Just the apps, ma'am

We hear it at least once a day: “Can I use your iPhone, Mom? Puh-leeeeeeeeeeeeze!” And more often than not, we give in. Our initial hesitation over contributing to a generation of ADD-afflicted monsters has given way to seeing real value in their phone/iPod usage. With apps that can replace expensive school supplies, give kids a look at the surface of Mars or just make them giggle, how can we say no? Here are our picks for awesome educational and just-for-fun apps, all of which can be downloaded at iTunes.com.

PRESCHOOL

Educational: Cute Math ($1.99)
Tots are drawn to the cute part first, natch: baby chicks, penguins, apple trees with rainbows behind them. The charming graphics entice them to learn beginning addition and subtraction; games include touch-and-drag apple harvesting and parachuting number problems. It’s recommended for ages 2–5, but older kids get a kick out of it, too. —JST

Fun: Balloonimals ($1.99)
My cousin’s three-year-old loves to blow into his iTouch’s microphone to inflate twisty balloons, then give it a shake to watch animal shapes spring up and perform tricks. Creatures include dinosaurs, fish and unicorns, created complete with real-life squeaky balloon noises. Best part for his mom: No magician required. —JST

---

ELEMENTARY

Educational: Mars Globe (99 cents)
My seven-year-old armchair astronomer and his dad love this app with 3-D touch navigation, giving them the ability to watch the red planet spin and to take guided tours over 64 different parts of the terrain. The only con: This is a big download (over 10MB) that you’ll likely have to do from your computer. —JST

Fun: Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Squeakquel World Tour (99 cents)
When (or if!) your kids get tired of hearing the popular Talking Carl app repeat everything back to them, give them a few more voice play options with this automatic tuner for Chipmunk fans. Sing your favorite song, or record Dad singing in the shower, then select “munk yourself” to hear your high-pitched recording. A DJ function lets your little one create an electronica munk mix. It’s all slightly more annoying than the T-Pain Auto-Tune app, but far more age appropriate. —AC

---

TWEEN

Educational: State Capitals Quiz (Free)
When my nine-year-old bombed his states and capitals quiz, I knew he needed a more exciting way to study. This app shows all 50 state capitals on flash cards that visually flip when you touch them. There’s also a fun spinning-wheel matching game and a multiple-choice quiz option. —AC

Fun: FACEinHOLE ($1.99)
Who needs a trunk filled with dress-up clothes when there’s an app that will put your photo on the body of a troll, a super baby or that girl cuddling with Nick Jonas? My kids love to change my screen saver to photos of me as Wonder Woman or the Mona Lisa. My all-time favorites: my husband with Jake Gyllenhaal in a shot from Brokeback Mountain and our dog’s face on the body of Bob Marley. —AC

---

TEEN

Educational: Gabor Nagy Graphing Calculator (99 cents)
My least favorite part of my kids’ middle-school experience was buying a $120 graphing calculator for my son. This supercheap app does just about everything that powerful device can do (including graphing any x value, determining radians to degrees, finding absolute value and other things that make my head hurt), plus a few things it can’t, including taking a screen capture of the graph that you can forward in an e-mail. Now all you have to do is persuade the school to let your kid bring his iPod Touch to class. —AC

Fun: The Sims 3 ($6.99)
The app version of the simulated-reality computer game is teaching my eighth-grader invaluable life lessons. How else would he learn that he will actually die if he can’t get his butt up off the couch to eat something? Or that leaving for work two minutes before your shift has real consequences? —AC