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Be still my heart! Care for Our World, one of my favorite books and play sets, is now also available as an interactive app for the iPad.  It’s perfect for Earth Day and any other day.

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Here’s what I absolutely LOVE about this app:

• Intuitive interface, options to toggle on/off several options separately (autoplay, narration, music, sounds and “learn words”), all interactive elements make sense and add to the story, the nature sound effects are amazing and relaxing, the voiceovers are very well done, text is highlighted as it is read, pages have forward and back arrows in the bottom corners making it very clear how pages are turned and the ability to jump to a particular page.
• The beautiful rhyming words flow easily as you read or listen to it being read to you & inspire kids to think about all the gifts of nature and living creatures from forest, jungle, or sea that live in our world and a plea to take care of them.
• The illustrations by Alexandra Ball are breathtaking! Really more works of art than just illustrations. This app brings them alive in an amazing way.
• I love the gentleness of both the words & illustrations. Both evoke feelings of calmness & kindness. I love that the message of caring for the earth is done in a kid-friendly way.
• Includes a coloring book activity section with “fill” and “draw” options, three brush size options in “draw” mode”, the ability to zoom in on a particular area of the picture to easily color small details, and the option to save to an art gallery and view it later.
• Includes a virtual playset with 4 backgrounds, interactive characters and animals that can be added/removed, resized, flipped, layered and moved (wonderful to use to work on vocabulary, following directions, spatial concepts, adjectives, etc….) and the option to save to an art gallery and view it later. I hope they add an ocean background in a future update. It would also be nice to have the option to have the background nature sounds on while in this part of the app (the music could still play but the nature background sounds did not)
• I liked that pictures from the coloring book and playset are all saved within the app rather than filling up your iPad’s Camera Roll.
• Includes an Animal Encyclopedia area with kid-friendly facts, animal sound effects and real photos. My only wishes in this area for a future update would be voiceovers so kids could tap and have the facts read to them.
• The story and illustrations have lots of opportunities for kids yoga: mountain, ocean breath, fish (sign), crab, shark, frog, snake, flower, buzzing bee breath, sloth, apple picking stretch, forward fold picking veggies, raccoon (gyan mudra mask), sheep, bear, tree, bird, squirrel, owl, spider (partners pose), butterfly, ladybug (child’s pose + wings), cricket (palming w/ chirp), cat, upward facing dog, bunny breath, turtle, camel, elephant, giraffe, lion, monkey (chest thymus taps), gyan mudra looking binoculars, koala self hug, kangaroo, penguin egg (child’s pose), discuss ways to be kind to: myself, other people, animals & our planet Earth, coloring relaxation (using the calming nature sound effects from the app and free printable coloring pages below).

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This app is an amazing bargain at only $2.99 and is highly recommended!

App Store: https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/care-for-our-world/id1097364668?mt=8, iPad-only

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App Developer: https://www.facebook.com/SunbreakGames/

Publisher:  https://www.facebook.com/liveinspiredeveryday/

Author:  https://www.facebook.com/karen.robbins.589?fref=ufi&rc=p

Illustrator: https://www.facebook.com/AlexandraBallIllustration

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Here is a free printable 6-page PDF coloring booklet to go with the book, playset and app:  care for our world coloring sheets and peace pledges – OMazing Kids

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Angela Moorad, MS, CCC-SLP
Speech-Language Pathologist
Founder of OMazing Kids, LLC – inclusive wellness & educational activities for kids of all abilities
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Angela Moorad is the founder of OMazing Kids, LLC and is an ASHA certified & licensed pediatric Speech-Language Pathologist and Kids Yoga Teacher with over 27 years experience working in a variety of settings (early intervention, schools, teletherapy & a nonprofit pediatric rehab hospital for children with developmental disabilities). She is an app beta tester for educational & therapeutic app developers and loves sharing info about great apps, products, books & toys to use with kids of all abilities.