Best Toddler Apps | Go Go Mongo

Planning a Children’s Themed Party

admin — Mon, 25 Mar 2013 17:38:57 +0000

Are you putting together a themed children’s party, and getting held up on the details? There are a lot of different areas to cover for getting the right children’s themed party in place, from choosing a theme, through to selecting food, decorations, and entertainers. You need to find a theme that won’t be too complicated to use across all of these areas, while ensuring that it’s something that your child wants, and that’s practical. By focusing on a simple theme, and by considering how you might want to hire a professional themed party planner to provide a larger scale event, you can target a great party.

It’s first important to remember that a children’s themed party doesn’t have to be too elaborate. You can find a theme from a lot of different areas, from pirates and superheroes to princesses and favourite film and television characters; you may also want to build up a theme by using something as simple as a colour, or working with other parents to work on an idea that’s practical and cost effective. For example, if your child wants a football themed party, you can ask other parents if their children already have football kits and balls that they can bring along with them.

When selecting food for a themed party, you need to think about how to have a comprehensive selection of different food, while still sticking to your theme; this might involve having a few items that match the theme alongside other kinds of party food. For a magic themed party, this might involve having chocolate wands and gummy dice, or it may involve having cupcake tops that match up to the theme of a party. At the same time, you can focus your food around having a themed birthday cake and party bags that contain sweets using favourite characters.

In terms of decorations, it’s usually best to start things off in a relatively straightforward way. For themed parties that involve established characters from film and television, you’ll find that a lot of of decorations are already available, and can include wall banners, table cloths, and paper plates. If you want to design your own decorations, you can create personalised banners, create cut out hanging cards, and find tablecloths that match up to the overall colour scheme of the party.

Themed games can also just be variations on already popular children’s party games; this might involve a pirate themed version of Pass the Parcel that uses gold chocolate coins as gift, or it may involve having Pin the Tail on the Donkey being replaced by Put the Football in the Top Corner for football themed parties. For sports and activity themed parties, you can book local venues, and can speak to them about any themed games or activities they may already have in place.

Another alternative for organising a successful themed children’s party is to hire professional party planners for the day; if you can focus on sorting out invitations and venues, planners can work on producing entertainment and games. Parties might consequently include everything from Halloween parties to parties that use games based around favourite characters, or discos for older children. Perhaps the most important thing to remember, though, when arranging a themed children’s party is to keep things simple, and to make sure it’s something that your child won’t be too overwhelmed by.

Author Bio

Emily Steves a staff writer associated with some kids blogs, she loves to write articles on Kids and their activities. In her free time she spend fun time with her niece by cooking cake and cookies, arranging themed birthday parties for theme etc

Six Scary Cartoons That Your Kids Should Not Watch Alone

admin — Thu, 21 Mar 2013 05:00:27 +0000

You know what it’s like; you watch a scary film on your own and then you are unable to sleep. You think that there are monsters in your room and you worrythat your house has suddenly become haunted. Well, you wouldn’t want to putyour children through this torture would you?
There are some fantastic scary cartoon films available that are suited to children nowadays. They all have a PG rating; however what you need to remember isthat whilst these cartoons may not be scary to you they can easily be scary to younger ones. For example, Ben 10 is a mild television programme – it features a young boy and some aliens. However, some kids may find Ben 10 scarymerely because of the fact that they don’t like aliens.

So, if you are going to let your children watch one of the following films, then make sure that you watch it with them.

Gremlins

Gremlins is widely considered a film that pushed the boundaries of the PG rating. If you haven’t watched Gremlins before then the concept of the movie is as follows; there are lots of furry small creatures that look adorable but turn into monsters when they come into contact with water. Of course there are sub plots within this, but that is the general gist of things. This is definitely a film to enjoy with your child, yet they may be scared of the Gremlins themselves, so don’t stick this on for your child when alone.

The Witches

The Witches is a fabulous film largely because of the fact that it is based on a Roald Dahl book. Roald Dahl is widely considered the king of kids’ stories and thus you know that no matter what you will be in for a great story line. The film has a creepy tone to it, thus meaning whilst it is fabulous it is not a film for being alone.

Monster House

Monster House is a great choice for those who want to watch a movie that is mildly scary with their kids. The film is based around a haunted house and thus the concept itself creates spookiness. However, most would admit that the battle scene is the only part that will have you on edge.

The Monster Squad

Before deciding whether to let your child watch this film or not you need to consider the fact that the language is a little bit choice. This is why The Monster Squad actually has a PG-13 rating. If you do allow your little one to watch it, then get prepared for some violence.

Little Monsters

When a film features a monster that terrorises children in their sleep, then you know it has potential to scare your child especially at night time. There is also several scary scenes in this film and therefore you need to give it a lot of thought before you decide whether your child can watch Little Monsters or not.

Little Shop of Horrors

This is another film with some questionable language choices, and again is thus deemed to be a PG-13 rating. Nevertheless, if you are looking for a good andscary film to watch with your child then this is it. There is also some light humour along the way in order to give the film the right balance.

If your child wants to watch a scary cartoon film then you can definitely allow them to watch one of these six. However, make sure you watch the film with them in order to ensure of no nightmares.

Author Bio

Emily is a copy-writer associated with some of the best Kids communities. She has written on a whole host of cartoon and game related topics. She recommends kids to watch ben10 Ultimate Alien online when they are taking breaks from their studies.

Mongo Needs a Vacation! Where should he go? CONTEST!

admin — Wed, 26 Sep 2012 05:29:46 +0000

Mongo has been working extra hard over the past few months, helping kids eat healthy and he needs a vacation! Can you suggest a place for Mongo to visit, and things he should do there? The best idea for a vacation wins a Mongo Plush toy! Share your vacation idea in the comments box below!

Mongo Loves to go to the AppyMall

admin — Tue, 31 Jul 2012 20:26:43 +0000

Mongo woke up today realizing that he hasn’t added any new games to his iPad in a while. After searching online, he found that there were too many websites talking about apps, but none that actually were designed to recommend apps just for him.

He recently got a sneak peek at the new AppyMall, and Mongo was ecstatic! He can browse apps by age, category, and learning goal. He can also do a simple search like, “healthy eating game” and view more games to help him eat better.

Another really cool feature are custom pages that can be created by teachers! Now Mongo can download all the apps that his teacher recommends!

Mongo is happy now that he has an AppyMall to hang out in, and it will help him find more great educational apps to play with!

Check out this video for a sneak peek:

Mongo and the squishy donut

admin — Wed, 18 Jul 2012 17:50:44 +0000

Squish… Mongo accidentally stepped on a donut! The jelly filling oozed out and Mongo’s feet got really sticky. Mongo started walking home slowly because his feet kept sticking to the ground. As he was walking, he noticed a trail of ants following him! At first he thought they were his friends, but then realized that the ants were crawling all over his feet and eating the sugary jelly.

He started feeling some bites, “Ouch!” Mongo exclaimed! He started running back home after that so that the ants don’t crawl up his pants!

When he got home, he quickly washed his feet and found an app for his iPad called “Smash Your Food”. In it, he was able to smash donuts, soda, fries, and all sorts of treats. So he pulled the lever on the smashing machine and it smashed the donut. Jelly filling oozed out, just like when he stepped on the donut! However, this time, he found out there were a total of 5 sugar cubes worth of sugar in 1 donut! No wonder Mongo gets sick whenever he eats donuts! That is too much sugar for an average orange monster like Mongo!

After learning about this, Mongo vowed to never eat donuts again, even though sometimes he gets a sweet tooth, it is better for Mongo to eat an apple rather than a donut.

Post your favorite summer healthy food in the What Should Mongo Eat? Competition, hosted by Technology in Education for a chance to win Mongo Plush toys and free apps! http://on.fb.me/Q6XOmZ

You can also smash your food by downloading the Smash Your Food iPad App here: http://bit.ly/Ol1v68

Mongo’s Trash Troubles

admin — Sat, 23 Jun 2012 22:34:41 +0000

Mongo is a happy go lucky character, but sometimes he can be really lazy. He likes to sleep until late and has a habit of eating! Sometimes, he forgets to throw away his trash and it all piles up!

One day, Mongo lost one of his stars! He thought that the evil Pirate Jai-yo Jai-yo Mongo took it, but then he saw a flash from under a pile of garbage in Mongo’s house.

So he knew the star was lost under Mongo’s pile of garbage, so Mongo started digging. He threw wrappers, fruit peels, cans, bottles, all over the room and finally he saw the missing star. He was so happy to find his star again, but the star was not happy with Mongo.

He got lost in Mongo’s garbage on his way to the bathroom, and couldn’t find his way out. He had to pee really bad!

So Mongo quickly got him to the bathroom, and after he was through, the star showed Mongo 3 bins. One was a black bin for trash, one bin was blue for recycling, and one bin was green for compost. He told Mongo that he would help him sort all of this garbage and put it in the right bins so he can have a clean house again!

So they started off by looking at all organic things like apples cores, orange peels, banana peels, and put them in the green compost bin. Since these things are organic, they can go back into the earth after they have been composted.

Next they looked at the cans, bottles, and paper items. The star found a can of soda and looked at Mongo disapprovingly. Mongo knew that soda was bad for him but he was just so tempted by the fizzy bubbles. Mongo agreed not to drink any more soda and drink more water instead. Mongo also had lots of notebook paper in there, where he was making some doodles. They took all of these and put them in the blue recycle bin.

By the time they were through, they saw that the house was almost clean! Only a cardboard juicebox and some batteries remained that they threw in the black trash bin.

Wow, now that wasn’t so bad now was it! Now Mongo and the star looked at the room with glee as it was so clean! Mongo loved learning about recycling, and to keep reminding himself, he played the fun game, Trash Chaos, on his iPad! You can also learn to recycle by downloading this game here.

Mongo Fights Pirates!

Fareesa — Thu, 14 Jun 2012 16:46:32 +0000

Last week, Mongo received an email from the President that read:

Mongo! It looks like a pirate has stolen all of your golden stars! Come to Washington D.C. and lets get your stars back together!

Sincerely,

The President

Mongo quickly packed his bags, he didn’t even realize his golden stars got stolen. He jumped on a plane to meet with the President.

While in Washington D.C., he found out that the pirate was out in China, and both he and the President charted a course to the other side of the world to get back his golden stars.

Mongo and the President sailed for days to get to China, and as each day passed, Mongo kept getting more upset about losing his golden stars.

Then suddenly, they heard a loud bang! It was a cannonball headed their way! Mongo ran to get his baseball bat, and with all of his strength, Mongo hit the cannonball, that launched back in the air.

A few seconds later we heard a loud “ouch!”, and as the smoke cleared, Mongo saw a creature that looked a lot like him, except he had an eye patch and a hook on his hand. He was surely a pirate!

The pirate stood up again and said, “Yaar! I am Jai-yo Jai-yo Mongo, and I have all of your golden stars!”

The President responded by saying, “Jai-yo Jai-yo Mongo, give back Mongo’s golden stars, or we will destroy your boat!”

“Ha ha ha! Never! I am using Mongo’s golden stars to make even more stars for myself!” said Jai-yo Jai-yo Mongo, the pirate.

Mongo then loaded up some vegetables into the cannon and started shooting them at the pirate ship. The pirates ran scared as they hated vegetables!

Then finally, a cauliflower hit Jai-yo Jai-yo Mongo in the head, and he looked and took a bite. At first he didn’t like the taste, but he took another bite. “Mmmmm, what is this?!?!?!”

The President then said, “It is Cauliflower, and if you like it then we will trade you cauliflower if you return Mongo’s golden stars.”

The pirate said, “Okay, I will give you back Mongo’s golden stars in exchange for your Cauliflower, because I have already made more stars from Mongo’s original golden stars!

“Okay, shoot over all of Mongo’s golden stars and we will send over the Cauliflower. Please promise to never steal Mongo’s golden stars again!” said the President.

The pirate sent over all of Mongo’s golden stars, and Mongo sent over some Cauliflower for the pirates to enjoy. Then Mongo and the President sailed away, and to light the night sky, Mongo threw his golden stars up into the sky, relieved that he has his golden stars back. The stars danced in the sky, burning brighter than ever to guide back Mongo and the President to the United States.

Mongo’s App of the Week: Elmo Calls

admin — Fri, 08 Jun 2012 00:50:54 +0000

It was a rainy Sunday afternoon, and Mongo was in a sad mood because he couldn’t go outside to play. As Mongo lazily moped around his house Mongo’s iPhone started ringing. Who could it be? The caller ID said Elmo! Mongo suddenly cheered up and answered the call, it was a Facetime call with Elmo, Mongo’s favorite red friend.

Elmo said hi in his silly way, and then he told Mongo a joke about Cookie Monster! After Mongo stopped giggling, Elmo blew his nose and it sounded like a trumpet! Mongo continued to roll on the floor laughing.

Mongo laughed so hard, he started crying. So he quickly wiped his tears of joy, and waved goodbye to Elmo. He looked out the window and all of a sudden, the sun came out, and finally, Mongo was able to go outside and play. Thanks Elmo for cheering up Mongo, it turned out to be a great day after all!

This app is perfect for toddlers and preschoolers, and is a $0.99 download. The app does have in-App purchases but hides it from the child’s reach by using a clever parent’s button that you need to slide to the right to view the in-app purchases.

You can download Elmo Calls from the iTunes App Store here: http://bit.ly/LBWq6e and works best with the iPhone 4 and iPhone 4s (devices that have the front facing camera).

Mongo’s App of the Week: iLuv Drawing Dinosaurs

admin — Fri, 01 Jun 2012 17:52:44 +0000

This week, Mongo had a nightmare about a dinosaur. The dinosaur was 10 times Mongo’s size and had fierce red eyes. Mongo couldn’t sleep. When morning came, he was still scared, until his friend told him not to be scared, and to confront his fears by drawing out his dinosaur. Mongo tried and tried on paper and kept getting scared, and then he found this app, iLuv Drawing Dinosaurs, where there were 19 different dinosaurs to draw, all of which were very friendly looking! He decided to draw a Scelidosaurus, and since his favorite color is orange, he made the dinosaur orange with blue scales! Ooohhhh! Scarry! Well, not really!

The next night, Mongo had the same dream with the dinosaur, but this time, he wasn’t so scary. In fact, the dinosaurs were all dancing around! Good night Mongo, sweet dreams!

Mongo’s Adventures in Washington D.C.

admin — Sun, 06 May 2012 19:48:19 +0000

Last week, Mongo received a letter in the mail. It looked pretty important so he quickly opened it up. It was on a very fancy letterhead from the White House! It read:

Dear Mongo,

We would love it if you could come and meet with us at the White House during the Association of Competitive Technology (ACT) Fly-in.

Sincerely,

The White House

Mongo got so excited and started to dance. He quickly packed his bags, and got on a plane from San Francisco to Washington DC. It was a long flight, but Mongo had plenty of games on the iPad including his latest favorite app, iLuv Drawing People, so he can doodle for a good 5 hours!

On Monday, Mongo will be visiting the White House, and then on Tuesday, Mongo will be visiting the House of Representatives and the Senate. He will be meeting with Congress to protect children’s privacy on mobile, and get some more spectrum so we can have faster download speeds on our smartphones.

On Wednesday, Mongo might actually join forces with Batman to fight the Pirates from China!

Follow Mongo’s adventures in D.C. on Twitter: @gogo_mongo