Rubber Ducky ($0.99, iTunes link) is a friendly iPhone app for small children. It’s very basic: tap any of the rubber ducks, and they squeak and quack. The ducks are colorful and vibrant and should appeal to childen.
Rubber Ducky is a $0.99 download in the iTunes App Store.
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Animal Mechanicals Memory Match (free, download) is a colorful memory match game that features three difficulty levels to choose from: easy, medium, and hard, with corresponding grid sizes of 4×3, 4×4, and 6×5.
The game features bright colors that kids will like, as well as a few sound effects, such as a flipping sound when the cards are turned, and a ringing sound when a match is made. It should be noted that the cards are rather small and may be hard for young children to select accurately.
Animal Mechanicals Memory Match is a free download in the iTunes App Store.
Memory Match (free, download) features kid-friendly cartoon pictures of animals. The game has only one size of puzzle, a 6×5 grid, which may be difficult for very young children. The cards are also relatively small in size and may be difficult for very young children to select accurately.
Memory Match is a free download in the iTunes App Store.
PearMe (free, download) is a memory match game that allows you to use your own photos. Simply tap the photographs to flip them over.
The large size of the cards are kids friendly, as it will allow them to choose the cards accurately. The game allows you to add your own photos to the game. Children will get a kick out of seeing their own faces suddenly appear, or even mom and dad’s faces on the cards.
To add you own photos, tap the letter i in the bottom right corner, then tap Available Photos, then scroll down to the bottom and select Add from Photo Library. You can delete any or all of the default photos from the game by swiping left to right on the photos.
Although the game lacks bright colors (except for the pictures themselves), it does offer the largest cards, so kids will find it easy to play. You can drag the cards around with your finger as well. I do recommend you use your own pictures, because some of the default ones are quite bland and won’t appeal to kids.
Pear Me is a free download in the iTunes App Store.
Matches Free(free, download) is a basic, barebones memory matching game. There are three card deck themes you can choose: symbols, letters, and numbers. All grids are 4×4. There is also a timer for each game. It can be turned off in the options menu by sliding the timer all the way to the left.
Matches is a free download in the iTunes App Store.
Melody Match Lite (free, download) is a unique musical matching game that many adults (including the one writing this article) will enjoy too. The game features cards floating in water (the animations are similar to the Koi Pond app). When you tap a card, a pleasant water drop sound is made, the water ripples, and then a musical phrase plays. The type of music varies, from a solo flute to a portion of a contemporary rock song (each level has a theme). You must match the sounds.
The lite version only features 9 levels, but if you play the same levels over again, the sounds are selected randomly, so you may hear new ones you haven’t heard before.
Melody Match Lite is a free download in the iTunes App Store.
Peekaboo Barn Lite (free, download) is an educational app for toddlers. The Lite version features 3 animals: a cow, rooster, and a pig. It’s a guessing game that starts off with noise of an animal coming from a closed barn. Guess what the animal is, then tap the barn to open the barn doors. Inside will be one of the animals. A narrator tells you what kind of animal it is, and the animal’s name is spelled out on the screen.
The app features some attractive and professional graphics from popular artist Divya Srinivasan (who regularly appears in The New Yorker) as well as animations and sounds. It’s perfect for young children as it’s extremely easy to use, just tap once anywhere on the screen.
Peekaboo Barn Lite is a free download in the iTunes App Store. A pay version, PeekaBoo Barn, with 10 animals is a 99-cent download in the iTunes App Store.
WordSearch Kids ($0.99, download) is a word-finding game designed with kids in mind. There are 3 difficult levels (easy, medium, and hard) and nine categories of words to choose from:
Animals
Colors
Cookies
Drinks
Fruit
Musical Instruments
Pizza Toppings
Sports
Toys
When you find one of the words in the puzzle, simply trace your finger over the letters. In a nice touch, as you trace, each letter will appear beside your finger, eventually spelling out the word. This solves the problem of your finger obscuring the puzzle, and lets you know when to stop tracing.
The difficulty levels determine how the words appears. For instance, in easy level, the words are spelled out in the puzzle left to right or top to bottom (no tricky diagonal or backwards words). In the difficult level, the words could be spelled out in any direction.
The game features cute sounds such as a bell when you trace out a word correctly and a cat meowing when you tap on the Animals category.
WordSearch Kids is a simple educational game for children, and it’s easier to carry around than a stack of word-find puzzle books. It’s also easy enough for a child to operate by themselves. Recommended for small children who can spell.
Name: WordSearch Kids
Developer: AFK
Version Reviewed:
Price: $0.99
Download: 
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Bubble Wrap (free, iTunes link) is no replacement for the real life experience of popping bubble wrap. In fact, it’s the kind of game you might play once, have a laugh, then move on with the rest of your sorry life. But, the game is a free download, so your laugh comes cheap.
Yes, there is a game built into the experience of popping bubble wrap. The object is to see how many bubbles you can pop in 45 seconds. Unfortunately, the game doesn’t support multitouch, so only one fingertip at a time works. Pity, because there’s nothing I like more than taking a trip to crazytown with some bubble wrap. As the game progresses, popped bubbles unpop, giving you even more chances to increase your score. There’s only one screen and one challenge, but again, the game is free, so no whining.
