Top Ten Advent Calendar Apps – for the whole family

 

Have you just realized that it’s December 1st and you haven’t bought Advent Calendars yet? Or maybe you’re looking for something to supplement the disposable chocolate ones?

There are loads of advent calendar apps out there so here’s my selection of the ten best. I’ve tested all the ones below extensively (by changing the date on my iPad) and recommend them all for the features and age groups listed.

Traditional

Advent Calendar 2012 [1]

iPad only [2] : $0.99 until December 2nd; $3.99 thereafter.

I already featured this app on my blog yesterday as it’s on super-sale right now. If you haven’t yet bought Advent Calendar 2012 [3] , grab it today or tomorrow while it’s only 99 cents. After that it will go up in price to $3.99.

If you’re looking for a beautiful-looking app with hand-drawn illustrations and a wealth of content that you can enjoy each day together as a family, this is a great choice. Including stories, spot-the-difference games and recipes, this app can also be enjoyed alone by older children but younger children will need to have the stories read to them.

 

Christmas Town [4]

iPad version [5] : $1.99. iPhone version [6] : $0.99

I featured this as Good Free App of the Day at Smart Apps for Kids when it was free for a day in November. If you’re not looking for extra content, just a traditional advent calendar that is adorable to look at, has lots of seasonal music and includes some nice interactivity, this would be a good one to get. The non-German versions of the text could do with being re-worded by a native speaker but the text is not the heart of this app.

What I really like about it is that it encourages children to seek and find the number every day and the fact that you can zoom in and watch each day’s little animated scene unfold in detail. A very gentle and sweet app.

 

 

 

 

Jacquie Lawson Advent Calendar â€" London [7]

iPad only [8] : $1.99

If you’re more interested in a British Christmas than a German one but still want something with a very traditional feel, then this app is a must-download. The digital rendering and animation is very polished and professional. There are some interactive activities like decorating a Christmas tree and designing your own snowflakes but most of the scenes are animated ones that are just good to sit and watch.

Enjoy bears performing a concert at the Albert Hall or look over some paintings from the National Gallery. Go on a virtual boat ride along the Thames and on a London Eye flight. Anglophiles are going to drool over this calendar but trust me, as someone who lived in London for two years, it is a terrific city but really looks nothing like its presented in this app.

Jacquie Lawson’s Advent Calendar â€" Village [9] is her 2011 calendar and is still available for purchase, if you just can’t get enough of ye olde English Christmas.

Christian

Christmas Advent Calendar for Christian Kids and Schools [10]

iPad and iPhone [11] : FREE.

If you want to explain the Christian meaning of Advent to your children then this app is nicely done and its also free. Tap on each day and you will see a comic-style illustration and then a passage from the New Testament that corresponds with that picture. So, for example, the one below right is accompanied by a verse describing the Annunciation.

 

Seven European language options are available and even if your children are already aware of the Biblical story leading up to Christmas, this app would be perfect if you have daily devotional time together as a family.

 

Calendars for the younger set that include games

Binny’s Advent Calendar [12]

iPad and iPhone [13] : FREE.

First brought to my attention by Daniel Wieselberg of Free Apps for Kids [14]  this app from an Aussie developer still favours a snow and elf-themed Christmas. You do however hear Australian voices which I know can be a big deal for my friends down under. The home screen is a nicely done street-scape that you stroll through to find each day’s number, behind which is a mini-game.

The games include â€" record players you can speed up and slow down for comic effect, screens that you wipe to reveal a Christmas scene (like bingo lottery cards except no scratching is required), puzzles, matching games and my favourite â€" wipe to wrap the present. Perfect for the preschool crowd.

Holiday Advent Calendar 2012 [15]

iPad and iPhone [16] : $0.99.

This app combines two of my favourite things. The developer Tizio, who brought us lovely apps like Fierce Grey Mouse [17] and Finn’s Paper Hat [18] , and the illustrator Jon Higham, creator of Elly the Reindeer. It has a countdown calendar (“Mum, is it Christmas yet?” “What does your app say?”), a radio that plays different seasonal tunes, change the time to day or night by setting the sun and moon and there are lots and lots and lots of presents to open.

You can set the app to allow children to open only one gift per day, which they then use to decorate their tree, or you can put the app in play mode which lets them unwrap as many presents as they like and use the gifts for decorating. There’s also an option to re-wrap all the gifts if they want to start over again.

 

Cool calendars with stuff you can just watch.

NFB Advent Calendar 2012 [19]

**For Kids aged 9 and over**

iPad only [20] : $0.99

A reader alerted me to this app on my blog’s Facebook page so I checked it out. The National Film Board is a Canadian institution. It’s a government-funded, publicly-owned film producer and distributor. NFB productions have won over 5,000 awards, including twelve Academy Awards.

Every day you and your kids can watch a short NFB film like The Cat Came Back, Noel Noel and The Sweater. Watch the shorts before you show them to younger kids â€" some of them they will love but there are a few that have cartoon violence which you might not want them to view â€" hence the 9+ rating. I haven’t watched all of them yet but I haven’t seen anything so far that I would have a problem with my 6 year olds seeing. Of the ones I have watched, my favourite is Invasion of the Space Lobsters â€" misunderstood alien crustaceans who just want to help fix a barbeque.

Zappar â€" Magical Advent Calendar [21]

Zappar [22]  (iPad and iPhone) is a free app that enables you to create a variety of augmented reality experiences, one of which is an advent calendar. As explained on the developer’s website [23] , you can either print out a picture or download it as wallpaper on your desktop. The rather unimpressive picture on the left is me taking a picture of the picture on my laptop.

When you then open the app on your iDevice and point it at the picture, animations suddenly appear and music starts playing. It’s a lot cooler than my crappy pictures indicate, so check out this video of it in action instead:

 

Options for teens and adults

Advent Calendar for Minecraft [24]

iPad and iPhone [25] : $0.99

If your older child or teen plays the full version of Minecraft, then they will undoubtedly enjoy this advent calendar. Every day the app unveils a new Christmas-themed skin which they can use in the game and/or email to a game-playing buddy.

There’s snowmen, gingerbread men, Santa, elves and many more, including my personal favourite â€" Christmas tree man.

 

Cthulhu Christmas Calendar HD [26]

**Rated 12 and over. PLEASE DON’T inadvertantly download this on your younger children’s idevices**

iPad and iPhone [27] : FREE

Those familiar with the work of HP Lovecraft are really going to love the black humour that is intrinsic to this calendar but for that very reason, please ensure this app doesn’t end up on your younger kid’s iPad. They will be drawn to the cartoons but will likely find many of the pictures upsetting â€" like the one where Santa is being dragged down the chimney by a tentacled monster.

Stephen King referred to Lovecraft as “the twentieth century’s greatest practitioner of the classic horror tale.” Seeing Lovecraft’s characters depicted in celebratory Christmas mode is hilarious for those who are fans of science fiction and the macabre. Each day there is a new cartoon and a question to test your knowledge of the Lovecraftian oeuvre. Who knows, maybe the app might encourage your sulky teen to pick up a book? Miracles have been known to happen at Christmas.

 

 

 

Links

1. ^{^} Advent Calendar 2012 (go.redirectingat.com)
2. ^{^} iPad only (go.redirectingat.com)
3. ^{^} Advent Calendar 2012 (go.redirectingat.com)
4. ^{^} Christmas Town (go.redirectingat.com)
5. ^{^} iPad version (go.redirectingat.com)
6. ^{^} iPhone version (go.redirectingat.com)
7. ^{^} Jacquie Lawson Advent Calendar â€" London (go.redirectingat.com)
8. ^{^} iPad only (go.redirectingat.com)
9. ^{^} Jacquie Lawson’s Advent Calendar â€" Village (go.redirectingat.com)
10. ^{^} Christmas Advent Calendar for Christian Kids and Schools (go.redirectingat.com)
11. ^{^} iPad and iPhone (go.redirectingat.com)
12. ^{^} Binny’s Advent Calendar (go.redirectingat.com)
13. ^{^} iPad and iPhone (go.redirectingat.com)
14. ^{^} Free Apps for Kids (www.facebook.com)
15. ^{^} Holiday Advent Calendar 2012 (go.redirectingat.com)
16. ^{^} iPad and iPhone (go.redirectingat.com)
17. ^{^} Fierce Grey Mouse (go.redirectingat.com)
18. ^{^} Finn’s Paper Hat (go.redirectingat.com)
19. ^{^} NFB Advent Calendar 2012 (go.redirectingat.com)
20. ^{^} iPad only (go.redirectingat.com)
21. ^{^} Zappar â€" Magical Advent Calendar (go.redirectingat.com)
22. ^{^} Zappar (go.redirectingat.com)
23. ^{^} website (www.zappar.com)
24. ^{^} Advent Calendar for Minecraft (go.redirectingat.com)
25. ^{^} iPad and iPhone (go.redirectingat.com)
26. ^{^} Cthulhu Christmas Calendar HD (go.redirectingat.com)
27. ^{^} iPad and iPhone (go.redirectingat.com)

source: smallbutkindamighty.com