Candepop

We are two mums and two toddlers, Cal and Edie, (two dads and new baby Elliott as well) living in Ireland, with a whole world of fun things to see and do.

 

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4 posts tagged night and day studios

Cat Doorman’s Little Red Wagon

Guest  post from dad to be, James Kelleher.
Cat Doorman is Julianna Bright, and vice versa. She’s an Oregonian artist/mom/musician who’s collaborated with a bunch of American northwest indie rock heroes (including members of The Decemberists, Golden Bears, Black Prairie and Built to Spill) to make Songbook, a very charming folksy, old-timey album for children. Little Red Wagon is the first companion app to launch alongside the album, it’s developed by top toddler-catnip producers Night & Day Studios, and it’s very lovely indeed.
On launching the app, you’re dropped straight into Bright’s instantly appealing hand-painted world, where you choose whether you’d like a guitar, piano, or full band backing track. Then it’s right into the song adventure, where a girl in an orange dress gathers supplies – all dropped into the red wagon of the title – for a picnic in the forest. The dairy is run by a goat (the chèvre is recommended), the bakery by a cat: my weekly grocery shop now seems sadly mundane by comparison. 
The song itself is great, a blessed relief from the brain-mulching music found in most apps aimed at children, and appears in full notation at the bottom of the screen in case you’d like to play along. All the interaction cues necessary to progress are well signposted, but there are plenty of mischievous hidden surprises for curious tappers too. Trust me when I tell you: those pooping cows are going to be tapped A LOT.
This is another great app from Night & Day, with lashings of their customary attention to detail, plenty of charm and a lot of heart. 
To find out more of James Kelleher’s views on apps and the rest of the world follow him on twitter here.

Caillou Stickers - iPhone & iPad App for kids

We were thrilled when we heard that Night & Day Studios were releasing another Caillou app, following on from the lovely Caillou’s World which we reviewed earlier in the year. Caillou has finally been shown on Irish tv and we’ve caught a few episodes so Edie was excited to see the familiar characters from the show. It works like a giant sticker album with lots of sticker options and backgrounds which you can work and rework, moving characters around, changing their size and listening to them make noises. Edie insisted on most things being left full size and also sending things flying “into the air” but it was great to see her imagination working. I think this is an app that she will grow with and play with differently as she develops. You can see some of her slightly surreal finished works below! A lovely touch is the ability to email your finished photos to your friends or family, we sent quite a few completed postcards ourselves. It is available to buy for iPhone and iPad here

Caillou’s World

Night & Day Studios have come up with another terrific app for iPhone and iPad, Cailou’s World. Based on a popular US show Caillou’s World, this app is a beautifully presented way of teaching children letters and improving their observational skills. You are presented with a number of scenarios, the playground, playschool, barn and so on. Once you choose them you get a black and white drawing with only the eponymous Caillou coloured in. Different items in the drawing are highlighted and once you correctly guess the letter they begin with you get more colour in the picture and are awarded stars. If you guess wrongly you are helpfully given an example of an item beginning with that letter so, either way, you learn as you go. What is really clever is that you are “rewarded” after a number of stars with the fully coloured picture. This app would be perfect for preschoolers and even early schoolgoers. I have to admit that I’m also very fond of the Vince Guaraldi/Peanuts style backing music! Available for iPhone, iPad and Android here.


Peekaboo Barn - available for Android

The iPhone and iPad wonder that is Peekaboo Barn is now available for Android users. Long popular in our house (see our original review here) the Peekaboo series combine simplicity, fun and learning into one perfect for little ones app. Cal has been using it since he was 13 months and it is definitely the reason why all pigs we come across get greeted with a very loud shout of “Piiiiigg!!”.  Peekaboo barn, available for Android users from Night and Day Studios here.

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