I wrote the other day about my favorite iPhone apps that help me keep my business going. We’ll today I am going to write about the apps that help me keep my “life” going.These are the fun ones. The ones that save me from my kids screaming in the car or the boring wait when one of them is at a meeting with me.
You see, as a small business owner and entrepreneur there are times when I just have to go with the flow and my iPhone saves me. For example, the middle of last week, my son was sick and had to stay home from school. Well, I was able to move all of my meetings except for one. While he was sick enough to not attend school (we didn’t want him to get other kids sick) he was well enough to run to a 45 min meeting with me.
With a container of legos in hand and my trusted iPhone we made it through the meeting and were home without so much as a gripe to mom of boredom. While my phone is a tremendous business tool for me, like everyone else I need some downtime. So, I play games or browse the internet on my phone when I am stuck in the doctors office or on a plane or anywhere I might have to wait.
I can pretty much run my business from my phone thanks to the innovation of App creators around the world and I am grateful for that flexibility.
Here are my top iPhone Apps for Kids of All Ages in No Particular Order:
Words with Friends – This in essence is the game of Scrabble that allows you to play with other iPhone users you may know or you can also be set up with a random opponent. I have made a few great friends that were originally a random opponent. There is a free and paid version (I use the free version).
Doodle Buddy – For anyone with smaller children (say 7 and under) this is a terrific app that lets them use their fingers like they are finger painting along with other types of stamping and drawing using their fingers. They have a free and paid version. I use the free version but may pay the .99 as it is one my kids use all the time and may be worth the advanced features.
Kindle for iPhone App – This free app is awesome. I can use my amazon account to download books to my phone. Since I don’t have an iPad or Kindle (yet) I can read books from my phone. The font is readable and the pages are set to the size of your screen. There are many free books on Amazon.com as well as books you can pay for. I spent a week in Mexico earlier this year where I read 6 books on my phone. Kept my luggage lighter and it goes well with the Amazon App I mentioned in my earlier post.
Skee-Ball – This is a fun one for kids of all ages. It costs .99 and is well worth it. If you’ve ever been to an arcade and played skee-ball for tickets and enjoy that then you’ll love this app. My son and I go to the local arcade and play “real” skee-ball together and when we’re stuck on a plane or in a car we can play on the phone.
Did I mention that the game apps help when taking kids to restaurants? With 2 kids and 2 iPhones in the family, we can survive overly long restaurant waiting when the kids get antsy and are tired of talking to mom and dad.
SpinArt – If you ever did SpinArt at camp this cool app will bring you right back to those memories at a price of .99. Fun one for kids of all ages and needs no further explanation. My 3 year old loves it, my 6 year old loves it and this __year old loves it. (Reminder: never ask a woman her age).
Solitaire – I love to play and have played Solitaire for years, on the computer and with cards in hand. There are a number of Solitaire apps available. I have tried a few and have found Solitaire by MobilityWare to work the best for me. They have a free and paid version and I use the free one. Test the free ones for yourself and see what you like best.
Time Scroller – If you like to travel or are required to travel, this app will tell you what time it is around the world at the glance of a screen. I searched for quite a while to find a Time Conversion app that had good functionality and fit my requirements. Some were overrated and others were klunky. The cost is 1.99 for this app but it was better than the free apps or the 3.99 apps.
Alright, I could probably write a bunch of posts on my favorite apps but I won’t do that to you all! However, if you want to know about other productivity apps I use or game apps I use for the kids or myself, please shoot me an email or leave me a comment below. I’d love to hear from you!
