As you work through your holiday shopping list, here is something for the tech savvy kids in your house to check out.  My tech savvy kids are little, but they do love playing around with my iPhone and iPad.  We use it as a treat but careful to make sure what they are doing is educational in some way. When I got the chance to review the new Cypher Kids Club Augmented Reality Cards, I was curious to see if my (nearly) four year old would enjoy them.

Cypher Kids Augmented Reality Cards

My daughter is learning how to identify her numbers so we started off with the interactive Numbers learning cards.  We downloaded the app from the iTunes store quickly and got started. (The app is free.) It’s easy to find if you have a QR scanner on your phone. The front of the box has a code that will direct you to the right app in the Apple App Store.

QR code to scan for the app

I played with the program first, which I always recommend when you are going to let your kids use a computer program. Also, I turn the phone to the airplane setting.  This reduces any possible radiation exposure to the kids using a phone.

She had fun testing out the numbers cards.

The flashcards themselves are bright and colorful. The application allows you to scroll through and pick the numbers you want to find. I mixed up the cards 10 and under for Madison to work on. Once we matched the number on the screen to the number on the flashcard we flipped it over so my phone’s camera could identify it. It’s like a kid’s version of a QR code on the back. Then the fun starts with an animated 3D-like experience where you can count the number of items from the card and watch them in action.

Screen shot from Numbers

It took me a few tries to get the hang of seeing the 3D images.  The trick is to hold the card a little further away until the entire image fills the screen.  When Madison tried it, she often held the card too close so we worked together on it so she could see the “reward” image once she was able to match her numbers.

She figured it out pretty fast.

The other cards we have are the Wild Animal Adventures and Letters. My little guy had some fun flipping through all the flash cards of the animal set without using the phone. Making the animal sounds is all he needs to practice!

Cypher Kids Augmented Reality Cards

The cards are available at Target and Best Buy. They would make a unique present for kids ages 3 and up. You can learn more about the Cypher Kids Club by visiting their Facebook or Twitter pages. Remember, any time kids are on a phone or tablet, this counts towards their daily screen time.  The American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) recommends that children 2 years old and younger be exposed to no screen time. For older children, the AAP suggests limiting screen time — including TV, video games and computer use — to one to two hours a day of active viewing time. (source)

Disclosure: I am a member of the Collective Bias™ Social Fabric® Community.  This shop has been compensated as part of a social shopper insights study for Collective Bias™ and  Cypher Kids Club #CypherKidsClub #CBias #SocialFabric  All opinions shared here are my own.