kid

Preschool Memory Match is a high-quality, Concentration-style card-matching game designed for preschoolers.

Like similar apps, the primary interface for Preschool Memory Match is a small grid of cards, which kids can touch to flip over momentarily as they search for matching pairs. What sets Preschool Memory Match apart is its overall quality and production values: the interface is quick and responsive (perfect for jabby little fingers, with a just-right pause between card flips), the cards are colorful and numerous (with more than 220 different cards, each with distinct, well-done illustrations), and the sound and voice-over are excellent (when kids find … Read more

Whether you believe in a kid-oriented laptop probably depends on whether you have kids, and whether you like the idea of them fiddling with your own computer when you're out of the room. Accordingly, your reaction to the Satellite L635 will probably vary.

Toshiba's Best Buy-exclusive Satellite L635 feels at first glance like a larger-scale version of the education-oriented Netbooks we've seen from Intel and others. A ruggedized look, bright colors, and a easy-to-clean keyboard create that impression most of all, but in reality this is a full 13.3-inch-screen laptop that isn't much different under the hood from the low-end doorbusters you might see in retail circulars. We got to check one out recently, and it seemed pretty much like many entry-level Toshiba Satellites we've used before, except for its rubberized keyboard.

Besides size and capability, another key difference lies in its target audience: this is meant for home use, whereas many of the educational Netbooks we've seen, such as the Intel Classmate and HP Mini 100e are institutionally targeted, many of them never even seeing the light of a retail store. The Satellite L635 will be at Best Buy starting September 26. … Read more

One of my favorite apps of 2010 just got a major update. Tales2Go, which provides on-demand access to nearly 1,300 children's audiobooks, updated the app to add multitasking support, story caching for offline listening, new subscription options, and more.

Intended for children between the ages of 3 and 11, Tales2Go offers a huge range of listening material--everything from two-minute fables to full-length novels. These aren't just public-domain works, either: you'll find well-known series like "American Girl," "The Boxcar Children," "Diary of a Wimpy Kid," and "Encyclopedia Brown."

For … Read more

Google has launched a new resource for parents to help them keep their kids safe while surfing the Internet, the company announced on Friday.

The Family Safety Center provides tips from child-safety experts on keeping kids away from adult content on the Web and on how to ensure kids aren't contacted and lured by an adult online. Google has also included a page detailing its own child-protection services on its many products, including SafeSearch and YouTube's Safety Mode.

The Partners page is also useful in that it includes links and brief information on the many organizations that provide &… Read more

At $189.99, Proloquo2Go is far from the cheapest App Store offering. Believe it or not, though, that price is actually a bargain--one a certain market is seriously happy to pay.

The target market? Parents of kids with special needs--specifically those with autism, apraxia, and other disabilities that affect their communication. Many of these kids can't speak, or can't speak as fluently as their peers, but they understand what's going on around them, and they do have things they'd like to say.

Augmentative and alternative communication, or AAC, devices can supplement existing speech or replace speech that is not functional to improve social interaction, school performance, and--not for nothing--to give the kids a better sense of self-worth. Electronic AAC aids use picture symbols, letters, and/or words and phrases to create messages. Equipped with an AAC device, a child with cerebral palsy whose speech is limited suddenly has a way to tell you, "I want to go to Grandma's house this weekend!" or "I ate cake!"

Proloque2Go is just one of a growing number of AAC apps quickly gaining ground in the special-needs community. The reason is hardly surprising: before these apps came along, AAC devices could cost upward of $10,000--a cost many insurance companies would not cover. And for that hefty price, you got a heavy, clunky device that screamed, "I am different!" You would have looked cooler lugging an actual Commodore 64 around--though, at least then, you could have rocked the whole retro-chic look.

Kids aren't the only ones benefiting from these apps, of course--stroke and accident victims, as well as adults with ALS (amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, or Lou Gehrig's disease) and other progressive degenerative diseases are also tapping into this growing market. … Read more

Honestly, we didn't expect Jeff to show up for work this morning after his weekend excursion to Montreal for his bachelor's party, but he's back and divulging zero details about what happened abroad, because that conversation is better suited to giggling whispers in private cubicles.

For now, let's just assume that Jeff had a delightful time skipping across the city and supporting local hole-in-the-wall establishments with a handful of his closest friends.

Without our listeners (yes, you!), The 404 would be nothing but three semi-educated post-adolescents shouting into a box, so to show our appreciation we're throwing a contest with JetBlue Airlines to fly you anywhere in the U.S. and Caribbean for a week! Yep, the grand prize is a seven-day unlimited All You Can Jet pass to feed your wanderlust anywhere on JetBlue's map, and another lucky winner will receive a complimentary five-day pass for the same deal!

Two winners will be chosen at random and here's how to enter: simply  follow The 404 Podcast on Twitter, retweet the phrase "Follow @the404 and RT this for a chance to win 1 of 2 #AllYouCanJet @JetBlue passes. Rules: http://bit.ly/dodRKs #AYCJ" and you're done!

The contest is over on Tuesday, August 31, at 3 p.m. ET and winners will be announced by 5 p.m. ET, so hurry for your chance to win one of these two amazing prices, courtesy of our friends at JetBlue!

After some serious contest pimping, we're dropping two big announcements about our favorite movie "Back To the Future." As if the idea of a modern remake of the film wasn't bad enough, it turns out that no one's favorite tween pop star Justin Bieber is rumored to play Marty Mcfly. *Pause for "Noooooos"* The child star has yet to comment on the horrific gossip, so keep your fingers crossed.

Now for some good news: the wait is finally over, and BTTF fans might finally get the chance to don Marty's famous Nike "powerlaces" sneakers, thanks to a patent from Tinker Hatfield and the dudes at the Nike Innovative Kitchen.

The initial blueprint of the shoes look nearly identical to the '80s-style super high-top in the film, replete with the parallel lacing and a separate charging system below. While you're there, be sure to check out NiceKicks' brief history of Nike's BTTF-inspired shoes!

Good luck to everyone entering the Jet Blue All You Can Jet Giveaway!

Oh, you just know it was meant to be funny. Eight-year-olds using naughty words has always been funny. Especially at bar mitzvahs, birthday parties and, of course, on YouTube.

There will be some who will, therefore, feel a tinge of sympathy for Josh Eastman.

The Connecticut Post tells me that Eastman, of Bridgeport, Conn., is alleged to have taken it upon himself to give YouTube viewers exactly what they want: a little reality TV amusement.

So he reportedly encountered his neighbor's 8-year-old son in the garden, encouraged him to use rude words and inappropriate racial epithets, and filmed the … Read more

If you're a kid growing up in Japan, chances are you dig comic books and trains. In the western Tokyo city of Akishima, you can indulge in both by reading manga in a vintage bullet train that's now a kids' library.

The converted 0 series Shinkansen has been drawing kids to the Akishima Library since 1992. Little tykes can kick back on the carriage's 25 seats and read from a collection of some 10,000 books.

As seen in the video below, kids can also play engineer in the train driver's compartment. The library is popular … Read more

A while back, I received a sample cup from Contigo, and this truly spill-proof travel mug quickly became a favorite in my house. Recently, the company asked me if I'd be interested in trying out its new line of kids' cups. You mean there might be a way to keep apple juice off my couch? Sign. Me. Up.

Like their grownup counterparts, the kids' cups are 100 percent BPA free, and the patented Autoseal lid is 100 percent leak- and spill-proof. The best part, in my opinion? The lid is a single piece. There's no valve that gets … Read more