iPhone frights and fantastic finds

You know what’s fun? Waking up on a Saturday morning and checking your inbox only to find three e-mails from the iTunes store letting you know your 5-year old daughter downloaded over $27 worth of app upgrades from a “free” Disney game you gave her permission to play the night before.

Jaycee got to watch me transform from a Zen-like sleepyhead to a raging lunatic in three seconds flat. Good morning, sweetie (yawn). Wait…WHAAA? What the $#& did you do last night when I wasn’t watching you as closely as I should have been?!

Lucky for me, I’m not the first mom to have let my guard down so Apple credited back the fraudulent charges and gave me a nice tutorial on how to restrict future In-App Purchases.

The point of this story is to prove how non-tech savvy I am. However, even I was able to find some fun, TOTALLY FREE apps for my kids so I thought I’d pass along three fun finds.

Halloween 2011 with the button pusher in the middle of her brothers

The first app I’d recommend is Halloween 13: Daily Spooky Surprises by MagicSolver.com Ltd. Kids freaking LOVE Halloween. I figure giving them a countdown full of daily surprises leading up to the big candy binge-a-thon is the least I can do. From dressing up vampires to exploding pumpkins, my children love seeing what’s hidden under the next headstone.

The second app that my older children particularly like is Halloween Photo Booth: Free Scary Monster Face Blender by FAR4 APPS, LLC. Nothing is better than taking a picture of your brother and changing him into a monster. Oh wait, there is something better – being able to share that photo via e-mail, Facebook, or Twitter with all your friends. Personally, I still prefer Pimp My Pet by Analog Nest when it comes to photo manipulation apps, but I figured that one’s still a little too risque for the kids.

Murphy the pimpster pug

The third and final app that every Halloween-er should have is the basic Flashlight by iHandy Inc. Instead of lugging around the old Duracell kind, my kids can instantly check out their candy stash using their iPhone. If we happen to get separated from one another (because kids tend to move in warp speed once they have two tons of chocolate in their system), they can simply wave their flashlight in my direction and I’m able to instantly identify – but not claim – them.

May you have lots of little people visit your doorstep begging for sugar this Halloween. May you keep a secret stash of candy to give yourself a physiological high. And, finally, may you feel like a kid again…if just for one night.

Written by Heidi Woodard