ML Interest Tag: social-studies

6 Apps So Fun They Won’t Even Realize They’re Learning

by Shahrzad Warkentin
Partner Content

Your kids may be in school but that doesn’t mean you want the learning to stop once they get home. For equal amounts entertainment, fun and education, turn to engaging apps to keep the teaching moments going, no matter where you are. Simply load up your tablet with apps from Amazon Appstore Family. We found six great ones that will keep your kids sharp. Scroll down for our picks that are so addictively fun they won’t even realize they’re learning.

Ages Three to Five

ABC Phonics
This colorful app combines 26 educational games all in one place that make learning the basics of reading and writing tons of fun for preschoolers. Catchy phonics songs help kids learn letters, while the games explore word sounds. Pre-writers can also give their fine motor skills a workout tracing letters.

Hooked On Phonics: Learn to Read
The award-winning Hooked On Phonics system has been helping kids learn to read for decades and now kids can build reading skills on their Amazon Fire tablets thanks to the app’s digital reading program. The app uses reading games and ebooks to build phonics skills as kids progress through lessons. It also offers rewards through points and trophies to help motivate kids and keep the process fun and exciting.

Ages Six to Nine

ABCMouse.com Early Learning Academy
This exciting app features thousands of games and activities that teach kids math, reading, social studies and art in a way that feels like play time. They’ll earn rewards as they meet challenges along a step-by-step learning path. With videos, books, songs, puzzles, games and more they’ll never get bored as they continue to learn.

Homer Reading
Using the characters your kids already love, like Thomas and Angelina Ballerina, this app creates a customized reading program to meet both developmental needs and interests. This combo helps keep the learning exciting even for reluctant readers. Besides hundreds of stories featuring classic and favorite characters the app also offers games, activities and printable worksheets. And with four customizable profiles all your young readers can spend the summer honing their reading and sharing skills.

Ages Ten to Twelve

ABCYa
Keep up those Common Core skills all summer long with this fun app that features over 250 educational games. Each week brings six new games to play for free or you can upgrade with a subscription for access to all of them at once. You can browse through each one by grade level, which runs from Pre-K to 6th grade and up, which means that the subscription can keep all your kids entertained and educated all summer long.

Stack the Countries
There’s no better way to make geography fun than with this awesome app. Each country literally comes to life with a face and its own personality as kids learn about capitals, landmarks, flags and much more. Kids can collect countries like trading cards by carefully stacking them up in a game to pass each level.

Download these apps and find even more fun with Amazon Appstore Family where you can find all of the most popular kids apps in one easy to search and shop spot.

—Shahrzad Warkentin

All photos: Courtesy of Amazon

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Amazon’s Newest Destination Is a Game Changer for Summer Entertainment

by Shahrzad Warkentin
Partner Content

Parents need every tool in their arsenal to beat the heat, combat boredom and make those life-long memories over summer vacation. Now Amazon is here to help with a handy new feature, Appstore Family, which will make your life, and summer, much easier.

What You Can Expect from the Appstore Family
The new Appstore Family puts all your favorite kids’ apps and games for Amazon Fire tablet in one easy-to-search place that breaks the options down into categories, like Education, Entertainment and Games. Not only can parents and kids browse all of the games and apps available, but it makes it easy to buy those apps with a few quick clicks using your Amazon account.

Additionally you can subscribe to the Appstore Family newsletter, which will keep you in the loop on deals and new app launches (so you can totally be the cool, in-the-know mom). Here are some of the ways you can use Appstore Family to help you survive, and your kids thrive, during summer vacation.

Avoid Summer Brain Drain

The dreaded summer brain drain is one of the most challenging aspects of summer. You want your kids to be free of the burdens of school, but you also want them to head back prepared and ready to move forward. Educational apps, like ABCMouse.com Early Learning Academy, give kids the best of both worlds. The app features thousands of games and activities that teach kids math, reading, social studies and art in a way that feels like play time.

The app is also designed to help kids progress and encourages them to move forward by earning rewards as they meet challenges along a step-by-step learning path. They’ll be excited to play games on their Amazon Fire tablet and earn rewards, but they will also be learning and keeping those minds working while they have fun. It’s really a no-brainer.

Beat the Heat

While summer sun means plenty of outdoor play, sometimes the heat is just too much and you have to seek refuge indoors. A little bit of screen time can keep the boredom bug away when you’re stuck inside. However, you don’t have to sacrifice creative play for entertainment. Apps like the Toca Life series give kids tools for opened-ended, imaginative play all at the touch of their fingertips.

Toca Life: World combines access to all of the Toca Life apps in one place, allowing imaginations and pretend play to soar with the ability to mix and match all of the locations and characters from each of the individual apps. You can also select and buy even more characters and locations in the new app, which has over 50 locations and 300 characters available to purchase.

Travel in Comfort

Summer vacations offer priceless family memories, but the journey to get to your destination isn’t always snapshot-worthy when you’re traveling with kids. Long car rides and airplane travel can leave kids antsy and bored. You probably don’t have room to bring along your entire toy box, but you can load your Amazon Fire tablet with entertainment-packed apps, like the NOGGIN app.

Kids will find all of their favorite Nickelodeon characters and shows all in one place, free from advertising. In addition to over 1,500 episodes of shows like Peppa Pig and PAW Patrol, the app also features educational videos hosted by kid-favorites Moose and Zee. Altogether there’s more than enough to keep your kids content, and even learning, while you sit in traffic or wait in long lines trying to make it to your summer destination.

Whether you’re looking to keep your kids learning in an exciting way that feels more like play than homework, or you need to entertain your kids when it’s too hot to go out and play, Appstore Family has everything you need in one easy-to-access place. All of the newest and most popular apps for kids ages three to 12 can be easily browsed either on the web or right on your Amazon Fire tablet.

Gear up for summer and check out all the games and apps available through Appstore Family right here.

—Shahrzad Warkentin

All photos: Courtesy of Amazon

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Free National Park Visits for All Fourth Graders!

by Erin Feher

Oh, fourth grade—it’s the year those massive social studies books can handed out, kids are asked to memorize that long list of state capitals and hundreds of 9 year olds will stand up in front of the class and quote Abraham Lincoln: “Four score and seven years ago…” Well, fourth grade just got more interesting. Starting in the 2015 school year, fourth graders across the country are invited visit to 200-year-old redwoods, encounter a forest of Seuss-like Joshua trees and trek across Death Valley—all without paying a cent in park admissions fees.

Photo: National Park Foundation 

The Gift of Nature
Last week President Obama announced the Every Kid in Park Initiative, which will offer free admission to every single fourth grader and their families to all of America’s national parks, forests, monuments, and other federal lands and waters for a year, starting in September. The free annual pass is valued at $80, and includes admission to more than 2,000 federal recreation sites, including Yosemite, Yellowstone and Grand Canyon national parks.

The Challenge
A 2010 Kaiser Family Foundation study found that young people spend an average of more than seven hours a day looking at screens, from computers to smart phones to TV. That’s 53 hours a week—more than a full-time job, yikes! “Young people are spending more time in front of screens than outside,” the White House wrote on its website, “and that means they are missing out on valuable opportunities to explore, learn, and play in the spectacular outdoor places that belong to all of them.”

Photo: Joshua Tree by lucas via Flickr

Where to Go
Are you the lucky family of a fourth grader? Well, now the challenge is how to make the most of your year of unlimited park visits. Here is a list of the 10 best National Park sites in California (and here’s a full list). From the nearby Muir Woods and Point Reyes Seashore to the further afield (but worth the trip) Yosemite and Joshua Tree, these parks offer breathtaking scenery, plants and animals that will amaze visitors of any age and endless options for adventure. Get out there!

1. Muir Woods 

2. Yosemite 

Photo: Yosimte by AngryJulieMonday via Flickr

3. Lassen Volcanic Park 

4. Devil’s Postpile Monument 

5. Point Reyes Seashore 

Photo: Point Reyes by Rajender Dayal via Flickr

6. Joshua Tree 

7. King Range National Conservation Area 

8. Death Valley

Photo: Death Valley by David~O via Flickr

9. Sequoia and Kings Canyon Parks 

10. Pinnacles National Park 

—Erin Feher

 Do you have a fourth grader in the family? Are you planning to visit any National Parks? Tell us in the comments below! 

 

 

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