We’re getting pretty pumped about the Yo Gabba Gabba Live show tomorrow in Rosemont. In the meantime, we’ve been checking out the new Yo Gabba Gabba! Hello Friends! iOS app.

See my three year old above, peeking out in the middle of the app? She thinks it’s pretty cool that she’s included in all the fun within the app. Especially when she’s on a video call with Toodee.

Hello Friends! is an interactive app that allows kids (and, um, adults) to play and interact with their favorite Yo Gabba Gabba characters. There are games, video clips from the tv series (including music and stories), photos to embellish and face-to-face “video calls” with Brobee, Foofa, Muno, Plex, and Toodee. Looks like more fun activities for the app are in the works.

Here’s a quick peek at the app’s current features:

Be sure to check out the new Yo Gabba Gabba! Hello Friends! app in iTunes.

*I was provided with a code so my kids could experience this app for themselves. Any opinions expressed above are our own.

Now here is an app (for your iPhone and/or iPad) that is entertaining and educational for the preschoolers.  My 3 year old (and more advanced 7 year old) both love the Madagascar Preschool Surf N’ Slide app.

The app is very simple for a preschooler to navigate.  The options are to choose one of four characters (baby Marty, Gloria, Melman or Alex) and then choose from a selection of magic carpets or surfboards.  Next, the character is guided through various scenes, where they collect stars and miscellaneous objects along the way.

My favorite part of the app is when the character gets to the “challenges” along the way.  These challenges are great educational stops for the preschoolers.  After each challenge is completed, they get to choose a “sticker” and can place it on one of the various “sticker book” scenes.  Then, they are prompted to go back to surfing and collecting more stars and tackling more preschool-level challenges.

The app is priced at $2.99 in the iTunes store and in my opinion, it is worth purchasing.  It’s one of the more visually appealing and easy to use apps out there for preschoolers.

We were given a promo code to download this app for review on ParentSphere. All of the opinions above are my own. My kids would tell you the same.

Rudolph Camera ($)

Just like the Grinch camera. More photo fun! Turn people into rudolph, misfit toys, and even have your picture taken with the scary Bumble!

Christmas Fun – All In One, Holiday Spirit, Interactive Songs and Games for Children (entertainment) (free)

The title of the app says it all.  What it doesn’t say is that it’s just a sneak peek at the full, “paid” version.  Fun for the toddlers.  I’m not going to lie, it’s definitely cheesy.

Christmas Tale (book) (free)

Cute interactive storybook app for kids.  It comes from the same company who created the Christmas Shareable app in Part 1.  I must say, this one is way less cheesy and worth checking out if you have kids.

A Christmas Santa (game) (free)

This game is hands-down my absolute favorite Christmas app.  Besides the fact that the Santa in this game looks like he came straight outta South Park, the game is great, mindless fun.  All you have to do is launch Santa and help him fly as far as he can through the air.  My kids think it’s hilarious when Santa drops smack into the snowy bank below him.  You need this app.

Starbucks Cup Magic (interactive/entertainment) (free)

If you hit up Starbucks this holiday season, you can use this app to bring your cup to life.  Sort of.  I guess it’s neat or whatever.

Shop Advisor (informational) (free)

Shopping advice, bar code scanning, gift ideas, etc.  While I don’t rely heavily on just one deal-finding app, this one is nice to have and refer to when you’re in the gift-giving spirit.

An Origami Christmas Tree Learning Experience (informational) (free)

Learn how to make an Origami Christmas Tree.  Please note: you’ll actually need real paper to be able to make the tree.  Or, if you’re really that lazy, you can just tap through and watch as the friendly iPhone app robot makes one for you.

iSnowflake Lite (interactive) (free)

The app itself is kind of wonky.  I had placed my “cuts” and the app crashed on me…twice before I could finish.  Just like making paper snowflakes, old school-style.  However, I would recommend just making them old school style instead of dealing with them vanishing before you can finish them.  So frustrating.  Plus, you can’t hang these ones up all over the house.  Here’s one I made:

Letters for Santa (book) ($)

This is an iPad only app that I received a promotional code for.  I haven’t been able to check it out because I don’t have an iPad.  Looks cute from iTunes.  If anyone checks it out, let me know how you like it.

Angry Santa! (game) (free)

Pissed off at someone?  Relieve stress as you help Santa flick Elves across the forest.  Enjoy a nice holiday tune while doing it.  Yeah, that’s about it for this one.

Hope after reading my posts you found something new and entertaining for your iPhone or iPad!

*Check out Christmas iPhone Apps – Part 1 for the rest of the Christmas apps.

(Click on any of the app icons to be taken directly to that app in iTunes)

Toca Hair Salon – Christmas Gift (interactive app) (free)

This one can be fun for the kids or maybe for you, if you ever wanted to try your hand at being a beautician.  See how awesome I made Santa Claus look?  I’m sure he’ll be back for more…

moreNoel (camera) (free)

This is a very simple camera app with just a few features to spruce up your holiday pictures.  I use it sometimes to make my pictures look “dream-like”, such as this one:

How the Grinch Stole Christmas (story app) ($)

If you have kids around, this is a great story app to have.  It’ll give them something to do in the car on the way to Grandma’s house. You can pair it with the Grinch Camera App:

Dr. Seuss Camera – The Grinch Edition (camera) ($)

Pure entertainment.  Take pictures of unsuspecting party-goers.  You can do things like this:

Cut the Rope: Holiday Gift (game) (free)

Cut the Rope is a cute, challenging game.  The goal is to feed Om Nom (the green, booger-like thing) candy.  Takes some strategic thinking.

Christmas Wallpapers & Backgrounds with Xmas Glow Effects (entertainment) (free)

So, if you’re into this sort of thing, you’ll like the option of picking from a seemingly endless amount of backgrounds for your iPhone or iPad.

Christmas Shareable Book – Wacky Version – The Coolest Interactive Story Greeting Book (entertainment) (free)

This app is ridiculous.  It’s the epitome of cheesy apps.  I think you can send greetings to people from it but I don’t really know.  I didn’t get that far.

Cityville Holiday Town (entertainment) (free)

If you like those interactive community-building ‘Ville games, this app is for you.  My six year old really digs it.

Jingle All The Way (interactive/book) (free)

Very cute, quality app from Hallmark.  Fun for the kids.  It has a story and other interactive features.

123 Sticker: Free Musical Sticker Book (Christmas Edition) (interactive) (free)

Another one for the kids.  It’s a sticker book.  You can take the “stickers” and decorate the scenes.  The app comes with six scenes, two of them are winter-related.  You only get the Christmas tree scene for free, pay for the rest.  Eh…

Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer (book) ($)

A classic.  This interactive book is narrated and if you tap on the characters, you will hear the original voices from the claymation tv special.

*Click here for Christmas iPhone Apps Part 2!

Two of the apps in the Big Kid Life series (there are five apps in the series) that we’ve been exploring have been quit exceptional. Great quality, fun and interactive learning for the kids and for the first time, insight on what they’re doing and what they’re learning, just for us, the parents.

It’s no surprise that these apps are innovative and visually appealing. The team of professionals who created and designed them come from successful entertainment companies such as; LucasFilm, Electronic Arts and LeapFrog to name just a few. The Fingerprint team is pretty impressive.

Here is some quick information on two of the apps we’ve been playing with that were just released today!

First up is, Big Kid Life: Fairy Princess.  I have two little girls, so of course, this app is right up their alley.

This app is simple and easy for kids to understand.  My 6 year old plays it on her own and I help my 2 year old navigate through it. The suggested age range for the app is 4-7, which I do think is appropriate.  What I like about this app in particular is the ability for kids to help create a story from start to finish and then, recall the pieces of the adventure and finally, listen to the story played back to them.

Next up is, My Big Kid Life: Veterinarian.  A perfect app for boys and girls and one I highly recommend getting.  It’s chock-full of interactive fun and learning and I just love it.

This app allows kids to become virtual doctors.  They have animal patients to care for and a purpose, they must bring the animals back to good health.  They x-ray the animals and are whisked off into a touch-and-seek game, which incorporates identifying sounds, shapes, letters, and different objects.  Identify as many as you can before the time runs out and you’ve helped your patient heal!  They’re learning and also feeling a sense of accomplishment throughout their playing.  Big Kid Life: Veterinarian is hands down, one of my favorite apps for kids.  The suggested age range for this app is 3-6 years, which is spot on.

Here’s the coolest part – four out of five of these brand new Fingerprint apps are FREE for a limited time.  You can’t not download them. You just can’t.  Your kids are going to dig them, I promise.

Click this link to open iTunes and download four of the debut apps from Fingerprint.  The titles are:

• Big Kid Life Firefighter
• Big Kid Life Veterinarian
• Big Kid Life Fairy Princess
• Fingerprint PlayMaker

I was asked to join Chicago’s Bump Club and Beyond at the local Microsoft Store to be a part of a panel with three other terrific bloggers and writers.  We each had a topic to talk about and mine was online safety.

My kindergartener is currently familiarizing herself with the online world, so, online safety and privacy protection are topics that cross my mind on a daily basis.  It’s part of my job to keep current on the latest technology trends, so I can effectively do my job as a parent, which is protecting my kids and steering them in the right direction.

That being said, here are some things to keep in mind for online safety and privacy:

• Social Networking – When creating an account online where you’re going to share personal information about your life, research the site’s privacy settings before posting or uploading anything.  Whether it’s Facebook, LinkedIn, MySpace or Twitter (to name just a few); each service has privacy options that need attention.  It’s important that you understand how each one works, before you completely dig in.

• Blogging – Blog platforms (ie: WordPress, Blogger, TypePad, etc.) also have privacy settings.  You have the option of keeping your blog unlisted from internet search results or password protecting individual posts.  You can also password protect your blog, so that only the people you specifically give the URL and/or password to will be able to view it.

• Photo Sites – (ie: Flickr, Photo Bucket, Shuterfly, etc.)  You have privacy settings here, too.  The ability to set photo visibility to contacts only, excluding your photos from search results and setting your sharing terms are just a few of the options to review when uploading personal photos.

• Using Names – Depending on how social you wish to be online, you may want to refrain from using yours or your kid’s full names.  For example; I don’t always use my daughters’ first names.  I’ll say, “the kindergartener” or “the toddler”.  A lot of people have nicknames they’ll use for their kids, like, “little miss” or “little mister”.

• Forever is a long time – Remember that anything you post online is there forever.  When your kids are older, they may see what you posted about them when they were six.  Be mindful of their dignity.  I would specifically encourage you not to post pictures online of your babies/toddlers/kids when they are naked.  I have taken thousands of photos of my kids and yes, there is an occasional shot of their cute little bottoms as they’re scurrying past me, but those are filed away for me, not for the rest of the world to see.

• Times are changing/Announcement Etiquette – This tip is geared toward those of you who are having babies.  Chances are, many of your friends and family are using social networking sites.  Be aware, that in their excitement, these friends and family may post their own status updates, sharing your special news.  I think it is important that it is made clear to them whether or not this is acceptable.  You may have to consider sending out an email to those on your friend list, asking them to refrain from posting anything until you give the ok.  We are all pretty immersed in technology but unfortunately, not all of us are up to par on online safety and privacy.  You have no idea who will end up seeing your news if you’re not the one posting it.  The etiquette should be: You shouldn’t post anyone’s personal information or special announcements without permission or before they do.

• Disclosing your location: “Checking in” is all the rage these days.  People use social networking applications like, Foursquare, Get Glue, Facebook, etc. to log where they are at any particular time.  Remember that when you check in somewhere and you’ve made this information available to the public, the wrong people may assume you are not home and act on that.  Please check and double-check your privacy settings and only share your location with trusted contacts.

ONLINE SAFETY RESOURCES

Online safety:

http://safely.yahoo.com/
http://www.google.com/familysafety/
http://kidshealth.org/parent/positive/family/net_safety.html

TECHNOLOGY TRENDS

Stay current with social media and technology trends:

http://www.mashable.com
http://www.techcrunch.com
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/news/social-media/
http://www.nielsen.com

Thank you to Fooz Kids for providing me with an All-In-One pack to review. The opinions I’ve expressed here are solely my own and represent my honest viewpoint.

My oldest daughter is almost six and has been learning her way around the computer and internet for the past year or so.  We have been using a different kid-friendly browser, so it has been nice to have a comparison between that one and the Fooz Kids browser.  In a nutshell, I like the look and feel of the Fooz Kids kid-friendly web browser better.  Believe me, I would tell you if I didn’t.  I like sites that are clean, simple and easy to navigate.  Fooz Kids is and does just that.

Setting up an account and downloading the application (browser) was quick and easy.  Complete three steps, providing very basic information to sign up.  Once you have set up your parent account and your child’s account, download the Fooz Kids application onto your computer.

(Click image to enlarge, use your browser’s “Back” button to return to this post)

Before setting your little explorer loose, sign in to the Parental Dashboard and provide a bit more basic information, in order to tailor the experience for your child.  The set up is very clear, with age ranges listed next to the various content choices (Websites, Videos, Games, Crafts).  So, if you have a six year old, like I do, you may want to “restrict” content that is geared toward older kids.  It’s your choice.  You can enable/disable restrictions on all of the content within the application.  What I have found initially is trustworthy content from known brands, such as: PBS, Nickelodeon and Disney among others.

While using the application, your child cannot exit without the password you used to set up the account.  So, there isn’t a risk of them exiting the application and destroying your computer.  Trust me, that safety option is valuable for many reasons!

(Click image to enlarge, use your browser’s “Back” button to return to this post)

The dashboard is simple to navigate, as you can see from the screenshots I have posted.  You have complete control over the content your child can access.

As I said, from a parent’s perspective, I like the overall look and feel of the application.  My daughter does have some experience navigating an application like this, so it was fairly easy for her to pick-up, with a little reading help from me.

Here is Hailey using Fooz Kids:

I hope you consider downloading the application and giving it a try with your kids. It’s a safe way for them to explore the online world and I highly recommend that.

You can download the application and use it for FREE (an $11.99 value) when you use my referral link: http://bit.ly/nGElZ2 Leave a comment and let me know if you use it, I would love to add our kids as friends so they can connect with each other!

Please click here to learn more about Fooz Kids. I was selected for this sponsorship by the Clever Girls Collective. All opinions are my own.