Best iPad apps for big kids
 

My son got an obscene amount of iTunes cards for his birthday. He likes playing games on the iPad like Ticket to Ride and Settlers of Catan and I know he'll want to buy more. Any suggestions? Please note that suggested games need to be functional without internet access as ours is often slow as dirt or non-existant.

Re: Best iPad apps for big kids
 

:bump

Re: Best iPad apps for big kids
 

What do you mean by older kids? :)

Re: Best iPad apps for big kids
 

I replied to you yesterday but I see my phone never completed my "submit". :snooty

My kids love the lego ipad apps. There are a bunch of them and most are free but to get the full version of lego star wars, lego harry potter, lego batman, etc you have to pay a few dollars.

Any lego apps which are made by "the lego group" or warner bros, etc are able to be used without the internet. Many of the knock-off apps do use the internet and are not good quality.

Re: Best iPad apps for big kids
 

How about 8-12. It's pretty subjective though as my son is only 7 but all the games he likes have boxes labeled 8+ so that's where I got my numbers.

Re: Best iPad apps for big kids
 

I have an almost 9 year old and some days I don't consider him an older kid. :shifty :giggle I think teen when I think older kid. I guess that proves your subjective comment. :giggle

I hear ya though!

I don't think I know of any that don't require the net though. :think

:cup for now as I'm liking the suggestions!

Re: Best iPad apps for big kids
 

Ok, well my eldest is 8 next week, so I'm in the right age bracket. A few more -

My kids really like The Human Body by TinyBop. It's a very intuitive game designed to give some understanding of anatomy. DS2 is known as "Anatomy Boy" around here, but DS1 likes it a lot too. It's $4 or $5.

There are stop motion apps which are really good. We have Stop Motion Studio by Cateater (free).

I'm going to add a game called Little Alchemy today (we're going to a friend's house who is fine with me downloading while we're there). I'm pretty sure it's free and I know it doesn't use the internet. I think it's too old for my kids but *I* am going to enjoy it. I used it on the hospital ipad when DS1 was in the kids' ward recently. It's has a few elements (eg fire, water, wind) and you put two together and it makes new ones, then you put those together and it makes more - up to 470 elements. I managed to make people and metal when I was playing it! Anyway it was heaps of fun for me. :)

Disney have two games we love - Where's my Water? and Where's my Water 2? - they are free for the first 30 levels or so, which is prob enough for the kids but I think I'm going to buy the full versions (99c) because I love them as much as the kids. It's problem solving - you have to get water through pipes and soil to the alligator so he can have a bath. Seriously, heaps of fun and there's thinking involved. Win!

My friend has recommended Dragon Box which teaches algebra without the player realising it. :giggle It looks fabulous but it costs $8 so it'll wait until Sunday when DS1 gets an itunes card for his birthday from my mum. :) That is, if there's anything left after he spends the card on lego batman and lego harry potter...

If he's into Star Wars then look into Star Wars Scene Maker. It's free. It involves setting up scenes with Star Wars characters and adding camera angles and voices and other elements before beginning the filming. Hard to explain. Slightly over DS1's head and DS2 won't even attempt it, but DS1 has fun with it.

I'm thinking about buying My Incredible Body ($7) for Anatomy Boy but I am waiting for a reply from the developer to see if it uses internet.

The other games we have are jelly splash, subway surf and a few versions of angry birds. All free and no internet.

We wouldn't have ipads if they had to use the internet for every app. :no We have two apps which use the internet and the kids have to wait until we go to a friend or relatives house with huge amounts of internet in order to use those two games. The wifi is just off all the time unless we're in a high internet zone. :giggle If I'd known, I would never have put those two on the ipads. :yes It seems most of the WB and Disney branded games require internet. I dunno why, it seems stupid!

ETA: If you're wondering, the internet-using ones we have are Toy Story, Nemo, and The Lego Movie Experience by WB. That last one lets you do some stuff without internet, but not all. Very frustrating!

I'm looking forward to hearing other people's suggestions!

Re: Best iPad apps for big kids
 

Dragonbox Algebra, definitely. :yes (Yes, it's expensive. But cheap at the price, when you're paying for your child to learn algebra. I've never seen curriculum that cheap! :giggle)

Re: Best iPad apps for big kids
 

I bet DragonBox will be perfect as my oldest adores math!
And let us know about the anatomy one! Both of mine like anatomy!

And to be off topic, I generally group kids:

Little kids: 3-7
Big kids: 8-12
Teenagers: 13+

But that's a whole different thread.

Re: Best iPad apps for big kids
 

I was so wrong. I downloaded Little Alchemy and my kids liked it so much they fought over it while we waited for it to download onto the second ipad! DS1 asked, well how did you make the mud mum? And I asked him what he thought might make mud and he was able to figure it out and make it for himself! And they've just gone on from there with heaps of :idea moments. :rockon

Re: Best iPad apps for big kids
 

I just had a lovely reply from the developer of My Incredible Body. She says it doesn't require internet beyond installation. There are some in-app purchases (quizzes, reproductive system) which obviously would require internet to install but again none once installed. Hope that helps. I plan to get it while I'm in the land of endless internet this weekend.