Zee Writes the Alphabet
Appy Kids, Dh1.99
iOS and Android
Appy Kids offers 15 apps for children, which have collectively been downloaded more than 2.3 million times since the company behind it, Growl Media, was launched in 2013 by Dubai-based Dinesh Lalvani and his wife Claire. In the Arabic-language Zee Writes the Alphabet, kids choose a letter from a magic compass and learn the Arabic word associated with the letter.
Alfie, Haathi & the Magic Bioscope
Appy Kids, free iOS and Android
A storytelling Arabic-language interface in which children touch animals on the screen to hear them roar, bark or bleat as they read the story out loud. We love this cute screen-time storybook, enabling toddlers to learn about animals while developing their reading skills.
Alfie’s alphabet – ABC
Appy Kids, Dh1.99
Available for iOS and Android
This teaches the alphabet through 26 interactive scenes and puzzles. Children learn letter identification and associated first words, alphabet sequence and letter memory. We liked that the phonics sound of the letters were pronounced as well as the letter. The game proceeds in alphabetical order, so only children with superhuman attention skills will make it all the way to the letter Z.
Appy Oceans
Appy Kids, Dh1.99
iOS and Android
Produced in English, Arabic, Hindi and Bangla, this helps young children discover the ocean while solving puzzles and learning how to count from 1 to 10. An underwater band also introduces children to musical instruments. We loved the calming ocean sounds and colourful scenery.
Colorbug
Pixelbug, free on iOS
Dubai-based Lebanese-Canadian Dany Eid developed this app through his company Pixelbug. Colorbug brings children’s artwork to life using augmented reality. “Kids are still using their hands to colour the sheets, which is something familiar to all the family,” says Eid. “We will be releasing a second augmented-reality app this year that caters to teenagers and young adults, too.” The app cleverly combines both physical and digital worlds: children print out a colouring sheet, colour it in, then place the app over the artwork to watch their masterpieces come to life in 3-D – exactly the way the colours were applied.
Sira
Alpha Apps, free
iOS and Android
An interactive game book platform that teaches kids under 12 lessons from the Quran. The app consists of 11 episodes depicting events from Prophet Mohammed’s life, three of which have already been launched. The first episode is free, the rest are available as in-app purchases.
Chivi
AppsArabia FZ-LLC, free
iOS and Android
Created by AppsArabia FZ-LLC, which is based at Abu Dhabi’s twofour54, Chivi has players slip, bounce, duck and slide their way around obstacles to get a small, round creature called Chivi to its favourite snack, the carrot. If your kids liked Angry Birds, they’ll probably enjoy this, too.
Fotoo
Growl Media, Dh2.99
iOS
This one will have kids bellowing with laughter – it allows you to add cheeky accessories to photos and videos. Choose from facial hair, hats, glasses or a pirate’s eye patch in the free options – or pay for seasonal accessories – to send quirky virtual messages to friends. Fun for older children, although you can see how adding weird features to someone’s image could lead to trouble.
