The 4th of July holiday tends to bring out a patriotic streak in most of us. If waving the red-white-and-blue has piqued your child’s curiosity in the United States and its history, here are some fun apps that can extend that interest.
Ansel & Clair: Paul Revere’s Ride
Cognitive Kid, Inc, best for ages 8-12, $4.99, iPad
Rating: 4 stars (out of 4)
This app makes history come alive as kids travel back in time to meet Paul Revere, Samuel Adams, John Hancock and other famous Revolutionary War heroes. Join alien Ansel and his robotic friend Clair on their quest to understand the American Revolutionary War. This quest is filled with interactive elements and games. Kids get to talk to Paul Revere and others to understand their actions. They solve picture-based puzzles, create a travelogue by taking photos inside of the app, play mini-games set inside historic events and answer pop-quizzes.
While the app is filled with historic facts, it teaches by making the learning seem like a game. Since Ansel isn’t from this world and doesn’t know American history, he asks all sorts of questions. Clair, with her encyclopedic knowledge, provides answers. You also learn by talking to characters and playing games, including the one about the Boston Tea Party where you pick up tea chests and toss them into a waiting whale’s maw.
“Ansel & Clair: Paul Revere’s Ride” is a great example of how apps can be both fun and full of education. It’s a perfect way to introduce kids to our country’s history.

Presidents vs. Aliens
Dan Russel-Pinson, best for ages 8-up, $.99, iPhone, iPod Touch, iPad
Rating: 4 stars
Aliens are attacking the White House! That’s the premise of this silly app that incorporates three presidential-themed games. The main game tests your commander-in-chief knowledge by using it within a game involving flinging presidential balls at floating alien heads, with the goal being to knock out all the aliens. Sounds wacky? It is, but this pinball-like arcade game works amazingly well to draw kids into learning facts about our past and current presidents.
Since the ball-flinging game is so much fun, it provides great motivation to learn the presidential facts. The only way to earn these balls is to correctly answer the presidential questions posed. If players answer three correct in a row, they earn wacky power-ups, including an invincible president who can mow down any defenses the pesky aliens put up.
To get better at this game, kids can study the 44 informative presidential cards. A nice feature is that you can control the category of facts that appear in the quizzes. Younger kids might want to start with just identifying the pictures of the presidents. Older players can take on famous quotes, political party affiliations, historical events and other more specific questions. In either case, this head-bashing hail-to-the-chief is an irreverent hoot to play.

Geography Drive
Spinlight Studio, best for ages 7-14, $3.99 (iPad, Android), $2.99 (Nook)
Rating: 4 stars
This stellar app turns learning about all 50 states into an engaging travel game. You move a matchbox car over the map of the United States, stopping in each state to answer state trivia questions in hopes of acquiring that state. The object of the game is to acquire as many states as possible before running out of fuel. Like the collecting of states, earning fuel is also tied to answering geography questions — but this time, the player answers by pointing to places on the map of the United States.
Kids start in their own garage with a car. The garage houses state cards to study before adventuring out, but reading them is optional. Driving to a state triggers the three-question trivia test. You might be asked the postal abbreviation of the state, the name of its capital city, its nickname, time zone or famous landmarks. Occasionally, the questions cover state history. Answering correctly all three random questions earns the player ownership of that state. You also earn in-game currency for every right answer. The game continues by having the player drive to an adjoining state, which uses one unit of fuel. After visiting several states, kids must play the locate-places-on-the-map mini-game in order to fill up the car’s gas tank.
This cross country adventure is accompanied by upbeat jazzy music. Sprinkled within the travel are other mini-games that focus on state flags, spelling each state, naming the state capitals and identifying all the shapes of the states. The app has a fun vibe of going on a trip, not taking a test. By cleverly using geographic knowledge to fuel their cars, players are motivated to ace the state facts. Kids also get “driven” to pick up facts so that they can earn in-game currency to upgrade and customize their vehicle. “Geography Drive” gets children’s learning motors revving as it steers them into a better understanding of America.
