I stumbled across one called "baby photos" by fisher price. I vaguely remember a DVD of babies being a popular thing for babies to watch so downloaded it out of interest. The app is completely free, no in app purchases and very well made. When you fire it up it gives a little security hint to help make sure your tiny tot doesn't accidentally close the app and play on other things.
I elected to use it with the guided access feature built into all ipads for added safety.
Straight out of the box, so to speak, the app is essentially a slide show of photographs of babies pulling pleasant faces, accompanied by a twinkly soundtrack and giggling noises. When baby touches, or in this case - lunges at the screen, twinkles and stars appear under baby's hands.
To say my niece loved this would not do her reaction justice. She was enthralled. She looked carefully at the faces, touched them and chased the resulting twinkles with her fingers. When the game giggled she squealed with delight. She concentrated like this, highly engaged, for several minutes.
The app asks for permission to access your device's photos, there's no uploading or photo stealing, but what the app can do is use your own photos, so that baby can enjoy a slide show of faces they recognise.
We didn't get the chance to set this up before bed time but I will definitely be having a go after the engagement and enjoyment this evening.
Now for the teacher part, if like me you are always interested in what your little one is learning through their play, this is how this app links to "development matters" the govt guidance on learning progression in birth to fives.
- the app encourages babies to look at faces, teaching eye contact essential for communication and language as well as social skills that underpin problem solving and collaborative learning later.
- the touch sensitive twinkles demonstrate cause and effect, early science. They also capture baby's interest in the effect of movement that leaves marks, a precursor for writing.
- the emotion appropriate sounds help consolidate baby's understanding of feelings and interaction as well as helping them to recognise familiar sounds.
- the simplicity, and lockability, means baby can learn essential independence skills and boost their self confidence by learning and playing with parental guidance, instead of passively watching a screen.
Not bad for a free little app.
I had a look at the other fisher price apps, almost all of which are free, and free from in app purchases too. There are some excellent ideas, the high contrast apps look particularly interesting. I've downloaded a few more to try.
