Babies and toddlers still reach for our keys, but more and more these small hands are reaching toward the smart phones we use, knowing it is full of “food” for the eyes and ears.   As good parents, we seek to find “food” that is nourishing, and so we also seek to find apps for our mobile devices that will provide good learning experiences for our children, something that will help us CONNECT instead of dis-connect.  These Kindermusik apps provide music, books and more to nurture young minds on your mobile device.  With your iPhone, iPad, or iPod Touch, you and your children can enjoy listening to some delightful music, playing music activities, and reading books together.    These are excellent and handy tools for parents to use to enrich the time they share with their children while waiting in line, or for appointments, or just anytime, anywhere.  The Kindermusik Radio needs internet connection for the live streaming music.  The eBooks are easy to download onto your mobile device and can be enjoyed anytime.

Kindermusik Radio

Kindermusik International has partnered with Night and Day Studios (the makers of Peekaboo Barn) to create a mobile app that allows families to enjoy their high quality recordings and creative activities with your child anywhere you have internet connection.

Dance, march, skip, and stretch. Swing your partner and then rock to a lullaby. Smile and laugh. Just like a mini Kindermusik class, the Kindermusik Radio app provides parents with a way to engage and interact with their children—at home, on the go, anywhere. With 5 streaming audio stations to choose from, the Kindermusik Radio app will give you access to over 100 of the very finest and authentic reproductions of classic children’s songs, nursery rhymes, and stories, as well as Kindermusik originals.

When the “Play Along” button is tapped, it allows the child to choose one of five instrument sounds to play along with the songs they are listening to.  What an excellent way to explore steady beat, and even timbre with your child.  When you talk about the sounds, and try to mimic them with your mouth, it can engage the child in vocal play that will help build language and articulation skills.

A good variety of recordings are streamed live on each “Station” :

• Bounces and Rhymes  (perfect for quick activity ideas for babies and toddlers)
• Animals, Animals  (all ages love animals!)
• Get Up and Move!  (have space to move and need to get out the wiggles?)
• Mostly Lullabies  (need help to calm things down, maybe take a nap?)
• Tell Me a Story (excellent for children who like audio books)

Each song, as it comes up on the radio, has the option of looking at the lyrics and learning a corresponding activity designed to stimulate early childhood development. The activities, developed by trained and licensed Kindermusik educators, are based on principles defined by the National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC). With over 30 years of experience, and inspired by the seminal work of early childhood development experts such as Piaget, Montessori, and Greenspan, Kindermusik is the recognized leader in early childhood music and movement curricula and products.

Kindermusik Radio

The full version of this Kindermusik Radio app, described above is only $2.99.  If you’d like to try it out for free, download the Kindermusik Radio Lite, to get 2 of the 5 “stations” of music.

This is a great way to get to know these songs from Kindermusik, and enjoy trying some new fun interactions with your children.  Keep in mind that these recordings play one after another like a radio station, it is not possible to click a specific song to listen to it repeatedly, you just have to wait for it to come around on the rotation on that station.   There are a limited number of songs on each station so it allows for a child to develop familiarity through repetition, as well as variety to keep their attention engaged.

Of course, you must have an internet connection for this music that is being streamed live; this app does not actually turn your device into a radio!   iPod Touch users: you will need wifi for this to work.    If you would download particular songs for your own playlist, you can find all of these songs available at play.kindermusik.com .    Although it indicates the possibility with the “More” button, these songs are not available from itunes.  Songs from play.kindermusik.com can be downloaded on a regular computer and uploaded into your iTunes playlist.

Research shows that interactive music helps children become better learners, whether presented digitally or personally.   Toddlers dance, swing, and sing as they develop their motor and listening skills. Preschoolers jump, skip, rhyme, invent, and sing to the beat as they strengthen pre-reading and pre-math skills. Music soothes the soul, inspires the imagination, and trains the brain.

If you like these recordings and activities, you are SURE to like our Kindermusik classes, where we enjoy hands-on movement based learning and social experiences through music.  Simply use the button to the right to request a Free Preview if you live in Polk County, or go to kindermusik.com to find a class near you.

Kindermusik eBooks

In our Kindermusik Our Time classes this week, we enjoyed the the fun bee antics in the “Wiggle Waggle” book that is part of Kindermusik’s Do-Re-Me & You line of integrated materials.  AND, we shared how this book, and more, are available as an app.

Kindermusik has partnered with Scrollmotion, Inc. and Iceberg Kids to revolutionize the children’s book experience, bringing the magic and wonder of reading to an exciting new digital space (the perfect answer to bedtime, long car rides or learning to read).

Each book is downloaded directly to your mobile device so it is available at any time, even without internet connection.  Moving through each screen, you and your child can enjoy various angles of the pictures on the pages while listening to the recorded reading of the book, or turn the sound off and read it yourself.

With the recording option, parents, or grandparents can record their own voice reading the book for the child to listen to again and again.  Or, if you have a developing reader, they can record their OWN voice reading the book.

The Kindermusik iPhone eBook apps have been priced reasonably at just $.99/each!

If you are “green-minded” and want to key in to the conversation about the environmental impact of printed books vs. e-books, c heck out this article:  Are e-books really better for the environment?

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To take a look at all of the apps offered by Kindermusik, just search for the word “kindermusik” on your iPhone, iPod touch, or IPad.

 Or if you want to see a concise view of most of the Kindermusik apps available:  Kindermusik Radio and 13 e-books, check out this list with descriptions on this appfinder at Lisisoft.

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Sing. Move. Listen. Share. Imagine. Anytime, anywhere.

Please let us know what you think of these apps !!!