Authors: Katie Philcox, Program Leader

Alison Fung, Marketing Coordinator

 

This month, we’re recommending the award-winning Duck Duck Moose, the maker of quality educational apps for children. They have everything from apps that help with building math skills and spelling, to fun and engaging apps based on popular nursery rhymes.

Katie Philcox, program leader at ELG, recommends their interactive song apps, such as “Itsy Bitsy Spider,” “Baa Baa Black Sheep,” and “Wheels on the Bus.” There’s much more to the apps than just the song; in “Itsy Bitsy Spider,” for instance, the main character (a spider) guides the child along their journey, while another character (a fly) teaches them about the environment and nature. There are a whole range of activities within the app: from counting nuts gathered by a squirrel to finding musical eggs in a scavenger hunt, there are educational games to exercise numerous different skills.

While these apps are for all children, they can be especially effective to encourage children with autism to get interested in active singing. By creating this positive association first, children are more likely to engage with the same songs when they hear them sung by a parent or in circle time at nursery.

Users can choose to sing in English, French, Spanish, Italian, and German. There’s also the option to record your own voice and sing along, so if the language you’re looking for isn’t available, you can record in your chosen language. Katie shares a fun tip: “Play around with the voices you sing in! Try recording your voice as a squeaky mouse, and then as a roaring bear!

Duck Duck Moose apps are available for free download in English on iOS.