>After being the lucky recipeant of a shiny ipad2 I just had to get started adding some apps for the kids to not only enjoy, but learn from too.First up was a new creation from
>After being the lucky recipeant of a shiny ipad2 I just had to get started adding some apps for the kids to not only enjoy, but learn from too.
First up was a new creation from Mindshapes.
Mindshapes is an interactive learning company who have created a large range of apps designed with childrens learning in mind. Their new app Tap-A-Tune helps little ones with their hand eye coordination and inspires children to play music. It is set out great, with it being easy for little ones to navigate independently. There is more to Tap-A-Tune than just being a music player, to play a song you simply tap on the animals that pop up. There is different levels of play:
Play mode: Tap on the animals, as they pop up on the keyboard, to play the notes of a song. Afterwards, the song will play back in full.
Freestyle mode: Tap on any animal, in any sequence, to compose your own song.
Baby mode: Tap on an animal and the song will play automatically.
Designed for children ages 2 and up, Tap-A-Tune helps improve hand-eye coordination and inspires a child to play music. To play a song, children tap on cute animal characters, each representing a musical note. As they do so, the animals pop up and down on the screen, dancing through the music.
“Young children love learning new songs and tunes, and Mindshapes’ Tap-A-Tune app introduces them to the nursery rhymes and holiday songs they will know for their entire lives,” says Christian Dorffer, a co-founder at Mindshapes. “Tap-A-Tune also helps children connect to the songs as they tap along, making the tune play on their device. They’ll feel a great sense of accomplishment as they hear a song play from beginning to end.”
Marky loves all the modes, especially the freestyle mode! It is great to hear him composing music and learning different sounds simply by pressing a fun animal. My older children have been delighted by it too, and are keen to make up their own tunes.
Children can also choose the instrument they want for each song. Choices include piano, accordion, clarinet and acoustic guitar.
Songs included in the app:
Nursery Rhymes:
– Bah Bah Black Sheep
– Hickory Dickory Dock
– Old Mac Donald
– Row, Row Row Your Boat
– The Wheels on the Bus
– This Old Man
– Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star
Christmas Songs:
– Ding Dong Merrily on High
– Jingle Bells
– Jingle Bell Rock
– Joy to the World
– Once in Royal David’s City
– Rudolf the Red Nose Reindeer
– Santa Claus is Coming to Town
– The First Noel
– Winter Wonderland
There is some songs that Marky reconises and will bop along to, and some new ones too for him to learn, which I love to hear him sing along too.
Tap-A-Tune is a fantastic fun app which will keep little ones amused, my kids approve that’s for sure!
You can download Tap-A-Tune on the ipad, iphone and ipod touch. Visit www.mindshapes.com for more information and more releases. There is a special promotion running until 10th January 2012 where you can get each app for just 69p!!
* For reviewing purposes we received a code to enable us to download the app for free.