Appysmarts.com Best Apps for Young Brains


Best apps for kids: Vehicles.


Whether your child is in love with train sets or his/her favorite play is racing cars all over the house, this list is for you (and it's not only for boys!). These apps offer lots of fun activities, such as driving vehicles (good for eye-hand coordination), solving puzzles with many different types of vehicles or simple interactive play with sounds they make/interactive elements they have (for the youngest kids). Below you will find the best apps related to the 'vehicles' theme including:


  • cars

  • trucks, e.g. fire trucks, dump trucks etc

  • ships

  • airplanes

  • trains


Thomas & Friends: Thomas Gets His Own Branch Line

Thomas & Friends: Thomas Gets His Own Branch Line

Price: 2.99$

May contain `more apps` links
iPhone + iPad

Overall Score: 71/100

version reviewed: 3.2

reviewed:


Best for: Interactive books, Attention & concentration, Creativity, Early literacy, Eye-hand coordination, Interaction, Language, Music & art, Personal & social, Thinking & problem solving, Understanding of the world

What it is: an interactive adaptation of the 'Thomas & Friends' book with extra activities.

What you do with it:listen to the story (or read it yourself). Plus: a painting activity and a set jigsaw puzzles.

What we liked: the concept, good quality of graphics and narration, easy operation. Extra options for reading the book. Additional 'themed' activities. A good app for fans of Thomas & Friends.

What we didn't like: no interactive elements. Navigation while reading the book is not too consistent (sometimes the page changes, sometimes it zooms). The painting activity is almost useless (no zoom function for painting small details). The jigsaw puzzles activity is very simple.

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Thomas & Friends: Thomas Gets a Snowplow

Thomas & Friends: Thomas Gets a Snowplow

Price: 2.99$

May contain `more apps` links
iPhone + iPad

Overall Score: 70/100

version reviewed: 3.0

reviewed:


Best for: Interactive books, Attention & concentration, Creativity, Early literacy, Eye-hand coordination, Interaction, Language, Music & art, Personal & social, Thinking & problem solving, Understanding of the world

What it is: an interactive adaptation of the 'Thomas & Friends' book with extra activities.

What you do with it:listen to the story (or read it yourself). Plus: a painting activity and a set jigsaw puzzles.

What we liked: the concept, good quality of graphics and narration, easy operation. Extra options for reading the book. Additional 'themed' activities. A good app for fans of Thomas & Friends.

What we didn't like: no interactive elements. Navigation while reading the book is not too consistent (sometimes the page changes, sometimes it zooms). The painting activity is almost useless (no zoom function for painting small details). The jigsaw puzzles activity is very simple.

Appysmarts


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The Little Engine That Could by OnceUponAnApp (Not connected with Penguin's official The Little Engine That Couldâ„¢ app.)

The Little Engine That Could by OnceUponAnApp (Not connected with Penguin's official The Little Engine That Couldâ„¢ app.)

Price: 1.99$ (was 3.99$)

iPad

Overall Score: 67/100

version reviewed: 2.0

reviewed:


Best for: Interactive books, Attention & concentration, Creativity, Early literacy, Eye-hand coordination, Interaction, Language, Thinking & problem solving

What it is: an interactive book with additional fun activities.

What you do with it: listen to the story (illustrated by simple animations) or read the story by yourself. The extra activities include: two simple puzzle-like activities, a coloring activity, a connect-the-dots activity and simple play with the engines.

What we liked: nice illustrations and good narration

What we didn't like: the main animation accompanying the story is very simple with very limited interaction. In terms of quality and engagement the additional activities range from acceptable (the puzzles) to rather mediocre (the coloring activity or the 'play with engines' activity with very limited interactive features). The navigation is not kid-friendly (contains 'yes/no' pop-ups with lots of text). The app is a bit pricey for what it offers.

General notes about our book reviews: although when reviewing books, we try not to review the story itself, the general impressions will be reflected in the Overall Score.

The Age Range assigned to books will be usually broader compared to other apps, as they can be useful for both younger (with parent/narrator reading) or older (reading on their own) kids.

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Cars in Gift Box (app 4 kids) - Android version

Cars in Gift Box (app 4 kids) - Android version

Price: free

Android

Overall Score: 65/100

version reviewed: 1.1

reviewed:


Best for: Interactive play, Attention & concentration, Eye-hand coordination, Interaction, Thinking & problem solving, Understanding of the world

What is it and what do you do with it: an interactive play app with 5 various vehicles (Mars rover, Moon rover, dump truck, rescue truck and a loader). Complete simple tasks (e.g. rescue victims, collect rock samples on Mars, deliver toys with a dump truck etc.) by 'driving' and 'operating' the trucks with your finger.

Touch various parts of vehicles for simple interactions (turn on/off engine, lights etc).

What we liked: the concept. Excellent graphics. Good variety of 'missions'. Lots of interactions. Sounds and sound backgrounds. Humor and fun factor. Overall quality of the app.

What we didn't like: no spoken instructions. Controlling the vehicles can be a bit frustrating at times (they move too slow or too fast). The education value could be higher.

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Cars in gift box

Cars in gift box

Price: free

Lite or Demo version
iPad

Overall Score: 65/100

version reviewed: 1.0

reviewed:


Best for: Interactive play, Attention & concentration, Eye-hand coordination, Interaction, Thinking & problem solving, Understanding of the world

What is it and what do you do with it: an interactive play app with 5 various vehicles (Mars rover, Moon rover, dump truck, rescue truck and a loader). Complete simple tasks (e.g. rescue victims, collect rock samples on Mars, deliver toys with a dump truck etc.) by 'driving' and 'operating' the trucks with your finger.

Touch various parts of vehicles for simple interactions (turn on/off engine, lights etc).

What we liked: the concept. Excellent graphics. Good variety of 'missions'. Lots of interactions. Sounds and sound backgrounds. Humor and fun factor. Overall quality of the app.

What we didn't like: no spoken instructions. Controlling the vehicles can be a bit frustrating at times (they move too slow or too fast). The education value could be higher.

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Thomas Game Pack

Thomas Game Pack

Price: 2.99$

May contain `more apps` links
iPhone

Overall Score: 65/100

version reviewed: 1.9

reviewed:


Best for: Interactive play, Attention & concentration, Eye-hand coordination, Interaction, Memory, Thinking & problem solving, Understanding of the world

What it is:a pack of 3 activities with Thomas the Tank Engine theme.

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

What we liked: simple activities, it's a good app for Thomas fans.

What we didn't like: not much depth (only few engines featured), some interaction problems, some users report technical issues, 'ad' for other products of the manufacturers. This app is overpriced for what it offers.

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Chuggington Traintastic Adventures – A Train Set Game for Kids

Chuggington Traintastic Adventures – A Train Set Game for Kids

Price: 4.99$ (was 9.99$)

May contain in-app purchases
iPhone + iPad

Overall Score: 62/100

version reviewed: 1.1

reviewed:


Best for: Interactive play, Attention & concentration, Eye-hand coordination, Interaction, Language, Thinking & problem solving

What it is: a virtual Chuggington train set. 4 adventures based on Chuggington episodes (Braking Brewster, The Brewster Booster, JetPack Wilson, Can't Catch Koko).

What you do with it: 3 modes of play:

- 'build and play' - build the set, attach cargo cars, wagons and run the trains around the railway

- 'adventures' - watch the excerpt of the episode, listen to the instructions and complete the adventure (requires loading the train with cargo, delivering the cargo to the destination etc).

- 'my collection' - review your collection of trains and watch video clips from the Chuggington Episodes

What we liked: the concept, excellent graphics and animations based on the TV series, game-like experience, engaging activities/adventures, fun factor, sounds and sound backgrounds, ease of use (the app has spoken instructions, visual clues and a video tutorial), overall quality of the app.

What we didn't like: the adventures could offer more variety. The educational value could be better. The action may be too fast-paced for some kids.

Free preview: if you are not sure, please see our 'See before you buy' video (below) or try the free version of the Chuggington Traintastic Adventures app.

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Tizzy ZigZag Car - Android Version

Tizzy ZigZag Car - Android Version

Price: free

May contain in-app purchases
Android

Overall Score: 56/100

version reviewed: 1.3

reviewed:


Best for: Interactive play, Attention & concentration, Creativity, Eye-hand coordination

Please note that this is the free/demo version of this app. All scores and ratings are based on the full (unlocked) version of the app.

What is it and what do you do with it: build and drive a simple stunt car. Combine 6 body styles and 6 wheel styles to construct the vehicle.

Tilt the tablet or phone to navigate the car around one of the 15 tracks (5 themed sets, 3 tracks each: Wood Toy, Space, Candy, Sports and Western.

What we liked: the concept. Good variety of fun tracks. Simple controls. Ease of use. No distracting elements.

What we didn't like: we wish there were more interactions with various objects found around the tracks (some kinds may find the 'driving' boring quite quickly). Car design is very basic. Car designs are not saved.

Free preview: if you are not sure, please see our 'See before you buy' video (below) or try the free version of the Tizzy ZigZag Cars app.

Appysmarts


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Tizzy ZigZag Car

Tizzy ZigZag Car

Price: free

May contain in-app purchases
iPhone + iPad

Overall Score: 56/100

version reviewed: 1.0

reviewed:


Best for: Interactive play, Attention & concentration, Creativity, Eye-hand coordination

Please note that this is the free/demo version of this app. All scores and ratings are based on the full (unlocked) version of the app.

What is it and what do you do with it: build and drive a simple stunt car. Combine 6 body styles and 6 wheel styles to construct the vehicle.

Tilt the tablet or phone to navigate the car around one of the 15 tracks (5 themed sets, 3 tracks each: Wood Toy, Space, Candy, Sports and Western.

What we liked: the concept. Good variety of fun tracks. Simple controls. Ease of use. No distracting elements.

What we didn't like: we wish there were more interactions with various objects found around the tracks (some kinds may find the 'driving' boring quite quickly). Car design is very basic. Car designs are not saved.

Free preview: if you are not sure, please see our 'See before you buy' video (below) or try the free version of the Tizzy ZigZag Cars app.

Appysmarts


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  • 2
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