Matchstick

Category: for 10-year-olds

  • The Alien Adventures of Finn Caspian

    What is it Finn Caspian is a free, weekly podcast about the adventures of a boy and his friends in outer space. They work with (and against) robots and aliens on board spaceships and strange other worlds. The podcasts are usually 20-25 minutes long, with about 15 minutes of storytelling and the rest devoted to…

  • RoverCraft

    [amazon_link asins=’B073RDQZFS’ template=’ProductAd’ store=’matchstickkidboo’ marketplace=’US’ link_id=’6221a3d5-5ddc-11e8-8a0c-81a1530e854b’] What is it RoverCraft is an app that lets players build “space cars” and drive them along bumpy alien landscapes, collecting coins and avoiding crashes. Who is it for The game is simple enough for kids as young as 4 to have fun with it, although only older kids…

  • The Fixies

    What is it The Fixies is a Russian cartoon series about a family of tiny (1cm tall) fairy-like creatures who repair everyday items, and in the process teach about physics, electronics, and other useful DiY knowledge. Who is it for The show is a big hit with our 4-year-old but a lot of the content…

  • Bloxels

    [amazon_link asins=’B01FUFJ4ZQ’ template=’ProductAd’ store=’matchstickkidboo’ marketplace=’US’ link_id=’c15763e9-5acf-11e8-9873-efc5257a865a’] What is it Bloxels is a free make-your-own videogame app that lets kids (or adults) create 8-bit style sprites and levels for 2D platformer games without needing any coding. The Bloxels kit includes a 13×13 grid with colored blocks so that younger kids can manipulate ‘pixel blocks’ (bloxels) physically…

  • Spaceflight Simulator

    Every week we try out at least 5 different apps, either on an Android phone or the iPad. They are all free except for the rare occasion when we decide that the paid version will be worth it (e.g. in the case of Plants vs. Zombies). The apps are free usually because they have ads,…

  • Slingball

    [amazon_link asins=’B06XH36HFP’ template=’ProductAd’ store=’matchstickkidboo’ marketplace=’US’ link_id=’445435d2-427b-11e8-9784-65fb46f3a333′] This was a gift from Grandma. She found it for $4.99 at a drugstore or somewhere like that. It was not meant to be a Major Gift (the way Lego sets are, for birthdays and Christmas) but the Slingball set ended up being the Essential Toy that went with…

  • ABCYa

    ABCYa.com has 300+ kid-friendly games, some of them quite challenging and fun. The site is free, with banner ads (for things like Froot Loops) or you can pay $7/month to sign in and avoid ads. Unlike some other sites, ABCYa doesn’t seem to use video ads, which we find more intrusive. We tried using ad-blocker…

  • Kubo and the Two Strings

    [amazon_link asins=’B01K5BSWX0′ template=’ProductAd’ store=’matchstickkidboo’ marketplace=’US’ link_id=’06c34dc5-222f-11e8-83ec-33b1390ae0eb’] This is a movie that flew under the radar (at least my radar) and I hadn’t heard of it until we stumbled upon it on Netflix while searching in vain for a Miyazaki movie. Of course, since having kids my culture and media radar is essentially non-operational and I…

  • EcoLunchBox

    [amazon_link asins=’B0040MH642′ template=’ProductAd’ store=’matchstickkidboo’ marketplace=’US’ link_id=’d840cbf3-1fef-11e8-b1c5-cf94e78a1529′] When the kids started kindergarten, we began the ritual of packing lunches, but were concerned about the cost, health aspects, and environmental problems with using little plastic sandwich bags. So we splurged (~$30) on a metal ‘bento box’ we found online. We got the Three-in-one and we’ve used it…

  • Chrome Music Lab

    Chrome Music Lab is a collection of 13 free online musical ‘toys’ that let kids (and adults) play with music and in the process, learn something about pitch, rhythm, and structure. They require no instruments or musical knowledge. The site relies on JavaScript, which is supported on all browsers on all devices. Each ‘toy’ (or…