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The first time I handed my then 18-month-old my iPhone,
I have to admit, my hands were trembling. I was handing
over my $400 tech baby to my actual human baby, wondering
if I would ever see it alive again.
Now I can’t imagine parenthood without my iPhone. And I am
not alone. According to a 2009 study by Greystripe, a mobile advertising agency, we moms make up almost 30 percent of iPhone users. And we are not just using it to make calls, either.
I started small, downloading my daughter’s favorite TV show (Word World) to the small screen so I could spend more time browsing at Whole Foods. For a long drive, I loaded our phone with movies—Tinkerbell and its sequel—to keep my daughter from kicking the back of the driver’s seat for all 12 hours (just eight and a half of them).
More than one and a half years after I first handed over my silver-backed sweetheart, I am actually contemplating buying my 3-year-old her very own iPod Touch (or even iPhone), and my 18-month-old has just started playing with it, too.
I am also doing some freelance publicity for Learning Touch, a company that has developed a unique learn-to-read application that both of my kids love. In fact, I probably hand my daughter (and now son) my iPhone at least 20 times a day—in the car, at the mall, at home on the couch. “Let me try the game again, Mommy,” she says, taking the phone, unlocking it with ease and scrolling through each app to find FirstWords: Deluxe.
We iPhone parents are not your typical, pop-your-kid-in-front-of-the-screen types, either. Neither of my children watches much TV (my 18-month-old not at all and my 3-year-old averages two hours a week). But the iPhone provides a whole other level of parenting tools at our fingertips all the time. According to Greystripe, more than 59 percent of “iPhone moms” let their children use their iPhone. And 41 percent download child-specific apps like FirstWords or Letter Tracer or Cute Math.
Even new parents get in on the mix, downloading applications like the iPhone baby monitor app (that calls you when your baby wakes up or allows dual iPhones to act as receiver and transmitter—pretty cool).
I use mine as a place to store my grocery lists, packing lists and full calendar. It helps keep my mom brain at bay. With no further ado, I give you my top five applications for parenthood. Sometimes I wonder how anyone ever parented before the iPhone’s debut. It has revolutionized so much more than just the cell phone.
Sasha’s Top Kid-Friendly Apps:
1. FirstWords, $1.99 ($4.99 for deluxe set)
FirstWords is an interactive game where an image appears on screen and children use the letter tiles to spell the corresponding word. My younger one giggles in delight at the animation, and my older one can now flip through the words with ease, spelling them in order. There is a function to make it more complicated by spelling in order, which my daughter uses. It also works without sound, which can be quite the blessing. There are sets for spelling home items, animals, vehicles and holidays.**
**As mentioned, I do some freelance work for this company, but I would be remiss in not also mentioning that it was my daughter’s favorite game long before they hired me.
2. Little Red Riding Hood, $2.99
My daughter goes crazy for this story (and also has nightmares about the Big Bad Wolf). Still, this app has nice sounds and animations that keep her happy, and it assuages some of my mom guilt, because it’s kind of like someone is reading to her, right? Also, there is a coloring book portion of the game that my son really enjoys.
3. Photos, free
This one is my favorite in many ways because it is free. Take photos with your child everywhere you go. Let him or her pick a favorite thing in every store, museum and park you visit, and then create an album that he or she can scroll through when you’re browsing at Costco.
4. MiniPiano, free
This application is just a small piano. It’s not only for kids, but both of my children love it.
5. BubbleWrap, free
This is a good one for parents and children alike. Play the game by popping the virtual bubbles as fast as you can. Try to pop more and more in less time.
So take an afternoon and browse iTunes for a while to find the apps that will appeal to your kids. Just remember to get a good cover for the phone. Just because Mac lowered the price does not mean we want it broken (be sure to lock your toilet, too, because nobody wants to find their phone swimming in the toilet because our toddler wanted to see if it could swim—just trust me on this). Let’s iPhone it in, tech-savvy moms and dads of the world. Amen.
Sasha Brown-Worsham is a writer and mom of two living in Boston. Her work has appeared in Parents, Parenting, Runner's World and many more publications. She keeps a blog on training for marathons with children at www.fitpregnancy.com/blog/marathon-mom/.
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