Toddler iOS/iPad apps that encourage a LONG attention span?

December 2, 2016 3:33 PM

As a followup to my previous question, I'm wondering about toddler-appropriate "slow" iPad apps that encourage a long attention span. I'm explicitly looking for things that do not have stupid music, falsetto voices, branding, IAPs, or really anything saccharine. The more abstract, the better.
posted by dmd to Computers & Internet (10 answers total)

Petting Zoo!! (Sorry on phone no link)
posted by tristeza at 3:37 PM on December 2, 2016

Color Dots. (Sorry no link, and sadly no longer free).
posted by avocado_of_merriment at 3:58 PM on December 2, 2016

The very hungry caterpillar. For reals yo.
posted by songs_about_rainbows at 4:04 PM on December 2, 2016 [1 favorite]

Sound Box and Forest Flyer (Sago Mini). Thinkrolls when the kid is a bit older.
posted by scyllary at 4:08 PM on December 2, 2016 [1 favorite]

Singing fingers.
posted by poodelina at 5:23 PM on December 2, 2016

The My PlayHome series of apps are really nice. It's a virtual dollhouse (or school, store, or hospital) that allows for open-ended play.
posted by belladonna at 6:18 PM on December 2, 2016 [4 favorites]

Anything by Toca Boca.
posted by kestrel251 at 7:42 PM on December 2, 2016 [3 favorites]

I second Toca Boca.
posted by sideshow at 8:21 PM on December 2, 2016

Bamba's apps are great, too. We had the Burger, Post Office, and Ice Cream ones. (They do have music, but you can turn it off.)

We also like Toca Tea Party, hair salon, kitchen, nature, tailor & tailor fairy tale, store, and kitchen monsters. Maybe some others, but those are the ones my kids played with frequently for several years.
posted by belladonna at 6:47 AM on December 3, 2016

My toddler enjoys every Toca Boca app we have; there's one for just about any interest, I think. (And even my elementary school-aged kiddo still plays a lot of them.) He also will spend a long time with the Very Hungry Caterpillar one. You "raise" a caterpillar through eating, playing, and sleeping, and it will turn into a butterfly. Then it flits about your garden with all the others you raised, and you start over. The app seems to update enough that there are regularly new things to discover and new scenery.
posted by percolatrix at 9:51 AM on December 4, 2016