Just in time for the holidays, we now have three more Tickle Tap Apps available for download on the iTunes App Store!

Field Flier is a highly imaginative app that’s jam-packed with all-original (and quite wonderful!) illustrations, animations, music and sound effects. It took a great deal of programming prowess on Luke Lutman’s part as well. You really have to play it to appreciate all the minute and adorable details it includes. I love it when Robin reads the newspaper and stands on the turtle. “Robin is dancing!” is definitely my favourite part though. We were so excited when our composer Brian McBrearty delivered the music track for this animation. It’s got a definite Euro dance feel to it. Perfect!

Pattern Painter seamlessly integrates patterns and shape drawing in a single app. That’s because behind-the-scenes, this little app puzzler literally had our team going back to the drawing board repeatedly! We thought long and hard about usability. Our programmer, Colin McCune, had some tricky business to work out with the shape recognition as well. But once we had it all figured out and added our animal friends in (Jinja the cat, Harvey the dog and Robin the bird) it proved to be as fun and enjoyable as we’d hoped, if not more so!

Color Collector is awesome. The team had great fun running around the office collecting colors during testing (we quickly realized we have a dearth of purple objects here for some reason!). But we were also breaking new ground in terms of programming with this app, and pushing the capabilities of the iPhone camera technology to its limits. Our programmer, Stefan Arentz, did an amazing job figuring out the challenges and intricacies of color recognition, and what the iPhone camera could and couldn’t do. After many, many hours of hard work we finally had something that worked wonderfully! And then we tested it on the iPhone 3G. Uh oh. I’m proud to say we at zinc Roe are not ones to panic, even in moments of sheer horror like that. We’re problem solvers! Of course we got it working well on 2G, 3G and 3GS in the end. Now that it’s available on the App Store, we really hope parents and children discover this game and enjoy playing it as much as we do. . .er did.

Thanks to everyone on the Tickle Tap Team: Jason Krogh, Stefan Arentz, Luke Lutman, Colin McCune, Carlo Alducente, Vanessa Leggett, Anne-Sophie Brieger, Ian Partridge, Aaron Leighton, Davin Risk, Lara Salam, Brian McBrearty, Carla Fisher, Mike Palozzi and Laura Kyswaty.

Hurrah! The first three apps in our Tickle Tap App series are now available for download on the iTunes App Store. Sound Shaker is a sound-making designed for preschoolers, but so far it’s a hit among children of all ages. (You know something is entertaining when it brings a smile to the faces of serious-minded journalists, jaded industry-types and toddlers alike.) The barnyard sounds are my personal favourites—one of the funniest moments in development was when the programmer said he thought the pig sound was “very Orwellian.”

Sort Slider has a definite mesmerizing quality to it. I’m sure it’s a fun challenge for preschoolers to figure out which shapes match then successfully make matches by tilting the device or dragging the shapes with their fingers. It’s undoubtedly a treat for kids to see Harvey pop up and watch him jump and play onscreen. But for me, Sort Slider is a bit of a Zen machine. It was wonderfully calming to test this app. I would have happily kept on testing it, but then the team went and completed it.

Count Caddy is a unique little counting game. Counting balls of yarn, feathers and dog bones along with our Tickle Tap animal friends is about a million times more creative and inspiring than counting boring old straws and popsicle sticks like we did waaay back in my preschool days. During our voiceover recording session, our vocal actress admitted she really liked just saying the phrase “dog bones.” Go ahead—try to say “let’s count the dog bones” without cracking a smile. I double dog dare you.

We’ve been busy trying to get the word out about Tickle Tap Apps! Give us a hand, and keep up-to-date about Tickle Tap Apps by subscribing to the Tickle Tap Times newsletter. As a subscriber you’ll be among the first to know about new app launches, previews, events, promotions, discounts and deals. Plus, each issue of Tickle Tap Times features a Tickle Tap Tip for iPhone parents. Sign up for Tickle Tap Times now!

Why would a three-year-old want to play games on an iPhone? Actually, let’s re-think that—why wouldn’t a three-year-old want to play games on an iPhone?

iPhones and iPod Touch devices are extremely attractive to small users in the three- to five-year-old snack bracket. These devices are easy for small hands to use—much easier than computers, keyboards and mice. Children can also use them anywhere. Think of the possibilities: while waiting in line with you, while traveling or commuting, in the car, during quiet moments at home. Anytime your child is looking for an activity. Anytime you’d like your child to be engaged and interested instead of frustrated or bored and distracted.

But if you’re going to hand over your iPhone or iPod Touch to your child to play with, you’re going to need some entertaining apps for him or her to play. That’s where Tickle Tap Apps come in. Tickle Tap Apps are age-appropriate educational games that encourage learning through practice and exploration. They take full advantage of the iPhone platform in ways that make game play exciting. They’re also easy to use, with audio instructions and visual cues so preschoolers can pick them up and start playing right away.

The first three Tickle Tap Apps will be available very soon from the iTunes App Store. Visit TickleTapApps.com to learn more. Plus get sneak peeks at game play by watching demo videos of Sound Shaker, Count Caddy and Sort Slider.