Kidscast app + Vtech Flipsies Sandy's House and Yacht giveaway (c/d 24 December 2016)

If you happened to be on Twitter yesterday afternoon, between 1 and 3pm, you might have seen a lot of tweets with a hashtag #kidscast. So, what was all the excitement about? Twitter Frenzy coincided with a forthcoming launch of a new activity website and app for kids called Kidscast.

Kidscast is an entertainment platform for children from 3 to 12. It will be jam-packed with shows, games, activities, unboxing videos and more.
As a parent, I welcome a new platform which will be a safe, fun environment. It is accredited by UK, CCIS and also CoppaKidSafe.
This app will be available on Apple iOS and Android for a very sensible fee of £3.99 per month. If you think about it, many single apps for kids cost more.
I like the idea that Kidscast will work both on and offline, meaning that no data will be used. It also means that you can easily use it during a car trip or on a flight which will make the journey go faster.

Which shows will be available to start with?

Little Monsters is a British animated children's TV show which ran from 1998-99 on BBC1. This children's animated series follows little monsters in their amusing and fascinating adventures.

Microscopic Milton: Children's animated shorts featuring a tiny character who loves in a clock in Mrs Witherspoon's house. Only his friend Douglas, a shaggy dog, knows that he is there. A lovely and charming series that children will fall in love with.

Image credits: Kidscast

Om Nom Stories: Featuring the energetic character Om Nom on the latest adventures, the cute little green monster from Cut thr Rope.

Image credits: Kidscast

Cockleshell Bay: Charming British animated series about two children, Robin and Rosie, who have moved with their family to the seaside town of the title in order to get away from the hustle and bustle of the big city. Beautiful series that is a pleasure to watch and share with the family.

Image credits: Kidscast

Alias the Jester: The show follows the adventures of a time traveller by the name of Alias and his dog-like companion Boswell. Alias the Jester - A "time traveller bold" as said in the title track. After crashing in the Middle Ages he gets a job as a jester for King Arthur. He also fights crime as the Red Knight, who the wizard Meredith believes he summoned. Boswell - Alias' dog-like alien companion, apparently possessing a fairly high intellect as he is able to understand Alias and take orders. Very entertaining series that kids will love.

Image credits: Kidscast

Creepy Crawlies was a stop motion animation series following the characters on their latest adventures.

Image credits: Kidscast

Victor & Hugo: The misadventures of two bumbling burglar brothers, tall and  and thin leader Victor, who's vain and selfish, and short and chubby Hugo, who's silly and fun-loving. Plenty of fun to be had watching the entertaining series.

Image credits: Kidscast

Sooty is a loveable and innocent British born children's television series. These retro episodes pull on the heart strings of parents across the UK and provide the opportunity to share those special memories with their children too. With Sooty, Sweep and Sue around there is always fun to be had!

Image credits: Kidscast

Rainbow ran on ITV for 20 years, mostly at lunchtimes. It became one of the highest rating children shows of all times and one of the most popular. After over 1500 shows, Rainbow came to an end in 1992, but the show remains a massive success with people of all ages. Originally it was intended to develop language and number skills for pre-school children and feature the iconic characters Bungle, George and Zippy.

The Wind in the Willows is a TV series that was originally broadcast between 1984 and 1987, based on characters from Kenneth Grahame's classic story The Wind in the Willows. Follow Mr Toad and friends on their magical and charming adventures.

Image credits: Kidscast

As you can see, there is quite an assortment of vintage children's TV on offer. I'm very curious to know how my younger son would appreciate a different style of videos. I bet he will love the unboxing videos too (one of his hobbies is to watch unboxing videos on Youtube).

--------------------------------------------------

To celebrate the launch of Kidscast, lovely people behind the new project have offered a giveaway prize for my blog readers. One lucky blog reader will win a Vtech Flipsies Sandy's House and Yacht (£34.99).

Image credits: VTech

Toy description:
"Sandy dreams of becoming a marine biologist. Flipsies Sandy's House and Yacht is a 2-in-1 playset that transforms from a beautiful house where she can spend time with her friends to a flashy yacht that she can use to explore the ocean life. Press the charm on Sandy's necklace to see it light up and to experience her friendly personality. Place Sandy on the eight Magic Point locations on her playset or other Magic Point locations on Flipsies playsets (each sold separately), and she'll respond with playful phrases unique to her own personality. Collect Sandy's friends (each sold separately), and they can switch clothes, wigs and accessories for more fun styles.When Sandy and one of her friends are on the Magic Point locations at the dining table, they will chat with each other."

T&Cs:
To be in with a chance of winning this prize, please enter, using the Rafflecopter form

The prize will be organised and fulfilled by Evolution PR, and will arrive within 28 days of receiving the winner's details. No alternative prize will be offered.
Chez Maximka (blog) accepts no responsibility for the sending of the prize.
Please note that the colour of the prize might slightly vary from the image.

Only one entry per person is allowed (however, you can tweet daily to increase your chances).
The giveaway is open to the UK residents only.
Once the Rafflecopter picks the winners, I will check if the winners have done what was requested. I will contact the winners, if they do not reply within 28 days, the prize will be allocated to another person.
Please don't forget to leave a comment, as it is the only mandatory step, I will make sure the winner selected by Rafflecopter has complied with T&Cs

The giveaway ends on 24 December 2016 (midnight).

Good luck!


a Rafflecopter giveaway

Brian Cox's Wonders of Life App (review + giveaway NOW CLOSED)

If you always wanted to discover what the cyanobacteria is, or find out more about the hearing ability of scorpions among many other nature facts and data, Professor Brian Cox will be your personal tour guide to Wonders of Life. This app is a follow-up to the most popular book and TV series. Together with Andrew Cohen, the BBC Head of Science, Professor Cox takes you on a breathtaking tour.
Brian Cox's Wonders of Life app from HarperCollins Publishers Ltd is available from the itunes Store at £3.99. It requires iOS7.

As it contains over 2 hours of HD videos and over 1000 high-res images, I haven't had a chance to explore the app in its entirety. If anything, what I have seen so far, is only a tip of the iceberg. But what I have seen, is very impressive. The photos and videos are dazzling and vibrant.

Swipe to look around the globe and visit the continents, by tapping the labels to explore. Pick the desired location from a 3D satellite view of the globe, zooming into it.
If something catches your attention, drag the thumbnails to read or watch the video documentaries produced by the BBC. Scroll down to read the short essays on the topics.
There is a top navigation bar which allows you to jump from one geographical location to another.

The app page promises:
"From the vast networks of subterranean freshwater caverns of the Yukatan peninsula to the Great White Sharks haunting the South Neptune islands, from the Hermit Crabs of Christmas Island to the Red Kangaroo of Western Australia, this app will help you uncover the secrets of life in the most unexpected locations and in the most stunning detail. Explore the vision of the Kangaroo, the DNA of the Chameleon or the hearing of the Mohave Desert Sand Scorpion in its natural habitat in scintillating 3D detail, delving deep down variously into the detail of microbial life, the inner eye, the second law of thermodynamics and more...
Along the way you'll learn how everything on Earth, from the smallest microbe to the largest giraffe, is constructed from the same fundamental building blocks and is subject to the same laws of nature".

Apps like these make science a cool subject. I wish we had something like this, when I was at school. As it happened, I yawned at my geography lessons and hated the biology. I envy the modern generations with all their access to technology which didn't exist when I grew up.
This is a whole brave new world, open for exploring.

Images refer to © BBC

If you enjoy nature shows and apps, I have a lovely surprise for you.

One of my lucky winners will win a new Brian Cox's Wonders of Life app and a book Wonders of Life, which accompanied the TV series.

If you would like to win the app + book bundle, please answer the question (leave a comment below):

Have you watched the BBC documentary series Wonders of Life and which episode did you find the most fascinating? (If you haven't had a chance to watch it, what was the last nature programme on TV you enjoyed?)

For a bonus entry please Like HarperCollins on Facebook, and leave a separate comment telling me so (including the name you Liked it as).

T&Cs:
the giveaway is open to the UK residents only.
One entry per person.
Please leave some means of contacting you: either your Twitter username or email..
Once the winner is selected, using the Raffleking, I will contact them by email or Twitter, and announce on my blog. If the winner does't respond in one week, another winner will be selected.
I will then email the winner's details to HarperCollins representative. Please keep in mind, I am not responsible for the prize dispatch.
The giveaway ends on 11 March midnight, the winner will be selected the next day.

Good luck!

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Many thanks to everyone who entered! The Raffleking has selected the winner:
it is KERI JONES. Big well done! Going to get in touch with you re your prize!

Paddington Bear's adventures app

Paddington Bear, an adorable book character, has been entertaining several generations of children. And he moves with the times, now 'Paddington Bear's Adventures' is available as an app which includes six games.
Five games have a choice of 3 difficulty levels to allow for all ages and for progressive play.
As my younger son Eddie is two and a half years old, we went for the easy level.

As you complete the tasks of each game, you collect various items of clothing for Paddington which later allows you to dress and share your very own digital Paddington Bear.

Go Sightseeing
If you choose to 'Go Sightseeing' your task will be to spot the differences on the iconic London places of interest like Nelson's Column, Buckingham Palace, St Paul's Cathedral and at other famous London attractions.
Even at the easy level, we had to look very attentively to spot the differences, but it was fun to do.

Making Marmalade
Which British pastime (after having a cuppa tea and talking about the weather) could possibly be  more iconic than 'Making Marmalade' - you mix ingredients to make Paddington Bear's favourite treat. Here you can see the beginning of the game where you need to add the citrus peel to the pan.

A new game - 'Tidying Up' - where we need to place items in Paddington's case correctly in order to close the case.
It might sound easy-peasy, but when you are 2 years old, you might be stuck, when you think you have added all the items to the suitcase but nothing is happening. Then, of course, Mama comes to  the rescue and rearranges the cans and jam jars in order.

Hey presto!
A result, and we get another hat to add to our collection of clothes.

In 'Helping Out' it is necessary to use your observation skills to place items in the correct place in Mr Gruber's antique shop. As you can see, we successfully helped Mr Gruber.

In 'Going Home' game you are able to play with the jigsaws which show Paddington Station, The London Eye, Buckingham Palace and other famous London places of interest.

Dressing Up
'Dressing Up' is the fun game where all the items of clothing you have collected by completing your tasks are stored. Eddie enjoyed changing Paddington's outfits, either matching a hat with a coat and boots, or going for an opposite effect and intentionally mismatching the clothes by putting a chef's hat to be worn with a policeman's coat and red boots.
Create your own digital Paddington Bear using the clothes you have collected on your adventures and put them in a scrapbook.

The game features classic Paddington Bear images. The style of graphics is quite old-fashioned (in a good sense) to reflect the timeless appeal of the book.

The game includes specially re-recorded music from the Paddington Bear TV series Theme originally composed by Herbert Chappell.

This is a lovely game for Paddington Bear's fans of all ages.

For more information about this new app please visit the itunes store.

P.S. We were offered a code for a free app.

Peppa Pig Theme Park app (review)

If you have little people in the house, there is no escape from Peppa Pig. Eddie loves her, and I bet he thinks she is as real as his family. Peppa Pig's Sports Day app was a huge hit with Eddie, he is still enjoying it a couple of months later. No surprise he was thrilled with a new Peppa Pig Theme Park app, which is playable on iPad (as well as iPhone & iPod touch) and features all his favourite characters plus all the familiar jolly music and funky sound effects from the TV show. Try not to smile when Mummy Pig and Daddy Pig snort loudly, utterly hilarious.
PEPPA PIG THEME PARK is a must-have addition to any Peppa's fan's collection of apps.

Peppa Pig’s brand new app – THEME PARK – will keep young Peppa fans entertained for hours as it includes 10 games and activities. Climb aboard the train with Peppa or ride in a bumper car, enjoy the music activities with the magic water fountains and make some delicious candy floss.

You have a choice of ten games.

1.RIDE ON THE TRAIN AROUND THE THEME PARK: take the passengers to the next station, you decide whether to go slowly or move really fast.

2.MAKE MUSIC WITH THE MAGIC WATER FOUNTAINS: touch the notes to play the tune, create your own music on a mini-piano. We love this game.

3.WATER CANNON GAME: help Peppa to hit the target with the water cannon, you won't be able to stop giggling when you fill up the balloons and make them go pop.

4.RIDE ON THE BUMPER CARS steer the cars to bump into each other.

5.HOT AIR BALLOON RIDE: the basket must touch the balloons to collect them. We were in stitches trying to pick up the balloons and not getting them all.

6.TEA CUP RIDE: turn the wheel and move the teacups faster.

7.REMOTE CONTROL CARS: steer the cars round the course and watch out for those hazards and obstacles.

8.CANDY FLOSS STALL: Peppa and George both have a sweet tooth, help them make the candy floss, move your finger around the bowl but don't stir too much or the candy floss will be too big.

9.THEME PARK SHOP: after you played the games and got your tokens, visit the shop to buy the fun stickers.

10.INTERACTIVE STICKER BOOK: you can buy the stickers in the virtual Theme shop. This activity is one of Eddie's favourites. He loves pulling the little characters down onto the screen and making them smaller or bigger in turns.

What did we think of the app? It's a fun entertaining app for pre-schoolers with lots of games and activities, perfect for a grey day when the outdoors is not exactly welcoming due to the constant drizzle.

Eddie's playing with a new app, please excuse the strawberry jam on his face.

For more information about the app, visit the itunes shop.

P.S. We received a code for a free game for the purposes of testing and reviewing. All opinions are mine (and Eddie's, of course).

Around the Clock app: it's always Wombi o'clock

Learning to tell time is a tricky business. The best way to learn without getting bored is to turn a learning experience into a game. A new app for kids called Around the Clock from Swedish developer Wombi apps is a fun way to introduce the young children to the concept of telling the time.
Keep in mind though its primary purpose is not to teach how to tell time.

The idea is to play your way through a whole day. Every hour brings you a new mini-game or activity. And when they say mini-games, they mean it. You get very short interactive games, from brushing teeth to biking home, from putting the books on the shelf to finding a teddy bear in the dark room. After each mini-game you are taken back to the smiley ted accompanied by the music interlude (while my 2-year-old enjoyed the music, I found it a bit annoying, but then we have different tastes in music and I am obviously not the target audience for this app).

The games are simple enough for a young child to understand what to do and how to play (except when we started the game, our first game was aligning the stars. I was looking at the twinkling stars and had no clue what I was supposed to do with them. Eventually I got it, but it made me think that some sort of vocal instructions would be helpful, or a written message).

This game is good for any ipad novice as you learn how to do all the finger motions like tapping and dragging objects and swiping.
The grapics are rather simple, but bright and colourful.

Here is a video demo.



P.S. We were given a code to try an app for free for the purpose of reviewing.

P.P.S. An update: just wanted to add that Eddie has been enjoying playing with this app. It's been a few weeks since we first tried it, and now he is very confident. He loves the teddy, and the music interlude and does all the little tasks now without my help. I didn't know at the time of writing this review that this app would prove to be so popular with my little man.

There is a lite version of Around the Clock available for everyone to try with 5 mini games.

https://itunes.apple.com/app/id563624915

More fun with Ben and Holly (Ben & Holly's Little Kingdom: Big Star Fun app review)

All fans of Ben & Holly's Little Kingdom, rejoice!

The first ever official Ben & Holly app called Ben & Holly's Little Kingdom - Big Star Fun has been released for iPad, iPhone and iPod.

This is a high quality app for pre-schoolers, and it features all the original characters from the TV series as well as the music and sound effects. Young fans of Ben and Holly now have an interactive kingdom of their own.

When you open the app, you are presented with an option of playing (and flying, of course) as Elf Ben or Princess Holly.

There are four magical games to play and each game comes with different difficulty levels. As Eddie is 2 years old, we go for the Easy level. And even this level needs a certain amount of skills and dexterity of fingers when you move the figures around.

So, what games can you find in the Little Kingdom:
 
You can start by Collecting Stars which involves flying through the air, trying to avoid the obstacles (I think Eddie didn't quite grasp the concept that he has to avoid the obstacles, because each time his chosen character bumps into things and I say Ouch, he laughs like a little bell).

You can excel at Throwing Sticks and play fetch with the colourful Gaston.

Hiding is another fun activity. Ben and Holly are hiding in the Elf Tree, you have to be quick, catch them if you can, or they disappear. Eddie and I both enjoyed this game.

Sweeping the leaves: you have to help Ben or Holly to clear the ground, the leaves keep falling from the big tree and you need to finish the job before the time runs out. So far we haven't managed to clear it completely, and we are supposedly on the Easy level.

Apart from the four games above you receive a bonus game: a Sticker book. There are several backgrounds to choose and numerous stickers to add. Eddie loves this game, but he can be over-zealous in his stickering. He loves ladybirds, so as you can see, he has generously decorated the background with the ladybirds.

If your kids love Ben and Holly, then I would certainly recommend this app.

Saying that, Eddie prefers Peppa Pig app at the moment (I reviewed the app recently and wasn't sure how long Eddie was going to enjoy it, but so far he wants to play with it every day).
He is probably a tad too young for all Ben and Holly's games, as for example, cleaning the grass from the leaves requires quite a bit of patience, and I'm afraid that is not one of our virtues.
This app is probably best for a one-to-one session between a child and a parent, with parent explaining the rules and helping to navigate the games.

Ben and Holly's Little Kingdom: Big Star Fun app is available from the App Store for £1.99.

P.S. We were sent a code to try the game for free.

Sporty Peppa (Peppa Pig's Sports Day app review)

Any parent of young children knows who Peppa Pig is. She is probably more part of the family than a distant aunt Zelda.
It has been impossible to avoid the Olympic Games, whether you are a fan or not.
Cheeky little Peppa and her gang have their own Sports Day.

Peppa Pig’s Sports Day app was released on July 20th 2012, and is available in the App Store for £2.99 and is compatible with the iPad, iPod Touch and iPhone.

Usually I don't pay so much for the kids' apps (special needs & communication apps are a different matter), and at £2.99 it is a more pricey app. I was given a code for a free app for the purposes of the review, but being a luddite by nature, I got it wrong and ended up paying for the app.

What did we think of it?
Eddie was delighted to see his favourite Peppa on the ipad. Alas, he was disappointed as for the first couple of days we had problems with the sound, i.e. there was no sound at all, and the app without a sound is quite pointless.
Then the sound appeared without me doing any changes in installation, and I showed the game to Eddie.
I should also mention that I contacted the support team at P2Games and they responded quickly (but I should also confess, I could hardly understand what they suggested doing, the instructions were mind-boggling to someone as technically challenged as me).

One of the advantages of this app is that several people can play it at the same time, as it has a multi-player option. Or if you prefer, you can play on your own.
As you can see from the image above, you can choose 4 players for each game.

You choose one of the six games which include:
OBSTACLE RACE 
LONG JUMP     
ICE-CREAM MAKER
BICYCLE RACE  
TUG OF WAR      
ROSETTE MAKING

After playing several games with Eddie as I was teaching him how the app works, my impression was that everyone wins, as it was a draw every time. I thought because the game is intended for very young children, it was meant to be like this, so as not to upset the little ones, but later one of the players was selected as a winner, so my theory didn't hold water.

It is amazing how quickly the new generation is grasping the concept of the apps. My son is 2 years old, yet he knows how to play games on ipad.






This app is not what you would call an educational app, and I don't know how quickly my son will get bored with it and move onto a different, new app. So far he seems to be enjoying it a lot.

Little Peppa is a true pre-school phenomenon, she is a mini-Superwoman, and even jumped with Her Majesty in the puddle.