Do yourself (and your kids) a favor and download it pronto. It’s stunning. Stunning. Stunning.
Tinybop
Nothing gets me more excited than watching friends going from telling me about an app idea to launching it. My studiomate Raul and his Tinybop Team have been hard at work and are about to launch a series of educational apps, the first one is simply called The Human Body. The app, designed by no other than super-talented Kelli Anderson, allows kids to explore and interact with the human body, teaching them what we’re made of. The app is about to be released in 48 languages around the world and I am certain it will make huge waves.
I’ve had many conversations with Raul about what we consider a successful kids app. While we of course agree on smart interactions, beautiful design and all, we also agree that kids should be never exposed to touts for in-app purchases or any other kind of advertising. Raul promised that kids will neve be exposed to any of that in any Tinybop app. This deserves a YAY!
Get a sneak peek of the app on their brand new site and sign up for their newsletter to be the first to know when the app is ready to play.
I can’t wait to Tinybop!
Elastic Patterns
This is the kind of toy that gets me really excited: Elastic Pattern lets you create mandalas, patterns, geometric shapes. The set includes a wooden base, 13 wooden pegs and an assortment of muticolored rubber elastics. What I love most is that it comes packed inside a small bag for handy transport! Yay for analog toys.
Tall Chess
Tall Chess is a beautifully designed Chess Game for the iPhone by the fine folks of Friends Of The Web. Unlike other chess apps, Tall Chess uses the entire screen of the device to present the game board, keeping the focus on the game, not extraneous and unnecessary interface elements. You can challenge your friends or an auto-match opponent via Game Center and if you’re a complete chess nerd you might be happy to know that you can export your games in algebraic notation.
Go download Tall Chess for free on the App Store, and challenge your friends!
TocaBoca Builder
My kids were lucky to get their hands on a not yet released TocaBoca app called Builders. I have never seen both my 7 and 3 year old more enthralled by a game. Ella kept shouting: “This is so much fun!”
And now that they’re sleeping, it’s my turn! Make sure to watch the above video to see what the fun is all about. The app is scheduled to be released on Thursday!
TocaBoca keeps impressing!
A Cardboard Food Truck for Kids
OTO is a seriously adorable cardboard food truck for kids with a campaign going on over on indiegogo. My kids would get a total kick out of playing with OTO! I just backed the campaign, join me?
How To Make a Paper Bow
Here’s a fun tutorial teaching you how to make a paper bow like the one above.
Swoop Mini
Swoop (LEGO) bags now come in “mini“. Perfect for New York City sized apartments.
Hopscotch | Coding for Kids
Hopscotch is a brand new iPad app that teaches kids coding. It allows them to create an interactive program on the iPad by dragging blocks of code and dropping them into a scripting area. No typing required. Beautifully designed! This makes me so happy! Can’t wait to try this with my daughter tonight!
Children’s Market Stand
IKEA came out with this incredibly adorable cardboard kids market stand. It’s a mere $15. Imagine the fun to be had.
Tiny Ping Pong Table
I am all for multifunctional furniture like this kids ping pong table gone coffee table gone chalk board surface by Huzi.
Wee You-Things Blocks
If there was an award for cutest kids building blocks, Wee Society would take it home! The Wee You-Things Blocks are a thing of beauty. I can’t wait to show them to my kids tonight and then, when they are in bed, prominently display them on our coffee table! These are too pretty to hide in one of my kids’ room!
Each set of blocks is created with replenishable basswood, printed with non-toxic inks and made by really nice folks in Michigan who have been making heirloom wood toys for generations.
Yay for well designed, and well crafted kids toys.
MaddieCam
The 0.99$ I spent on MaddieCam on Sunday have already paid off a hundred times over. Haven’t had this much fun with an app in a while. Maddie is the famous internet coonhound that stands on things and now, you can put her on anything you’d like, thanks to MaddieCam.
There’s also a fantastic book out about her: Maddie on Things. Oh, and she once stood on my desk.
Yes, I am a fan.
Letters Puzzle
Tilo’s recent obsession with everything ABC makes me want to splurge and buy this Wooden Letter Puzzle.