To become... mum: app-y kids

Since Ethan was little, I have found my iPad to be really useful. It helped me stay awake and keep me distracted during long night feeds and as Ethan got a little older, I started to use it to play music and try out a few apps just for babies.

One of them was KidloLand. We had the free app download and Ethan loved listening to three classic nursery rhymes and the bright animation caught his eye. I was recently approached by the team behind the app as they wanted to show me all the different things it now includes, for an annual subscription of £29.99. Remembering the app from Ethan's baby days, I was excited to download KidloLand again and see what it had to offer - and it wasn't long before Ethan took it out of my hands to have a play himself!

This app is packed with over 800 different songs, games, stories and activities. Plenty to keep little ones busy, right?

It's bright and colourful, made up of cartoons and is organised into different themes. There's fun animations  relating to shapes, colours, numbers, letters then songs such as nursery rhymes, animal activities and stories which can be read to you or you can choose to read along yourself - so great for learner readers. It's also easy to navigate so I can leave Ethan to explore for himself.

The music and the animations are very cheery and certainly appeal to little ones; it did to Ethan when he was a year old and it does today when he's three and a half. I'd recommend keeping the volume on low, if you're going to be listening in to your child playing with the app, just to keep your sanity; for instance, Ethan chose the letter 'C' and the activity was all about 'C' being for cat, and he kept on playing this for about 20 minutes non-stop. The main thing was he was enjoying himself!

I know that parents are always conscious about how much time their children spend on tablets or watching TV, but as long as there is something for them to learn, as with anything, moderation is fine if you ask me.

From exploring the app, I really like the variety of the activities, the sounds and pictures are have toddler appeal and there is a lot to share or for your child to learn by themselves. The read along stories, nursery animations with interactive elements to touch and the sections about learning shapes and so on are my favourite parts, as these fit in with what Ethan is learning at preschool and they have really engaged him so far.

The KidloLand app is available for both iPhone and Android and the annual subscription is worth considering. I don't use all that many apps but if something sparks Ethan's imagination, I am likely to give things a go. There is a lot included within the app so if you have a toddler or preschooler, you will be able to use KidloLand for entertainment but also to cover some key learning milestones too. When you think of it like that, the £29.99 subscription is actually really good value - so perhaps try a demo of it and if your little one likes it, sign up and use all the different features it has.

Now, to tear Ethan away from my iPad...!

Here are the downloads links for KidloLand: iOS, Google Play, Amazon Appstore.

If you're a blogger, visit the printables section of the KidloLand website to access customisable cartoons and print outs including your own details and blog logo, if you like. A really nice addition to the KidloLand world.

* Thank you to Kidloland for the complimentary subscription in return for an honest review.