[Free / $4.99 Monthly Membership | iOS / web] Ages 3+
Every parent knows it’s dangerous to let your kids slip past bedtime. There is a price to be paid the next morning, to be sure. Your kids may stay up late, but they always get up early. Watch what happens on the weekends.
If you let them stay up late on a school night, it’s a different fate you tempt, because now they will want to sleep in causing the intricately choreographed morning madness to be tossed askew. If we’re not out the door by 7:48am, we’re late. There is no questioning the morning madness.
But tonight, I let 7:40p slip by without teeth being brushed. I let 7:50p slip by without stories being read. I let 8:00pm slip by without being tucked in. Because I couldn’t stop Zacharie from doing math. While it’s never good to let bedtime be ignored, I made an exception because my sons were laughing their faces off while playing math games.
Watch this:
How can you send a kid to bed who says “but Daddy, I just have to solve one more problem and I win the whole game?!”
He’s asking to stay up late to do math!!
So I tempted the gods. I blame the StoryBots.
We’ve been messing around with StoryBots these past few days and the laughs and learning haven’t stopped. From ridiculous silly songs to entertaining stories to challenging math games, we’ve been clicking and rolling through them all on my iPhone, our iPad, and on the web.
Once you have a quick look, it will all be familiar. StoryBots was started by Evan and Gregg Spiridellis, the brothers behind JibJab.com, with an eye of being like Sesame Street for the digital age. Judging by the rabid appetite for which my kids have jumped to the StoryBots, they’re on the right path.
The idea is simple, take a picture of yourself (or the kids) from your iPhone, iPad, or web camera. Maneuver your face into the StoryBot frame and then watch as you act out different characters in the Starring You Books, silly songs, games, videos, and more.
I really love the Starring You Books series. While Zacharie is turning a corner in his literacy, he’s still a little slow on the pickup. These StoryBot Starring You Books are simple enough for him to take turns reading, and with his face as a pirate, astronaut, or farmer, he’s intrigued to be a part of the action.
There are simple animations that make each page come alive. The art work and themes from each of the books are great. And seeing your face in the action is always fun.
As we get geared up for summer, having StoryBots handy will be a dead easy way to keep the kids laughing and learning. While waiting for planes, sitting in the back seat on a long road trip, or falling asleep under the stars, it’s an app the kids will ask to use, and you won’t mind handing over because you know good things will come of it.
Disclosure: Yes, this is a sponsored post, but I cannot sing the praises of StoryBots enough, the boys have genuinely enjoyed beyond measure playing these games and giggling at the scenes on the screens. They can’t put it down.
I’ve been playing with the app and website for a week and, well, the giggles haven’t stopped. Just check out the video of Charlie as a dancing bear, chicken, and triangle fan.
I cannot rave about the StoryBots apps, and the website enough. Seriously. There’s a roster of 14 apps for iPhone, iPad, and your browser featuring 200+ songs, books, videos, activity sheets, and more.
The security is wonderful. You need to input your password, answer multiplication questions, or do directional swiping to get to certain areas. These directions are simple enough for adults to do quickly, but over the heads of kids who have their hands on your device.
You can get all the apps for free to test them out and see what you enjoy. You’ll get a book to try, some songs to star in or listen to, a matching game, some math puzzles.
They’re all there for free If you want more and want to unlock other features, or check out the dozens of StoryBots Starring You Books (with more being added monthly), with an All-Access Family Pass for $4.99/month. Worth it.
SEE ALL THE APPS FOR KIDS HERE
Thanks to JibJab for supporting Team Diabetes in exchange for this featured content.