30 Windows Phone 7 Apps for Kids and Parents
Written by Jen Betterley
Filed under: Raves Family fun Retail Therapy Preschool Kindergarten Early elementary Ages 3-5 Kids and media
After coming out with our top 40 iPhone app picks for families, we were amazed by the outcry from our readers for more apps... and darn it, we listened! Here's our picks for fantastic Windows Phone 7 apps that are great for kids and parents. And stay tuned for Blackberry apps in the near future, we're not leaving anyone out of all of this app fun!
Got an Android? Check out our picks for 20 of the best educational Android apps for kids!
Fantastic apps for parents
1. Baby Tracker. This handy app allows new parents to keep all of baby's information in one place -- including bottle feeding times, diaper changes, sleeping schedules, breastfeeding times and much more. Record all of your notes for upcoming pediatrician appointments or send your information to your email for reference. $0.99
2. iFood Assistant Plus. We love recipe apps and the iFood Assistant app is no exception! Keep all of your favorite recipes saved in a recipe box, watch simple how-to cooking videos, store past and present shopping lists and find quick and easy new recipes to share with your family. Bon appetit! $0.99
3. Baby Sign Language. Experts agree that sign language can help enhance baby's early language skills, but parents need to know the signs too! This app will teach you eight basic signs such as "eat", "milk" and "play" to help you easily communicate with your infant or toddler. $0.99
4. Kitchen Toolkit. Considered as the 'Swiss army knife' for home cooks, this helpful app will give you a much-needed extra hand in the kitchen! The app includes a measurements converter (we love!), an adorable chick kitchen timer and meat charts that explain the different cuts for beef and pork. $0.99
5. Local Weather Seattle. Keep the seven-day forecast and local weather advisories conveniently at your side. Great for families who love to play outside, this app features hourly updates from the National Weather Service, six animated radars and zoom-in capabilities. $0.99
6. Food Additives. Avoid potentially harmful food additives by checking up on those pesky, unidentifiable ingredients. This helpful app includes a large database of additives, potential health risks, background information on each additive and much more. $0.99
7. BabySoother. Help your little one calm down and relax during nap or bedtime with this soothing sleepy time app! Parents can record their own voice with a calming background sound, or simply choose from a variety of relaxing sounds including a lullaby, crashing waves or a comforting "Shhhh". $1.99
8. Puget Sound Traffic. Perfect for commuting families, this app offers traffic conditions and advisories throughout the Puget Sound area. You’ll know exactly where there are accidents or roadwork up ahead, and have access to border crossing times, mountain pass reports, travel times and traffic maps to get you home safely. $0.99
9. Shopping List. Long ago are the days of forgetting that much-needed grocery list! Microsoft's own Shopping List app will help you keep track of all of your different shopping lists for various stores. Check off items as you cruise with your cart or save favorite items that you buy regularly for your next trip. Free
10. Baby Growth Tracker. Track your baby's growth all in the convenience of your own pocket! This resourceful app includes colorful charts for following baby's weight, height and head circumference. Parents can watch their child as he grows bigger and becomes a crawling and walking toddler. Free
Cool apps for kids
11. Crayon ABC Animals. Your little one will love the life-like paper and crayon alphabet drawings in this adorable early learning app! Read along with the sound prompts and watch as a cute alphabet animal pops up with each letter before sliding on to the next page. $1.99
12. Bubble Birds. The Bubble Birds app is a super-cute version of the classic game, bubble shooter. Simply pop the bubble birds in groups of the same colors and gain extra points for finding large chains of the same birdies! $1.99; ad-supported version is free
13. Preschool Jobs. Your child will love learning about different jobs in this educational, interactive app! Explore various professions such as a doctor, astronaut, rock star, police officer and a construction worker, see their work environments and examine the tools that they use each day. Super neat! $1.29
14. Bee's ABCs. More ABC fun! Kids will get a kick out of singing along to the alphabet song, spelling simple words and learning about pronunciation in this interactive, educational app. Plenty of fun sounds are included as well as an easy drop and drag feature that is great for small hands. $1.99
15. Barnyard Adventure. Spend a day at the farm with Farmer Susie and all of her barnyard friends! This educational adventure includes a full musical score, a fun and friendly narration and almost two dozen fruits, animals and other objects to interact with in six mini-games. Kids will love earning special gold coins while playing each game! $0.99
16. Slurpy the Frog. Join Slurpy the Frog and his friends in this educational activity book app with over 100 colorful pages. Designed by parents, this interactive app teaches children about various topics such as animals, shapes, sizes, relationships and fun facts about the world. $0.99
17. Mazoocard. Refine those motor skills with this fantastic matching app! Unlike the classic game of memory match, Mazoocard players have the option of peeking and previewing their cards before playing, selecting multiple cards at one time and the ability to play multiplayer games. $0.99; ad-supported version is free
18. Color Swipe. Small hands will love swiping over the uncolored cartoon images and watching as the pictures come to life in this interactive coloring book app. Color Swipe includes 41 kid-friendly coloring pages and hidden surprises in the fully colored pictures! $0.99
19. Math Magic. Get a start on your early math skills with this interactive, educational app. Math Magic includes adding, subtracting, multiplying and dividing problems. The app as well features adjustable levels of difficulty and rewards for right answers! $0.99
20. Voice Toddler Cards. Learn basic words -- in English or Spanish -- with over 400 voice-prompted flashcards. Conveniently divided into nine easy-to-use decks, the flashcards include alphabet letters, animals, shapes, colors, food and more. This app alsol includes a shuffle feature and a dictionary. $0.99
21. Coloring Book. Perfect for road trips or long waits at the doctor's office, this interactive coloring book app will keep your little artists busy filling in the cute cartoonish pictures. Select the colors and the picture of your choice and get to work on coloring in your masterpiece! $1.29
22. Barnyard Bonanza. Spend a day in the barnyard with adorable new farm friends. Match baby animals with their mothers, search for animals and objects including alphabet letters and fruit and find all of the items that are hiding throughout the barnyard! $0.99
23. Whack-A-Rat. Much like the classic game of Whack-A-Mole, Whack-A-Rat features pop-up rats that need to be whacked before disappearing back into their holes. Make sure not to whack the other cute pop-up animals set as decoys and try to whack as many rats as you can for a super high score! $0.99
24. My First Puzzles. Your little one will get a kick out of finding all of the jigsaw pieces to complete the cute animal puzzles in this interactive app. With 14 puzzles to choose from, this app will give young children a good introduction to puzzles and help fine tune their early motor skills. $1.99
25. Kids Song Machine. Interact with fun and silly animations and sing along to all of your favorite classic children's songs! The six songs include: The Wheels on the Bus; Hickory, Dickory, Dock; Row, Row, Row Your Boat; If You're Happy and You Know It; Old McDonald and I'm a Little Teapot. $1.99
26. Baby Xylophone. Got a budding musician in your home? Rock out and play some super cool tunes with the Baby Xylophone app! Featuring plenty of fun and quirky sounds, this app is easy for small hands to use and will be great for the young music lovers. $0.99
27. Baby ABC. Created by a father and his three-year-old daughter, the Baby ABC app includes sketchbook-looking hand-drawn letters, animals and silly doodles on every page. Kids can learn the letters of the alphabet while easily identifying each letter's object or animal in these adorable drawings. $0.99
28. Day at School. Step off the yellow school bus and get ready for a fun day of learning! Explore the school's various rooms and objects, solve easy, age-appropriate word puzzles and hear fun narrated poems. School rooms include the art room, gym, music room, lunch room and much more! $0.99
29. Easy Peasy Animals. Made with easy navigation for toddlers and young children, this fun animal app includes over 45 real photos of animals from all over the world, animal sounds and simple word and letter recognition. Learn about where these animals live and the funny sounds that they can make! $0.99
30. Spell & Listen Cards. Get a head start on accelerating your child's vocabulary with this early learning word fun app. Including 550 photo flashcard word puzzles, the Spell & Listen Cards feature increasingly difficult puzzles, a voice prompt and easy page swiping capabilities. $4.99