What it is: a set of activities for concentration, color recognition and fine motor skills.

What you do with it: see our video presentation

What we liked: concept, simple graphics, simple navigation, spoken instructions, good educational value.

What we didn't like: the design may be just too simple for some kids, after (aparently) repetitive tasks they may lose interest, for younger kids parent assistance is required. A little bit too pricey.

Appysmarts

What it is: a set of 5 activities for toddlers and preschoolers.

What you do with it: the activities include: a hide and seek game, color/counting activity, puzzles (about 5 pieces each puzzle), memory game (4 pairs) and a matching pairs game.

For more details please see our See Before You Buy video (below).

What we liked: good variety of activities suitable for toddlers, preschoolers and special needs kids. Simple illustrations. Ease of use. Spoken instructions (with the option to include your own voiceovers). No distracting elements.

What we didn't like: only 1 level of difficulty for each activity. The narrator's voice could be more inspiring.

Appysmarts

What it is: 4 activities, 12 levels of difficulty.

What you do with it: memory game (from 3 to 10 pairs, depending on the difficulty level)

find identical pictures (from 6 to 20 pictures)

jigsaw puzzles (from 3 to 12 pieces)

coloring activity (fill the area with color, from 3 to about 20 areas)

What we liked: the concept. Simple illustrations. Number of levels. Ease of use. No distracting elements. Overall quality of the app.

What we didn't like: could have more educational value (no spoken instructions, the names of colors, animals etc. are not spoken etc). Can get repetitive over time (no reward system, not much variety - apart from increasing difficulty). The 'find identical picture' activity (it is very basic). The background music doesn't help concentration.

Appysmarts

What it is: 3 simple activities: memory game (2 levels of difficulty: 8 or 12 cards), 6 jigsaw puzzles (3 levels of difficulty, from 6 to 24 pieces) and spot the difference game (2 levels of difficulty, from 3 to 6 details).

What you do with it: choose the game, then the difficulty level and the picture/scene and complete the activity.

What we liked: nice illustrations. Ease of use (but please see the note below).

What we didn't like: no spoken instructions, no background music (the app is very 'silent'). Navigation could be more intuitive. We wish there were more pictures/scenes. No clues in the Spot The Difference game.

Appysmarts

What it is: a memory game with over 600 words for enhancing reading and spelling skills.

What you do with it: play the memory game with words (instead of pictures like in the 'classic' memory game). Match pairs of words by either reading or listening to them. 3 play modes: single player, two players (where kids take turns) or player against the 'computer'. There is additional minigame which can be played between the main memory games.

What we liked: the concept, easy operation, good educational value, number and choice of words (short vowel words, long vowel words, sight words), many configuration options (uppercase/lowercase, word lists, 6/12/18 tiles), clear pronunciation of all of the words, the visual prompt option (to take a quick look at the cards).

What we didn't like: dull graphics, big ad for other apps from the developer, no rewards system (could be helpful as the game can get boring after a while), the scoring system is not kid-friendly. The extra minigame is very basic (you just tap a 'similar' dinosaur and that's it).

Appysmarts

What it is: a simple game for developing memory and observation skills. 1 or 2 players, 6 difficulty levels.

What do you do with it: compare two sets of sea creatures and point to the creature which is missing on the main screen. The higher the level, the more difficult is the comparison (number of items, colors etc).

In the 1 player mode you play against the time, in the 2 player mode the players play against each other.

What we liked: the concept (an interesting take on the 'memory game'), nice interface, ease of use, no distracting elements, 1 and 2 player modes.

What we didn't like: no instructions. We missed some sort of visual clues (for younger or less competent kids). We wish there were more levels (and more variety).

Appysmarts

What it is: a memory game with animal pictures and sounds.

What you do with it: please see our video walkthrough.

What we liked: simple ilustrations, good variety of animals, the 'reshuffle' button, price (as long as this app remains free), the option to turn ads on/off.

What we didn't like: only one level of difficulty, would be better with spoken animal names (only sounds are available), numerical scoring system.

Appysmarts

What it is: a simple memory game with shapes and colors. 3 levels of difficulty (from 6 to 10 cards).

What you do with it: find matching pairs (by the color or by the shape).

What we liked: ease of use. No distracting elements.

What we didn't like: limited educational value (the names or colors or shapes are not read out). Not much variety. No encouragement/reward system.

Appysmarts

What it is: a memory game with pictures of animals (layouts from 4x4 to 4x6, 3 difficulty levels).

What you do with it: match the pairs in as few moves as possible.

What we liked: 3 modes of play (classic, against the computer and against another player), simple illustrations.

What we didn't like: limited educational value (no animal sounds, no animal names etc). The game interface could be a bit more polished and more responsive. The numerical scoring system is useless for younger kids. External links to Game Center and the Open Feint system.

Appysmarts

What it is: a memory game with jungle animals.

What you do with it: try to remember the placement of 9 animals in the jungle scene. Then, depending on the difficulty settings, 1, 2 or 3 animals will be gone - try to recall which animals are missing. Tap animals for sounds and simple animations.

What we liked: the concept, kid-friendly illustrations, sound backgrounds.

What we didn't like: the navigation is too complex. Very little variety (the animals are always positioned in the same order), the app will quickly get boring.

Appysmarts