iPhone Mobile Applications for the Kids to Play

There are so many great apps in the Apple iTunes app store that are fun for the kids to play. Apple does a good job with its app store policies to make the applications that are listed in the kids sections as games and applications that will not be inappropriate for your kid to use.

Due to Apple's strict policies their is very little adult content on the app store in general so the Apple iPhone is a great device for parents to allow their kids to use to stay occupied during down times of the day. There are great games that can chew up time on a car ride, but there are also great apps like coloring / drawing applications, creative applications, and other apps that are geared for the child audience.

The following list will continue to grow in time with additional applications that are designed for kids or are enjoyed by kids. Hopefully this list will get you searching for the names on your iPhone and you can stumble across some other applications as well.

Feel free to post in the comments any applications that your kids enjoy and I will create a little review about them in time.

The app by the kids toy company Legos - Legos 4+ is loved by the young ones in my life. I like to toss on several different kids apps for my phone cause the iPhone can bring silence to a crying 5 year old instantly. Finding the right game can be hard and so when, they play a game and then they play it again and again it is always good. This game is in the kids section and is a lot of fun for kids that are at a younger age. Many games while looking cool do not have the ease of play as this game. Build a truck and go drive it on a course picking up lego parts is one of the levels with easy to understand directions, with arrows etc. Give this game a try next time you need an app for a young kid to play with.

Monkey Flight by Donutgames

Monkey Flight is a funny game for kids to play. Your monkey sits up on top of a coconut tree and when you pull the tree back towards the ground it loads the monkey to be sent screaming to the sky. As the monkey is flying and bouncing around he collects different fruits from bananas to oranges to many other little items all the time trying to avoid the rocks and muddy puddles, which stop his movement. The fun part of the game comes when you are about to hit an object you can tap the monkey on the screen and he will fart and make himself fly much higher into the sky. Monkey Flight has lots of levels of play and can keep most young kids giggling and laughing with the bouncing fruit eating monkey for hours.

Monkey Flight has a lite version and full version for just 99 cents.

A free app Memory Planet Matching Mania! Is a great app for the kids.  It is a standard memory game with many different card themes.  The app has multiple different ways to play such as you versus the computer, you versus your friends in head to head memory matching games, or now through a partnership with OpenFeint Memory Matching can be played with lots of people in their multiplayer system.  This game has lots of different themes to keep the games interesting such as sea creatures, mythical animals, fruits, etc.  The graphics were designed in a way to be very appealing to kids and will keep your kids playing for a long time.

Memory Planet by Touch Apps is a free application on the iTunes App Store.

Poke a Penguin by Workavoidance.net

This simple game is exactly as the name describes, there is lots of little penguins on the screen and it will be your little kids job to touch them and make them disappear like magic. This is not like whack a mole, you cant be clubbing on the cute penguins, this is poke a penguin it is much more politically correct since whack a penguin would almost be like clubbing baby seals and that is not kid friendly.

Thankfully Poke a penguin is just a nice little time consumer for little ones that want to play with mom or dads iphone.

Poke a Penguin is a free application on the Apple app store.

Doodle by Recreation Software

The Doodle Application is a really nice little application for making simple drawings.  The application has 6 different colors, black, yellow, green, red, blue and white.  The other feature of the Doodle app is the ability to save, load, email, or export as a photo, so that you can save the little iPhone doodles that your kids make and still print them out and place them on the kitchen refrigerator.  The iPhone is not the best device for making drawings due its small size and touch screen which while very nice is not the best method for making a precise movement on the screen for a drawing.  The application does have a great undo button that keeps track of every change that you make and can undo all the way back to the start of drawing if you need to edit a mistake.

Overall iPhone’s aren’t the best medium for drawing, the iPad maybe a much different experience, however when faced with a four year old that wanted to draw something two weekends ago this, 99 cent app came in handy and the little man was able to make all kinds of different pictures even figuring out the save and undo features after showing him once. 

PBS Kids Photo Factory by PBS Kids

PBS Kids Photo Factory is a great iPhone app for kids to be able to play with.  This application utilizes the iPhone’s internal camera or the pictures in the camera roll of the phone.  The application lets your kids take pictures of themselves or their surroundings and then with creatively make their own scenes with lots of clip art from popular kid characters.  Some of the characters included in the application are Curious George, Sid the Science Guy, Clifford, Sesame Street, Arthur, and many more.  This app lets your kids use the technology and then be creative to come up with their own cool unique pictures. 

The application is set up for easily sharing the pictures through iPhoto, Email, Twitter, or Facebook. iPhoto, Email, Twitter, or Facebook. 

The PBS Kids Photo Factory is a free iPhone application and should be downloaded for any kids that like to take pictures as it is a fun way for them to be interactive with the device, their surroundings, and some of their favorite TV and book characters.

Ballooinimals by IDEO

Balloonimals is a fun little application, that has great colorful graphics and exceptional animations for an iPhone application. The application starts with a long balloon the type you see at the carnivals with the clowns that make puppies, hearts, and hats to entertain the kids. When you blow into the microphone of the phone the balloon starts to inflate. Shaking the iphone begins the process of twisting and turning the balloon into a big green dinosaur. You can make the dino move by touching his legs and body. When you are done and ready to make another dinosaur or a new animal simply continue to blow more air into the balloon with the little pump button until it pops.

This is a simple application that can provide a unique experience for your child by playing with the ballooninimals.

This application is created by the people at IDEO, a very innovative and creative global design consultancy company. There is a free version with the option to upgrade for lots of additional animals...errrrr balloonimals!

My Coloring Book Free by Gortz Media

The My Coloring book is an excellent little application for the younger kids to play with.  It has several different pages that can be flipped through with dozens of little segments on each page that can be “painted” by pressing them with your finger.  There is a very vibrant color palette included the coloring book application.  The buttons are easy to flip back and forth to select new colors.  There is a zoom button that allows your kid to zoom in close to the picture to make sure that when they are selecting the finer detailed components of the coloring book that they can easily select the portion to paint with the right color.  Then back out to see the fully colored picture.

This is a free application and is worth the download for the child that enjoys painting and being creative.  They can paint the grass purple and the sky green and then quickly change it to whatever they are thinking next and that goes for all of the simple pages set up in this application for coloring.