Fingerprint Play iPad App

Fingerprint Digital, Inc., a kids’ learning and entertainment platform, today unveiled the first five “Fingerprinted” apps for kids ages 3-8 and their grown ups on the iPhone, iPad and iPod Touch.

Founded by a veteran development team from LeapFrog, PlayFirst, and LucasArts, innovative start-up Fingerprint is launching the first-ever mobile social learning and play network.  Every Fingerprint application includes a set of features that enable sharing and communication between kids and their grown ups, game play snapshots for parents, a recommendation engine for new games based on play patterns and progress, and a virtual reward system that encourages kids to keep learning.

In Big Kid Life Fairy Princess, there are 3 levels of difficulty with 5 games in each level giving your child 15 different magical adventures to explore. Basically, Kiana had to follow along through the interactive story where she had to shake the device to sprinkle fairy dust, pick flowers to make a bouquet, and make her character dance amongst other things.

Once the story is over the narrator will ask questions with multiple choice answers to see how well your child comprehended what was going on. Then the narrator goes through the story one more time with the words of the story shown. This was a great way to encourage Kiana’s love for reading.

At the end, your child will see her final score and be able to select another game to play. Your child can also record a message to be sent to the parent at the Fingerprint Hub. If you’ve linked your Facebook account with the app, you’ll also receive a message on your wall indicating your child’s progress.

At the Fingerprint Hub, you can send and receive messages from your child and track their progress through the games. You can also check out Fingerprint Play’s newest apps available.

Play Maker was so much fun! You had to use a fingerprint to make your character by choosing their color and clothes. Then you had to select what action your fingerprint would do if she were happy and sad. However, the funniest part was recording the sound your fingerprint would make for each of these emotions. We chose “Woo hoo!” for happy and “Oh no!” for sad.

Once the game started Kiana had to tap on the fingerprints that corresponded to whatever she was supposed to be looking for – number, shape, or letter. Each time she tapped on the correct or incorrect one she would see the fingerprint do that particular action and make the sound she chose. It was so funny to hear her voice going “Woo hoo!” over and over again.

What I really liked about these apps is the way I was able to communicate with Kiana using voice recordings and email messages at the Hub. Kiana was so happy every time she saw her message light blinking and it made her feel so grown up to get her own private emails. For Kiana, she liked that she could switch between the various Fingerprint Play apps within one screen rather than having to exit out and look for the other icons within the many ones listed on our iPad.

Fingerprint Play has other apps that your kids will love including Big Kid Life Fire Fighter, Big Kid Life Vet, & DoReMi 1-2-3. Check them out today!

This post was written for Fingerprint Digital who provided the access codes in exchange for our honest review.

Tangled Ever After

The Walt Disney Studios proudly announced today that directors Nathan Greno and Byron Howard, the talented team behind Disney Animation Studio’s global blockbuster Tangled, will premiere a delightful new animated short film spotlighting the royal wedding of Rapunzel (Mandy Moore) and Flynn Rider – a.k.a Eugene – (Zachary Levi) in front of each screening of Beauty and the Beast in 3D, which opens on January 13, 2012.

By popular demand, Greno and Howard are bringing back some of Disney’s most beloved characters when Tangled Ever After picks up where Tangled left off. The Kingdom is in a festive mood as everyone gathers for the royal wedding of Rapunzel and Flynn. However, when Pascal and Maximus, as flower chameleon and ring bearer, respectively, lose the gold bands, a frenzied search and recovery mission gets underway.  As the desperate duo tries to find the rings before anyone discovers that they’re missing, they leave behind a trail of comical chaos that includes flying lanterns, a flock of doves, a wine barrel barricade and a very sticky finale. Will Maximus and Pascal save the day and make it to the church in time?  And will they ever get Flynn’s nose right?

Tangled Ever After is the perfect accompaniment to Beauty and the Beast, which is returning to the big screen in Disney Digital 3D™ and introducing a whole new generation to the Disney classic with stunning new 3D imagery. Beauty and the Beast was nominated for six Academy Awards®, winning Oscars® for Best Song, by the renowned Alan Menken and Howard Ashman, and Best Original Score (Menken).

Courtesy of Walt Disney Studios

Twas The Night Before Christmas DVD

 

 

With the holidays nearing closer and closer,  so are the holiday movies!  I love watching Holiday movies with my children,  but my favorite to watch our classics that I remember from my childhood,  such as “Twas the Night Before Christmas”.

 

I bet you all know this delightful Christmas classic,  but I bet you that it was created based on the poem by Clemet Moore.  This pleasant cartoon is told and sung by Joel Grey,  and features the voices of Joel Grey,  Tammy Grimes,  John McGiver,  and George Gobel.

 

About This Cartoon:

This entertaining cartoon When a young mouse that does not believe in Santa writes a letter to an editor of his local newspaper telling him about it,  Santa ends up reading it and lets just say he gets a little bit angry.  So angry in fact that he ends up sending back all the childrens letters and refusing to visit them on Christmas.  Before long,  the mouse realizes just how much of an impact Santas visit has an effect on his own town.

 

Our Thoughts:

I loved this cartoon and a child and I now love it as an adult too!  We are so excited to see that it’s remastered edition has came out on Blu-ray + DVD combo pack.  This heartwarming cartoon caught my childrens eyes with its cute characters,  story line,  and festive songs.  This movie teaches them to “believe”,  take responsibility for their actions,  and to collaborate with each other.  I has been one of my favorites for years and now it will be one of theirs too!  I am so excited to be able to add this to our DVD collection.

 

Cartoon Length:

Twas a Night Before Christmas runs for 24 minutes.

 

Special Features:

Christmas: A global Holiday Animated Comic Book Exploring Yuletide Traditions Around the World.

 

Learn More:

To learn more about “Twas the Night Before Christmas” visit warnervideo.com.

 

This post was written for Warner Home Videos who provided the complimentary copy in exchange for my honest review.

Haiden Surf Swimwear for Boys

School is out and summer is finally here!! Summer for us means grabbing a bento (boxed meal) and heading out to the North Shore. We spend our days tumbling in the waves, catching sand crabs, and hopefully getting lucky enough to see the occasional lazy honu (turtle) lounging near the shore.

Living in Hawaii my son owns a ton of board shorts. I have to say this – Haiden Surf board shorts are not only his favorite, but the best pair he now owns. One of the great things about these shorts is that there is no lining sewn into the shorts. I always have to cut the inner lining out of his shorts because they itch, irritates, and rub his skin.

Another great thing about this short is the no velcro fly. We used to bring home lots of sand that would get stuck either in the lining or in the velcro. Even after a good washing we would still have sand stuck somewhere! Now we don’t bring home anything extra except for maybe a puka shell that we found on the shore.

The board shorts are very soft and easy for boys to move around in and also very true to size. Spending all day at the beach I want my son to not only be comfortable, but protected by the sun’s harmful rays. Haiden Surf  has got us covered with their UV protective swim shirts that have built in SPF 50+ to the fabric. These shirts are very lightweight and soft. Both swim shorts and shirts are found to be made durable and sewn strong.

Log on to HaidenSurf.com and you will find stylish and fashion forward swimwear for boys. I love the many bright designs of board shorts and UV protective swim shirts that they have to offer. They also offer hats, tees, and slippers (flip flops).  My only wish is that they had more sizes. At the moment they only offer sizes 0-3 months to a big boy 7.

So this summer whether you are headed out to the beach or your backyard for some water fun don’t forget your Haiden Surf wear! Your little one will not only thank you, but will be the most adorable dude around.

This post was written for Haiden Surf who provided the complimentary product in exchange for my honest review.

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