This is a sample review.

“Crabby Writer blends handwriting and phonics for a delightful educational experience. Work through levels of words, including common three and four letter words to unlock sandcastles for free play fun. Each word is presented letter by letter, sound by sound for kids to trace. The entire app is supported with sound elements to help kids to make strong phonics connections. Using the two finger technique of pinching, kids work through standard formation sequence while following seashells and brightly colored ocean objects. The app thoughtfully includes clearly articulated letter sounds repeated while kids are tracing. Start at the “Parents/Teachers” where you get a thorough look at the app and tips for helping your child while using Crabby Writer.”

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“My first grader had a great time playing this app and quickly fell in love with this cute, crabby crab! She loved all of the sand castle design options and knowing she could unlock new ones to decorate for Crabby was a great motivator to keep her reading and learning. This app has fabulous illustrations and a great narrator. The sounds and characters are delightful and engaging. Crabby Writer is a wonderful way to learn and play and is a must-have for any mom with young children.”

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4 1/2 Stars! “Overall, I highly recommend this app for working on early reading, writing, spelling, phonics and rhyming. I love the fact that as well as working on phonics and early literacy it also works on promoting a good pincer grip. They have made a great job of creating a fun and engaging app, to the extent that my daughter is choosing it over “play” apps at the moment.”

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4 1/2 STARS!

“Kids can have fun at the beach while learning the proper strokes to writing the letters needed to spell simple three or four letter words, build sandcastles and savor the memories in their very own scrapbook.

One of the neatest things about this app, and what sets it apart from other tracing apps, is the “thumb & finger tracing” technique. This technique is very helpful for beginning writers learn the pincer grip needed when using a pencil at school or home.”

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“What’s cool? Crabby Writer presents reading and writing as a game for kids that helps them learn as they play. In the game, players match words, pick vocabulary words out of images, and learn how to spell. The game is beach-themed, and kids can write words in the sand on the screen, as well as add sea shells with letters for spelling practice.”

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 ”I admire how the developers have successfully created a superhero themed game without showing violence or any weapons. I also like how they incorporated learning into it by focusing on the different prepositions such as Above, Around,

Below, Beneath, Between, Down, Over, Through, Under, Underneath, Up. The way they focused on these to aid with manoeuvring Rhinomite through the different obstacles in the city is pretty creative. The math aspect of the game through collecting gold coins and subtracting the upgrade costs is also well done.

Aside from those, children also develop other skills, such as hand-eye coordination, concentration, listening and reflex. Creativity is also encouraged through the different combinations in dressing up Rhinomite.”

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“As any parent of young kids knows, it is difficult to find a non-violent game, especially one with super heroes. Rhinomite is not only a non-violent game with a super hero; it is entertaining and educational, too.

While the main educational focus of the game is spatial prepositions such as under, over, beneath, around, through, left, right and so on, other topics like subtraction and getting kids used to looking in the upper-left as a starting point for reading text are cleverly included.”

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“The app has a distinctly retro comic-book feel about it and is accompanied by suitably dramatic music, which can be switched off in settings. There is a tutorial mode with instructions on how to fly and where the child can practice swiping to move Rhinomite around the screen before the game begins. There is also a useful parents information screen that tells you how to play, and talks about both the educational opportunities within the app, and extension activities to go along with it. Rhinomite flies first through the streets of Rhinopolis and then over the rooftops, and needs to dodge cars, trucks, signs, planes, buildings and other obstacles.”

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“Can your little one be found running through your home in a cape, possibly jumping off of furniture while pretending that they are a super-hero? Well, if this is the case, then I have the game for you! Many parents want to satisfy their child’s desire for super-hero-like action, but without all of the graphic violence and sometimes disturbing images that can go along with it. Rhinomite, by KBoom Games has come along to answer that call.”

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“The great thing about these apps is they don’t stop you learning from the way you are taught in school. They
just add to it and help you practice what you are learning on an ipad. As a Montessori teacher I was at first
worried that Mrs Judd’s Games would encourage you to use the computer more, from an even earlier age. But
Mrs Judd has taught young children for 25 years in a school in the U.S.A. She has designed the games so
that you are encouraged to do the games in the traditional way and not just on the computer.”

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“My favorite thing about Left Right Pup, an educational app aimed at children learning Left and Right, is the collage style artwork made with textural cork, vinyl, terry cloth, tempura and stitchery. It is splendid! The textures and colors bring the scenes to life, giving you this strong urge to reach out and touch it. Add in all sorts of sounds and energetic music, you find yourself quickly engaged.”

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“Visually, the combination of styles is interesting. The characters are rendered in 3D, the items are in 2D illustrations, while the backgrounds are done in a collage style animation or textured materials. This gives the app a distinct look and feel.

The main purpose of the app is to teach about left and right directionality and it does it well. The characters, when not moving left or right, have their backs to the user. This makes sure that the character’s orientation is the same as the user so as to avoid confusion. When you choose either left or right, the characters also raise either their left or right arms. This small detail serves to further reinforce the concepts of left and right.”

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“Chalk Walk by Mrs. Judd’s Games is an app designed to teach your child pre-writing skills using a variety of games. Users must complete each mini game with two or more stars out of three to earn their letters and advance. The app works on pinching skills which are necessary for holding a writing utensil…

The app helps practice fine motor, tracing, pinching as well as other skills practiced in occupational therapy.  It is best suited to children age three to six who are practicing early writing skills.”

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“If your child is entering the phase of life when pencils, crayons, markers, even chalk, are the writing implements of choice, Chalk Walk is a great app for getting her started. Created by an actual teacher named Mrs. Judd who taught kindergarten for 25 years, Chalk Walk is a way for kids to fine-tune their motor skills and practice the correct hand positioning for writing.”

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“Created by teaching veteran Frances Judd who taught Kindergarten for 25 years, Chalk Walk aims to help prepare kids for their school years by working on things like their pincer grasp (for holding pencils), hand position and left to right progression. This app takes some of the most important skills for little ones to learn, and applies them to the world of technology in a unique, fun and inspiring way.”

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(5/5 Apples)

“My six-year-old took the iPad to bed with her and worked through the entire app in a couple of hours one evening, just for the fun of it!  She has even gone back and started it again from the beginning at a slower pace – getting to the end of the path on the map was a huge motivator for her as were the colorful buildings that animated once each neighborhood was completed.  This is an incredibly low conflict way to encourage proper pencil grip and can easily be spaced out on a daily basis to help encourage find motor development skills.  The continuous flow of the motions is also particularly valuable if you are preparing for cursive instruction, the loops and curls can help to form motor memory pathways even before letter shapes are formally taught.”

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“Chalk Walk is a dynamic activity requiring maintenance of the pincer hold to make the line and constant motor planning and visual attention to observe where the line is being drawn ahead of you.”

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“In an effort to beef up fine motor skills, the newChalk Walk app from Mrs. Judd’s Games forces kids to use a thumb-and-finger pincer grip in order to trace and chase.”

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“The more screens unlocked, the more challenging the scenario. But chances are your kindergarten prep star will be having too much fun to notice.

Consider it a write of passage.”

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“I do wonder sometimes if the use of the iPad and iPhone still may impede my son’s fine motor skills development more than if he only had crayons or paints to create with, although the use of these supplies would never be welcomed in his bed before sleep on long drives or on the sofa in our family room – places he loves to curl up with the iPad.

Because of these concerns, I am intrigued by this application, Chalk Walk, developed by a teacher, Frances Judd, which was thoughtfully created to give iPad users a chance to practice their pincher grip as they trace a character on the screen who draws a chalk line across the page styled to be the sidewalk of a urban area (think Sesame Street) but with the P.O.V. of the sidewalk.”

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“It’s a lot of fun. I played with this for a long time and my kids had a lot of fun.”

Watch the video review here.

A young learner explores "Chalk Walk" for the iPad at Catherine Cook School in Chicago.

“There are a lot of fine motor apps for the iPad, but most of them, unless used with a stylus, focus on letter formation or writing-stroke development at the expense of hand position, using just a pointer finger to write. Chalk Walk cleverly helps the child to use the iPad with the hand positioned in a very similar way to a pincer pencil grasp, using both the forefinger and the thumb.

This app also provides a great link to a real-life kid activity that parents should not miss. Take the skills learned out to the street, or at least the sidewalk! Children will have fun trying to create their own chalk lines outside, now with a better pincer grasp.

…I recommended Chalk Walk to help get tech-savvy kids ready to write.”

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“Typical iPad tracing games ignore this need for children build awareness of hand positioning required for success in school. CHALK WALK helps focus a child’s attention on this skill and offers clever tracing lines that bend and twist before the player’s eyes.

[Chalk Walk is] a well executed and unique tracing training game, ideal for helping the little ones improve their fine motor skills. Make sure to specify if your kid is right or left-handed so the hand doesn’t get on the way of the tracing lines.”

“What did my daughter think?  She is a natural artist and the pincer grip has come easy for her, however, after playing with the app myself, I can definitely see how helpful this tool can be for the 4, 5 and 6 year olds.  The gaming part of this app is fun, colorful and engaging.”

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“Looking for an app to help children with their fine motor skills?

Chalk Walk is a fun, drawing app that will help children to develop the pincer grip. This app can help prepare kids for the pencil-and-paper tasks they encounter in school.”

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“Parents that believe arcade games improve hand-eye coordination and Angry Birds improves decision-making in kids won’t have as far a stretch convincing themselves that Snowflake Station by KBoom Games has true play-and-learn potential. There is lot of content packed into this app for $1.99. While the ability to create your own virtual flake is available in on-line games and in other apps, KBoom ups the ante with the means to decorate each creation and insert it into a photo of one’s choosing. This concept is truly original, a rarity with half a million apps now available.”

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Chalk Walk was named “Mom’s Weekly Special” over at TheiPhoneMom.com the week of May 14th! 

“I love both the uniqueness and the practicality of Chalk Walk. It has identified a valuable skill, seen the possibility of that skill being lost by children’s increased use of iPods and iPads and so it tackles it head on. Why not fight back with the very thing that’s causing it to weaken? I think that’s brilliant. I’d definitely recommend this app for older preschoolers, Kindergarteners and First Graders. In fact, any elementary school child who needs to work on their penmanship could probably benefit. I can’t wait to see what Mrs. Judd’s Games brings us next!”

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Apps For Homeschooling gave Snowflake Station a rating of 5/5 apples!

“My nine-year-old thinks it’s awesome, and my five-year-old enjoys it as well.  None of them suspect that they are laying a foundation in early geometrical and mathematical thinking skills by exploring symmetrical patterns through play!

I really appreciate that there are so many pre-programmed designs provided for children who might need some guidance and direction to kick-start their own creative thinking processes.  The range of different fold types really lets children explore a wide variety of pattern formations as well.”

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“The app really has a single goal in mind which it does well: develop children’s finger-thumb pincer grip. It does this by using the line tracing activity with pincer grip control instead of the usual single finger style. It also develops secondary skills as well. It develops simple hand-eye coordination through the tracing challenges. In a way, it also introduces children to letters and words. The menu’s layout of progressive levels and tracing challenges really exposes children to left to right progression which will be used in the future through reading, writing, etc.

Before every tracing challenge, an icon is shown to remind users about the pincer grip which allows them to jump right into the game without reading the instructions section. Of course, the option for left handed users is a thoughtful detail to include. The drawings, the textured backgrounds, music, video playback of the finished tracing, and reward system all work towards encouraging its users to learn while having fun.”

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“Snowflake Station in a wonderful craft application for iPad that allows children to cut their own paper snowflakes, teaching the concept of symmetry and other skills along the way.

I have always been a huge fan of paper-cut art since I was old enough to pick up a scissors. My love for paper cutting stems, I am sure, from my lack of ability to draw representationally. Yet here, few cuts to a correctly folded paper ever look mistaken, creating an art form that children and adults who lack certain foundation skills in drawing can fully own themselves.

For me, the process of folding and cutting has been more important than the snowflake or other decorative shapes produced, and I have never been a fan of the cleanup associated with paper-cut art. Because of this, I have really been enjoying Snowflake Station which allows children to work in two basic modes – Workshop, where one traces over lines of dots, creating cuts in the paper or Creation Station – where players work freehand to make their own designs.”

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“Why did I agree to review an educational iPad app? Because Chalk Walk is refreshingly different. See, Chalk Walk actually does teach a valuable skill to young children, one that we have overlooked in our zeal for early childhood academic learning.

That skill is the pincer grip, a fine-motor skill that children need to master in order to hold a pencil. Chalk Walk is the first app designed specifically to help young children practice the pincer grip.”

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“As a mom, I love this app. Oh sure, we have sidewalk chalk stuck up on a shelf in the closet somewhere. But after an unseasonable cold weekend, the kids didn’t miss out on their chalk fun. Chalk Walk also really requires a pinch motion, much like what children use when they start to write their letters. As the game progressed, kids collected letters to create fun words and be-bopped around to tons of different music tracks. They also learned that they had to keep the correct pinch hold, or their hard work was for nothing. It was pretty cool to see.”

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“The 6 year old child I observed using it did use a pincer grasp while following the path rather than a typical touch with the index finger. It was a little hard at times but in general she could do it maintaining the pincer grasp. If you do not maintain it you can not follow along the path. She preferred to watch the object go along the path and then trace. It is a hard to immediately follow the path because if you are right handed your hand blocks the path. The child enjoyed the video play back feature where you can watch what you just drew.”

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“As the founder of a school designed to advance creativity and innovation, I find that Mrs. Judd possesses an uncanny ability to lead young learners across the bridge between technology-based and truly hands-on experiences.”

“My daughter loves Snowflake Station! She really enjoys learning about math through the game and can’t wait to show me all her snowflakes. Too bad you can’t hang an iPad on the fridge.”

“I love education & technology”…said Kathleen Wolney, Early Childhood Educator,
after playing “Snowflake Station”

“As an adult, I experimented first with this app before allowing my grandchild to explore it. I became so immersed and delighted with my own exploration/creation that I had to remind myself that this was for my grandson. I have never had a strong visual-spatial intelligence- and here was a tool that erased any sense of inadequacy. I found that I was learning so much on symmetry, balance and the wonderful (even accidental) patterns within the world of Snowflake Station that I did not want to stop.

When my 3-year-old grandson Lorenzo was given his turn, he exceeded me. Though on the young end for the app, he immediately ‘got it’ after a few minutes. He especially and inherently understood the use of ‘the tape.’ There is no failure with this app. He loved creating the falling snowflakes. I encouraged him to use the nature backdrops but he just loved the falling snow that was his own creation. He scribbled on the folded paper image. I almost protested and then I saw his creations and realized he was experiencing a real and delighted sense of geometric aesthetics that I would have interfered with by intervening and stopping his somewhat wild movements. Success is built in this app. Lorenzo moved on to the workshop and began tracing with a patience and success that amazed me.

Do I recommend this app? As a Child Development Specialist, I give an enthusiastic yes – the creation and workshop modes exceeded my expectations. It is an excellent and developmentally appropriate tool for young children exploring the world of geometry, patterns and visual/tactile experimentation. But as a grandparent (and as an adult learner), I loved sharing this world of symmetry. It is an inter-generational tool that can be used by the whole family. When my older grandchildren saw what Lorenzo had created, they started talking about their experiences with making paper snowflakes and showed Lorenzo ones they had made. They all (ages 3-12) became immersed in the wonderful world of geometry through snowflakes. It is an app that can quickly become ‘a family affair.’”

“As a grandmother, I like to do paper snowflake cutting with my grandchildren. This game allows for creativity without the mess.”