Jenni and I both got iPhone 3GSses a week ago and naturally we are letting Z use them a bit. We'll be sharing nice apps for young kids as we find them.

First up is Learning Touch's FirstWords series. Jenni downloaded the FirstWords Vehicles app and Z played happily through the less-entertaining stretches of a very nice meal we had in Houston before taking her to see Swan Lake.


(Hmm... If I turn my iPhone sideways will it shoot horizontal video?)

I just wish they offered (a) more words per app - at 26 vocabulary words repeats come up fast - and/or (b) levels of play - why not allow a child to progress to the point where they have to put the letters in order without the aid of shadow text?

To anyone who wouldn't let their child touch a new gadget with a ten-foot pole, I say to you: First, why are you letting them play with a ten-foot pole? And second, how else will we train the next generation of digerati? I find it endearing and heartening for her to have already mastered not only the screen swipe but the zoom in/zoom out movements used in the GPS/mapping program. We control the environment she uses them in quite closely, and also make sure she knows we are letting her play with our toys, i.e. ownership is not shared. That said, I can't wait to introduce her to the iPhone Oregon Trail... I've beaten it twice now solo, and don't have many more challenges to throw its way, but helping Z drive her way to Manifest Destiny? Any day now!

Any iPhone users out there with kid-friendly apps to recommend? - Jeremiah