One of the fun things that I like to do with my grandchildren is to let them play with apps on the iPad. It’s a good excuse because then I get to play with such delightful, colorful, sound-full activities. It’s also an excuse to snuggle with a grandchild. (Like I need an excuse. NOT!)

I recently got Puzzingo and have enjoyed playing it. (Grandpa says that I need to let the grandchildren take a turn playing it. Silly grandpa.)

With Puzzingo, you ‘build’ a circus by dragging and dropping items on the screen. You ‘shake’ a gaily-wrapped present. It pops and gives you the items to drag. There are jungle animals (my favorite), farm animals, ocean critters, numbers (cute candles on a birthday cake), balloons in the shape of alphabet letters, and toys.

The items are lined up on the right-hand side of the screen. You tap and drag the item to its shape on the left-hand side of the screen. When you tap on an item, it makes the appropriate sound (if it’s an animal) or says the letter or number.

After you finish dragging all of those items in that category, balloons float to the top of the screen. You tap on them to pop them. In my game playing experience (which is extremely minimal) I expected to see points racked up for the balloons I popped. It didn’t happen. Rats. (Maybe points for popping could be in the next version of the game.) It seemed to me that the balloons floated to the top too fast for young children. If grandma or grandpa helped the grandchildren, it would probably be okay.

This game has lots of kid appeal with its bright colors and attractive artwork. As you play, the game says the name of the item you drag into place and displays the word. Children visually recognize the items, learn how to say it, see the written word, and hear it spoken.

You can set the options to be for a little child or a bigger child. Little children only have to drag the shapes in close proximity to the placement on the screen. Bigger children, who obviously have better small muscle control, have to get the placement more exact. That is a nice option to have.

You can also turn the music on or off. Whew! Grandparents will appreciate that if their grandchild play the game a lot.

One concern that I had (and it’s really a small one) is that some of the letters in the letter section might be hard for a child to distinguish. Balloons form the letters making them very roundish. Because they are so round, some letters (like the H and the D) might be difficult for very young children to recognize. But if the grandchild is snuggling on grandma’s lap, grandma can certainly help the grandchild with these letters.

If I were to give this app a star rating, I would give it 4.75 out of 5 stars.

If you have an iPad and if you have grandchildren learning letters of the alphabet, their numbers, and their animals (and those are two big ifs sometimes), Puzzingo would be a great game to have. Loads of fun while learning.

I wish I had an iPad when I was a child . . .

Full disclosure: I received a promotional code so that I could download and review this application.

Summer is starting to wind down.  The nights are getting cooler (even if the days are still hot).

Soon, it’s back to school for the grandkiddos.  Want to do one last hurrah with them before they are back in school?  Why not make friendship bracelets? Your grandchildren might not want to go home but stay at your house making bracelet after bracelet.  (And what’s wrong with that? I ask.)

Aren’t these bracelets colorfully attractive?  This picture makes me want to make all of them.  And make them in all sorts of different color combinations. I’d need to have a gazillion friends for all of the bracelets I would like to make.

The clever and creative folks at PurlBee have graciously allowed me to use a picture of their friendship bracelets.  Thank you, thank you, thank you.  They have a tutorial for the bracelets that is extremely easy to follow and has wonderful pictures so you can see what you should be doing each step of the way. All you need is some embroidery floss and a little bit o’ time.

Here are directions for making a candy stripe bracelet, directions for a heart bracelet, and directions for this fabulously simple and very unique wrap bracelet.  You might want to make a friendship necklace, too. I know I certainly do. (If you make a shorter version of it, you have a matching friendship bracelet.)

Granddaughters would have a grand time making lots of these bracelets.  They can make them and give to friends (well, duh!). Or they can give some to their cousins — especially if the cousins live far away. Grandsons would even like making some of these bracelets — as long as you had masculine colors!

Have you made friendship bracelets before?  How did they turn out?

Last weekend, my husband and I went to a production of the Little Mermaid.  It was held in an outdoor amphitheater in southern Utah with red sandstone cliffs as a backdrop.  What a gorgeous setting! The temperature was perfect — not too hot, not too cold.

The play was excellent — gorgeously clever costumes, creative ways to make scenes ‘under the sea,’ and beautiful singing.  My favorite scene was Under the Sea because they used a black light that turned the costumes bright florescent colors.

The play reminded me of a craft that I had seen a while back on the Internet.  It showed how to make a fish out of an old CD.  This is such an easy-peasy craft.  Simply print up the colored pattern, cut it out, and glue to an old CD.  Or, you can print up a black and white pattern and have your grandchildren color it with crayons or markers.  Here are the directions. While you’re making it, play the music from the Little Mermaid.  You could even pop some popcorn and watch the video afterward.

It would be fun to make several of these fish and hang them in a window. Kind of make an aquarium out of your window.

Have you done any fun fish crafts with your grandchildren?

Tomorrow is World Photography Day.  Cowabunga!  (You can go here to learn more about it if you are so inclined.)

What a fun, fun, fun holiday you can celebrate with your grandchildren.

I subscribe to 2 photography newsletters.  One of these days when I grow up, I am going to learn how to be a better photographer.  Until then, I schlop around the best I can.  But I think that if you’re doing a digital activity with a grandchild, maybe photo quality isn’t necessarily the top priority.  Having fun together is.

Lest you have forgotten (or haven’t read — tsk, tsk, tsk) some of the posts that I’ve written about digital  photography activities you can do with grandchildren, here are some links to the posts.

• Take a Photo Walk with a Grandchild
• Photography Time with Grandchildren (creating a bokeh — an activity for older grandchildren)
• Digital Alphabet Hunt
• Fun Photo Booth with Grandchildren
• Joint Photo Blog with a Grandchild

What are some photography activities you have done with your grandchildren?