Entertaining Kids with iPhones

My wife thinks my iPhone is just another Toy for Big Boys. But that's not true at all. It's great for kids, too, especially when you're traveling.Jen Leo (long-time travel blogger for the Los Angeles Time) and Jamie Pearson (freelance writer and publisher of the popular family travel website Travel Savvy Mom) are both mothers and have come together to create Best Kids Apps which they bill as "a review blog for parents who want to find the best children's iPhone applications without slogging through the entire iTunes Store."

The site breaks out iPhone Apps into several categories. Three are age-related (0-4, 5-8, 9-12) and the others are "For Parents", "Tips & Tricks", "Creative", Education, "Just for Fun", "Word Games", and "Free Apps." Apps that appealed to me were "Geocahcing" ($9.99; ages 5+; a global treasure hunting for the iPhone), "Bookworm" ($2.99; ages 5+; a word search game), and "Paper Toss" (Free; ages 4+; toss the spit wads into the office trash can --- just the kind of easy mental task I'd be looking for after wearing my brain out using the first two of these three apps!). Now if I can just get my wife to give me an increase in my allowance so I can buy them!

Parents will appreciate tips on how to set up an iPad (Jen has "hands-on experience; she was tweeting away on Twitter while awaiting the arrival on her iPad on the first day it was released and then later when getting it operational) and how to keep your iPhone safe from your kids.

I use my iPhone in my work as a travel writer. The "location-based" mapping apps help me find things, and the newspaper and other media apps keep me informed as I wander around the planet. But you are only as old as you think you are, so don't forget to stop to smell the roses and do some fun things with your iPhone and iPad, too.