Android Tablet Apps for Babies and Toddlers

While we don't encourage just giving your baby or toddler electronic gadgets all the time, it can sometimes be an useful tool for learning.

With that in mind we made this list of android apps for babies and toddlers with EDUCATION in mind.

#1. Sesame Street Go

Cost: Free

This media-streaming app is the best thing to ever happen to fans of this beloved children's show. Find video clips and games featuring Elmo, Big Bird, Abby Cadabby, Cookie Monster, and the rest of the Sesame Street crew as they promote interactive learning through tons of silly, familiar fun.

#2. Captain McFinn's Swim & Play

Cost: Free

This unique learning app for 3- to 5-year-olds is the first app to incorporate a live, interactive host. Taking inspiration from popular kids' shows like "Blue's Clues," "Dora the Explorer," and "The Good Night Show," Captain McFinn's engages kids in an underwater adventure while promoting emotional and social development.

#3. LumiKids Park

Cost: Free

This award-winning app from Luminosity is an ideal tool for learning-based play for kids between the ages of two and five. This intuitive gaming experience enables kids to explore a friendly virtual park while strengthening cognitive, motor, and social-emotional skills. Exceptionally cute animation offers an added bonus.

#4. Animal Sounds for Baby

Cost: Free

Designed for littles one between six months and 5 years, this app is used by tapping, tilting, or shaking your device to hear the sounds of different cute critters displayed on the screen. The adorable animals on this Laugh & Learn app from Fisher Price include a cow, tiger, monkey, penguin, and pig. The app will keep little ones entertained, and it'll perk up the ears of any nearby pets, too!

#5. Baby's Musical Hands

Cost: Free

Sitting with a baby or toddler in your lap who wants to fiddle with your phone? This app is the perfect solution. A panel of brightly colored squares provides an array of musical notes when pressed, allowing for the infinite creation of enjoyable baby melodies. As a fun surprise, each touch produces a spray of sparkling stars across the screen to help keep Baby's interest.

#6. I Hear Ewe

Cost: Free

These animated animals come to life when you touch them. The parrot squawks, the monkey screams, and the lion roars, making this app a toddler favorite. With images of 24 creatures and 12 vehicles, both babies and young kids love to play and learn with I Hear Ewe. Each time they touch an animal or vehicle, the name of that item is announced along with a real sound effect. Choose from one of four languages for an added level of learning.

#7. Baby Rattle

Cost: Free

This app is perfect for a curious, hands-on baby and transforms your phone into a shakeable rattle with fun interactions. Great for babies who have just started to become fascinated by the phone, this app appeals to both sight and sound with a simple, clean design. Choose from four rattle styles that each make a different sound when baby shakes your phone. Cute animations offer a new level of engagement with fun sounds when tapped. Now, if only there were an app that would keep Baby from putting your phone in her mouth...

MORE!

Below is a list of Android tablet apps that are suitable for babies and toddlers:

1. Baby Piano - A simple piano app with colorful keys that produce different sounds and notes when touched.

2. Peekaboo Barn - An interactive app that introduces animals and their sounds through a fun peekaboo game.

3. Baby Flashcards - Features a variety of flashcards with colorful images and accompanying sounds to help toddlers learn words and concepts.

4. Fisher-Price Laugh & Learn Shapes & Colors - Offers interactive activities to teach shapes, colors, numbers, and more through engaging games and animations.

5. Baby Phone - A virtual phone app designed for babies and toddlers, featuring colorful buttons and animal sounds to entertain and engage them.

6. Endless Alphabet - Helps toddlers learn the alphabet through interactive puzzles and animated characters.

7. Toca Kitchen Monsters - Lets toddlers play with virtual food, encouraging creativity and exploration in a safe environment.

8. Sago Mini Puppy Preschool - Provides a collection of mini-games that help toddlers develop basic skills such as counting, matching, and problem-solving.

9. Puzzingo - Offers a variety of puzzles with different themes, including animals, vehicles, and shapes, to improve cognitive skills and hand-eye coordination.

10. Baby Hazel Games - Features a series of interactive games and activities based on the popular Baby Hazel character, promoting creativity and imagination.

11. Breathe, Think, Do with Sesame - Utilizes Sesame Street characters to teach children problem-solving, self-control, and resilience through engaging stories and activities.

12. Pepi Bath - A virtual bath-time experience that allows toddlers to play and explore while learning about personal hygiene and daily routines.

13. ABC Kids - Traces letters and helps toddlers practice writing, with interactive games and colorful visuals to make learning fun.

14. Dr. Panda's Restaurant - Lets toddlers run their own virtual restaurant, fostering creativity and teaching basic cooking skills.

15. LEGO DUPLO Train - Allows toddlers to build and interact with virtual LEGO trains, promoting spatial awareness and problem-solving skills.

Remember to always supervise your child while they are using these apps and ensure that the content is appropriate for their age.

Game and Hobby Zone at 2 Bloor St West, Toronto = Racist Owner

Years ago I witnessed the owner/manager of "Game and Hobby Zone" located at 2 Bloor St West, Toronto doing something racist.

He told a black customer to "step aside" so that he could serve white customers instead.

The black customer and the manager then got into a huge argument, which I watched - and should have recorded on my phone, but it was already low on battery.

I did later go back and take the following photo of the manager, on the right, with one of his staff on the left.

Ever since that incident I have boycotted Game and Hobby Zone - for multiple reasons, not just because the owner is racist.

• The products in the store are overpriced. You can find the same products elsewhere for much better prices.
• The shelves are crammed and disorganized.
• The service is sub par. Not helpful.

In contrast there are other stores that make more sense to spend my money at.

Here are a few of my favourites:

• 401 Games
• Hairy Tarantula
• Face to Face Games
• EB Games
• Meeplemart
• Strategy Games
• Mastermind Toys
• The Sword and Board
• Toys R Us

My point is there are plenty of other locations to buy the same products... but with better service, better prices, and you are not financially supporting a racist bigot.

Pokemon Go: The Fastest Growing Sport in the World

sport, spôrt
noun: sport; plural noun: sports

an activity involving physical exertion and skill in which an individual or team competes against another or others for entertainment.

Yup, that describes the breakout sensation that is "Pokemon Go", a smartphone game app that encourages people to go outside and exercise, traveling from Pokestop to Pokestop to Pokegym in an effort to collect and train lots of Pokemon.

It is both an individual sport and a team sport. I am thus listing "Pokemon Go" as 'entertainment', 'games' and 'exercise equipment'.

Speaking for myself, I have already lost 8 lbs of fat in the last 3 weeks. I ended up getting a sore ankle the one day because I walked about 7 or 8 km while wearing sandals. (Word to the wise, wear comfortable shoes when walking long distances.)

The game uses augmented reality, by turning your camera on and allowing you to see what is behind it and then adding a Pokemon critter to the screen. You then toss digital Pokeballs at the critter in order to capture them.

Your goals essentially are to:

1. Capture lots of Pokemon.
2. Walk from location to location to get more Pokeballs and other useful items.
3. Visit Pokegyms to battle other Pokemon / train your Pokemon against members of your own team.

The more you walk (or rollerblade or bicycle) the more Pokemon you can catch, the more Pokeballs you get, the more Pokegyms you can visit and train at. Driving (cheating) in a car might earn you some Pokemon and Pokeballs along the way, but most of the time you will be driving too fast and miss them.

The game is basically perfect for people who are into jogging, which ultimately makes it a "walking / jogging / running / cycling / rollerblading sport". You could even do it while riding on horseback.

What methods people use while playing the sport doesn't really matter, but what is clear is that the game designers are deliberately making it difficult for people to cheat at the game.

If you try to cheat by driving around you will often find that Pokemon go "poof" and disappear because they got out of range before you could catch them.

They also recently updated the software to make it more difficult to locate Pokemon. Random Pokemon can be seen nearby, but there used to be a gamer-made app named "Pokevision" which allowed users of the app to better be able to see where Pokemon are and then be able to simply walk over to that spot in an attempt to capture those Pokemon. The game designers however felt that Pokevision was cheating (and it was using Pokemon Go's servers without their permission) and thus sent cease and desist letters before eventually pulling the plug and blocking Pokevision from working.

Also certain aspects of the game, like hatching eggs can only be done by walking 2 or 5 kilometers. Speaking for myself, I have made a goal of walking 3.5 kilometers per day each day that I am playing the game. If I play every day during a month I will have walked 105 kilometers. (A 200 lb person walking 105 kilometers will burn approx. 8000 calories, + extra calories due to the Afterburn Effect if your heart rate goes up during that time.)

It is possible to buy Pokeballs and other useful items for playing the game, but if you are doing that then you are missing the whole point of the game, which is to get more people outside and exercising. Buying a Pokeball costs between 4 to 5 cents each, which makes purchasing them really impractical as you go through them very quickly. Also if you can just walk down the street and get free Pokeballs by exercising, why would you ever pay for them?

Recommendations:

Wear comfortable shoes.
Check the weather forecast before leaving.
Dress for the weather. Bring an umbrella if there might be rain.
For added speed ride your bicycle, rollerblades, skateboard, etc.
Invite friends and family who also play the game.
Attend meetups and join Facebook groups to meet other players.
Take a drink with you. Water is best.
Take a healthy snack with you. Apples are good. Granola bars are good too.
Take a backup battery power for your smartphone. Having the game open regularly drains the battery faster.
Keep track of how much bandwidth data you are using on your smartphone. (Last month I had just received my new cell phone and I downloaded a lot of programs on the first day of having the phone, so I had to be careful how much bandwidth I was using afterwards.)

Also you do not need to wear the silly hats. That is for the dorks who get really into it.

Already there has been 10s of millions of people who have downloaded Pokemon Go and started playing it, making it the fastest growing sport in the world.

Also the game is free. All you need is a smartphone and a data plan. No purchase necessary.

See also:

Pokemon Go as a Workout Plan

Motion Capture Video Game Console

Someone should invent a motion capture video game console.

It would be better than the Wii console because it doesn't use a controller. A camera detects motions and tells the game what to do.

I presume it has already been invented but hasn't been picked up by Nintendo or Sony Playstation, etc.

Update...

Some other developers have been working to make existing game consoles to be more like a Wii. Like in the video below called "Halo Motion Sensitive Gaming with the Mad Genius Motion Capture System".

However that is not what I am looking for. I am looking for a "pure motion capture" system using cameras. No hand held devices needed.

Dread and Ragnarok - Roleplaying Games at Fan Expo

Yesterday I tried a slew of roleplaying games at the convention Fan Expo. A number of them I really enjoyed and some I felt were broken.

THE GOOD

DREAD (I forget the name of the creator)

FIVE STARS

This was my favourite of the games I tried yesterday. Oddly enough it used a Jenga set to determine how the events unfolded. The game was rather freeform and the players had a lot of options to explore in a town that is apparently haunted, has weird funky mushrooms, and seems to attract rather psychotic characters - including my character who was a pyromaniac with an unusual personality that mimics the personalities of those around him.

The Jenga-based game follows the idea that every time a character does something that could potentially result in death they have to move a Jenga piece. If the Jenga falls over their character dies. I think it was quite an interesting and fun way to have a roleplaying game with a high death toll - and thus a good game system to use when fighting zombies, etc.

RAGNAROK (or its long title "Fate of the Norns: Ragnarok", created by Andrew Valkauskas)

FOUR STARS

The game takes place during the mythological Ragnarok (Norse for Doomsday), which conceptually means this game is likely to be very interesting and high in figures and monsters from Norse mythology.

I really liked this one despite its complicated system of using runestones for actions. Unlike most games which use dice, the runes system feels a bit more like card based roleplaying. It was fun and interesting - and my viking berserker got to kill stuff - but it does take a little getting used to.

THE BAD

D&D NEXT

TWO STARS

A variant if Dungeons and Dragons, but I felt the game was rather broken and unbalanced. It is a problem with the rules system that needs to be fixed to prevent players from taking advantage of gaping holes in the rules.

DUNGEON WORLD

ONE STAR

This game is another new version of D&D that someone was promoting. It had even more rules problems than D&D Next and was very unbalanced and broken. Certain classes were ridiculously overpowered and others were completely gimped. Many of the abilities given to characters had no logical reason for them and were completely unrealistic. eg. The Fighter is waaaaaay too powerful, the paladin has ridiculous abilities - and is gimped compared to the Fighter. Even the Paladin's "Lay Hands" ability was gimped and useless. Various other class related problems within the game.

I must admit I was rather disappointed by the two Dungeons and Dragons variants. I have tried quite a few different versions of the game and have determined previously that 1st, 2nd and 3rd Edition D&D are the best versions of the game. 3.5 is too overpowered and ridiculous. 4th Edition Dungeons and Dragons is a complete flop for a long list of reasons.

Next week I will be trying "Pathfinder", which is based off of 3.5, but is supposedly more toned down - but don't quote me on that because I have yet to try it and form my own opinion on it. Some people refer to it as being "D&D 3.75" so we shall see how it fares...

William Hill SUCKS

Ever heard of the gambling website William Hill?

Its a sports betting website, but they also run online poker websites / etc.

Well, I am really tired of seeing their stupid advertising. They're so annoying. So incredibly annoying I just had to comment on them and denounce their advertising tactics.

In fact, lets stop and denounce the advertising tactics of ALL gambling websites. I want nothing to do with them. If there was a way to block specific kinds of internet advertising, gambling advertising would be at the top of my list of things to block.

And seriously, what kind of person gambles? Lazy people looking for a get-rich-quick scheme. Go out and get a real job. Earn your keep.

And furthermore most gamblers ultimately end up losing their shirts. And their car, their house, their family. Gambling addiction ruins lives.

Want to spend your money and time productively? Go exercise. Live longer, be sexier, be stronger, be faster. Go hire a personal trainer, take up jogging and start weightlifting. You will be happier about yourself and your life and instead of betting on sports you will be playing sports.

Gambling is for losers. Exercising is for athletes and winners.

Cherokee Archery Set

When I first decided to stop procrastinating and get into archery I was at the Central Surplus store on Yonge Street in Toronto.

They had a Cherokee Archery Set on sale and it was, according to the clerk behind the counter, "ideal for beginners".

And he was absolutely-freaking-right!

I used that bow for 2 years before finally switching to a more powerful wooden bow because I loved it so much. It was wonderfully easy to use, surprisingly accurate and I had a very quick learning curve when using it. Some heavier bows are more difficult to learn with because you're not used to the pull and need to work your way up to it.

I still have my Cherokee bow (which is best described as a recurve / reflex long bow) and I now use it for teaching archery here in Toronto.

My only piece of advice is that you buy more arrows and a nice quiver to go with it.

I also have a handmade arm guard that I use made out of rawhide and a shoelace that is wonderful to use. Sometimes its the things you make yourself which do the best job.

No word yet on when I will be done carving my first bow.

Magic the Gathering SUCKS

ENTERTAINMENT - Now by saying that Magic the Gathering, the collectable card game, sucks, what I am also doing is admitting to previously playing the game.

Truth be told, an ex girlfriend in high school taught me how to play the game. On her bed. That was 13 years ago and I have gone through periods where I played every day and periods where I didn't play for years. Its addictive, but for the wrong reasons.

But enough about that, lets discuss the game itself.

#1. Magic (or MTG) is a game wherein new card sets are always coming out and players can collect the cards, trade them and play with them. The collecting part can be quite addictive, because the cards have fantastic art on them and I can definitely appreciate the artistic elements.

#2. As a card game however Magic has a variety of different formats one can play. Classic, Extented, Standard, Freeform, Broken, Multiplayer, Two-Headed Giant, Three-Headed-Giant, and so forth. This was you can play against a friend, against multiple friends, in teams, etc.

#3. There are 6 basic card types: White, Black, Red, Green, Blue, Artifact and Land. You need land to play the other cards in your hand against your opponent. You can only play 1 land per turn normally. The different colour of cards have different affinities (things that they do well). White tends to be soldiers or birds, black tends to be undead, green tends to be elves or forest creature, blue is sea creatures or birds, artifacts are magical items that are useful, and land you just plain need to use the other cards.

#4. However, the goal of Magic as a card game is to defeat your opponent. This is where the game runs into some serious issues. Its basically designed to turn you into an a$$***e. You play the game long enough and you will become a prick and a scoundrel, and then you will wonder why you don't have any friends. Worse, you become addicted (its a weird egotistical thing) to being a prick. You become obsessed with defeating your opponent in the first 3 rounds of the game, or defeating them in such a way that its embarrassing for them. If you lose, it just reaffirms your commitment to trying to get revenge on them. IT IS NOT A FRIENDLY GAME.

#5. I have determined over the past 13 years that I will no longer play Magic in any competitive way. I still have a huge collection of cards, but they're more like an art collection now. I only play with friends on rare occasions, and even then its purely as "a for fun only game" and the decks I design for such occasions are designed with that in mind. I keep them simple too, that way hapless players who are just learning don't have a steep learning curve.

#6. There is also Magic the Gathering Online, which is even worse on the prick factor because you're not even playing with friends, you are playing against other pricks online. Their goal there is to see who can be the biggest prick. I tried that out too and can confirm that the people on there must have no life because they make the most boring decks I've ever seen (I swear they just try to bore you to death).

(There is an amusing clip from a TV show where Osama bin Laden dies and is awarded with 40 virgins... unfortunately it is 40 virgin men all playing Magic the Gathering Online.)

There are much better games out there to be playing if you want to play fantasy games. ie. Munchkin is always hilarious. Traditional AD&D (with pen and paper) is always fun, and there is also Dungeons and Dragons Online, which is free and won't cost you a cent. DDO is a much better game, far more exciting and its emphasizes friendship and teamwork. That is the kind of game I would much rather play.

Magic the Gathering is for losers who don't have any real friends. :p