Tag Archives: Reviews

Dora Let’s Play Backpack for iPad Giveaway

It is shocking but even when you have 4 kids you still can get 1 that is left out. At this point the one who can get left out the most is my baby, NerdPud. The older kids will all be in science classes or have homework. Since she is in Kindergarten all of her schooling is one on one and all fun. Which is great but it means I need to find ways to engage her while the older kids are busy! I also need to get this kid to read!!! She has been sort of doing it since she was 4 but she doesn’t have any interest in reading fluently.

Enter in Dora Let’s Play Backpack! It is a great new iPad accessory from Discovery Bay Games. It is in their Duo line of iPad games and accessories. You buy the backpack and then download the free app from iTunes. The backpack itself sits over the iPad and interactively with the app. There are 4 different types of adventures: ‘Let’s Listen,’ ‘Let’s Pack,’ ‘Let’s Match,’ and ‘Say It Two Ways’. Both players have tokens and place them on the spot that corresponds with their answer. The correct answer’s spot will open and the tokens will go into the backpack. The first person out of tokens wins!

I need to declare something up front. My kids are NOT allowed free access to my iPad. But they can earn access or when I am waiting for some kids, I use it as a bonding activity with them. That is where the Dora’s Let’s Play Backpack comes into the picture. Not only is it giving me a way to engage with her and have that valuable bonding time but it also serves as a great reward for reading. She doesn’t even notice that she is actually learning;). She loves it so much that she asks if she can read to me so she can play with Dora’s Backpack;).

The one and only problem I have had (everything can’t be hearts and flowers people) is using it outside. The first time I was using it she and I were outside under shade. We couldn’t get the backpack to interact with the app. But as soon as we went inside it worked perfectly!

You can pick up a Dora Let’s Play Backpack from Amazon for $39.99 or win one here for free!!!! Discovery Bay Games has graciously offered to give 1 away to one of my readers (In the US only, sorry)!

Mandatory Entry:

Leave a comment on this post answering this question from the NerdPud(yes, it really is what she wanted to know;): “How old were you when you learned how to read?”

Extra Entries (leave a comment for each thing you do):

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This giveaway will close October 1, 2012!

(Disclosure: I was given a Dora Let’s Play Backpack to review by Discovery Bay Games)

 

Who?Comics App

Thank you to who?Comics for sponsoring this post and encouraging my child to read biographies in comic book form! Please click here to learn more about the app. And follow who? Comics on Twitter for updates

As you all know, I am a big fan of reading and an even bigger fan of learning! So you can just imagine how excited I was to  receive the opportunity to use the who?Comics app on my iPad with my kids!

Who?Comics is a free app and it comes with 2 books. There are 27 other books available for purchase. Some are sold individually but there are also packs available.  Which of course, are a better deal;). So I got the Scientists pack (surprise, surprise;).  Right off we checked out Marie Curie and Thomas Edison!

Here is a little detail you should know going in. These comics are not the super quick, over view type comics. There are 150 pages of details about the subject’s personal life. Which means it isn’t a quick read! I was very familiar with Marie Curie and I learned so much! NerdPie and I even cried at 2 different spots.

So what is my overall feel? Well, I love the idea of having these on the iPad for easy access! The art is clear and the story line moves at a good clip. This isn’t going to be a situation where you can read the whole thing in the doctor’s waiting room and that can be a good thing. This app was developed over seas and so there are a few translation issues. Due to that and the fact that these really deal with real life situations, I would make sure you child is near you when they read them. I had to explain about certain illnesses and certain historical events that were mentioned in the books we read. There was an assumption that the kids understood everything but mine had quite gotten there yet. (For example, why and how Poland was being occupied By Russia and how they weren’t supposed to speak Polish.)

My kids thoroughly enjoyed these comics! My kids are even asking for books from the library so they can learn even more! Both about the people in the stories and the science they discovered!

Thank you again to who? Comics for sponsoring my post. Please click here to learn more about the app. Visit who? Comics for updates. I was selected for this opportunity by the Clever Girls Collective. All opinions expressed here are my own. #CleverWhoComics #spon

Make Phone Calls on Your iPad

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I just got my brand new iPad 2 and am loving checking out all the cool apps that are making my life better! My most recent free find is Talk a Tone.

This is a great utility for utilizing you free Google voice! It is super easy to use where you just input your Google voice info. Then you can both make and receive calls! Your a given different compression choices and the sound is pretty good. Depending on your connection there may be just a little lag buy I haven’t found it to be a problem at all.

So go, talk and enjoy! All for free!