Addicted to apps (what kids love)

Hi! I'm Jessica and my blog home is over at Chaos & Love where I write about family, food and crafts - all the things closest to my heart. I am a working mom to two boys {Joseph, 3, and Luke, 14 months} and wife of a chef. In my spare time, I run a little Etsy shop by the same name as my blog. A big thank you to Mrs. K for letting me share her space for the day.

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My three-year-old is an iDevice addict. I should probably be embarrassed to admit that but given the fact that he's MY kid and I am a sucker for all things techy, there wasn't much hope for him. It's been a challenge for us to find the balance between entertaining {for him} and obnoxious {for us}. We have discovered that there are a TON of apps out there for kids, though, and some of them are even entertaining for moms and dads as well.



The most used app in our house BY FAR is The Monster at the End of This Book. If you've never read these books, you definitely should - they are some of my favorite books and the apps bring them to life in an awesome, interactive way. The developer of these apps did such a great job with the details which makes them well worth their somewhat steep cost of $3.99 {although I must admit that I got it for free from one of those Pick of the Week cards from Starbucks}.

I love that you can put your kids' names in the title of the book like you would a paper one. It makes it fun for me even if my boys aren't old enough to get it yet. Every once in a while, I go in and change it up a bit. I'm easily amused, obviously.

Each screen of the app is a different page of the book. My favorite is this one that starts out with Grover yelling, "ahhhhhhhhhhhhhh!" and waving his arms around. Joseph will do this randomly {including the flailing arms} and it makes me laugh every single time.

This is Joseph's favorite page. Grover builds up the brick wall and then you can touch the screen to break it down. When he first started playing with this app, he said to me, "Can I break this, Mommy?" I had no idea what he was talking about so I said no. Ever since then, that's the required answer any time he asks me that question.

We seriously love this app and its sequel, Another Monster at the End of this Book. Even Luke gets excited when he sees them and that's big since things hold his attention for about half a second before he moves on. And even more impressive, they hold my attention. They're well worth the cost for the hours of entertainment they provide for everyone in the family.

I'd love to hear what you think of the app if you try it or already have it.