For babies and toddlers
Elmo Calls
The youngest members of the family
are usually the most restless and have
the shortest attention span, making it
particularly challenging to entertain
them on the go. While this app does
not offer a huge range of options, it
is perfect for calming or distracting a
toddler with his favourite character –
and, in fact, seems to work with those
rare kids who aren’t already familiar
with Elmo.
The user receives video or audio
calls from Sesame Street’s Elmo, can
call him directly or pick up one of his
funny voice messages. With video
calls, the child sees himself live in the
lower corner of the screen, emulating
a real FaceTime call. You can also
purchase additional calls called
Happy Habits that encourage children
to go to bed, have a bath, use the
potty and so on.
While it might not be possible to
take all your little one’s favourite toys
on holiday, this at least is one handy
way of packing Elmo.
This app is available for Apple,
Android and Windows devices.
For kids aged five to ten
Stack the Countries
Whether sitting at the airport for hours
or in the back of a car, children often
get restless and crave entertainment.
This app is the ideal mix of fun and
education that keeps jet-setting
children and parents happy as it
teaches geography and country
information through a series of games
and quizzes. With over 1,000 questions
and 192 country flash cards, there’s no
risk of kids getting bored quickly.
Players are assigned a continent
and collect a country stamp for each
round they win. Rounds are won by
correctly answering questions and
stacking the countries to reach a line.
Up to six people can play against
each other and parents can customise
the app by selecting categories
to make the game easier or more
challenging, depending on the child’s
age.
This app is available for Apple,
Android and Windows devices.
For mums and dads
Pack & Go Deluxe
Packing for the entire family can be
a stressful event, especially when
everyone is a different age. Pack &
Go Deluxe is the ultimate to-do-list
app that not only keeps track of each
family member’s packing needs,
but also suggests items you almost
certainly forgot.
The app is very intuitive, so
creating and personalising a list for
each member takes a matter of
seconds. Simply assign them to a
predefined group (Infant/Toddler,
Child, Adult or even Pet) and a list of
category folders with a multitude of
sub-items will appear. Once the list is
finalised and packing has begun, a
progress bar indicates the completion
level as items are ticked off. The level
of customisation is impressive, and
even includes a password-protected
briefcase for storing travel information
such as passport numbers, hotel
names, emergency numbers, etc.
This app is available for Apple and
Android devices.
Heading out on an adventure? These apps are ideal for keeping little
ones busy and parents organised when travelling, writes
Angelina Draper
.
There's an app for that
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Playtimes
