Mobile Devices Help Keep Kids’ Brains & Bodies Active over Summer Break

As children anxiously await the start of their summer breaks, many parents are wondering how they are going to entertain their kids, while also keeping their brains and bodies active. With more than 75 percent of children age 2 to 13 having access to smartphones, according to PlayScience, U.S. Cellular is recommending mobile apps to help parents reinforce learning and find ways to keep their children busy and occupied throughout the coming months. 

“Today’s smartphones, such as the Samsung Aviator, provide several educational applications that can keep kids’ minds fresh during their long breaks from the classroom,” said Dana Dorcas, director of sales for U.S. Cellular in the Mid-Atlantic. “Not only can smartphones help parents organize and simplify their lives, these cutting-edge devices are a fun and interactive way for kids to learn over the summer months.” 

Whether a child is borrowing his or her parent’s smartphone or using a mobile tablet, such as U.S. Cellular’s Samsung Galaxy Tab™ 10.1, a 4G LTE device, parents can download the following applications to educate their children and find local events and activities.

Apps for kids

• Kid Mode is an app that compiles all of your child’s favorite educational games and apps in one place. It features an art studio, storybooks, age-appropriate videos and a feature called Child Lock, which keeps kids from navigating away from the app. Parents can even sign up to receive weekly activity emails detailing what their children have been playing and learning.
• Words with Friends has become wildly popular among school-age children. The app provides kids with a fun way to challenge their vocabulary skills while also interacting with friends and other family members.
• Math Workout is a perfect way to enhance a child’s arithmetic abilities and sharpen their problem-solving skills. The app challenges the user with several educational games and maintains their progress by updating results into easy-to-read charts.
• Kids Activities is a great resource for parents who are looking to get kids to take a break from screen time and get their bodies moving. The application provides hundreds of healthy physical activities for kids of all ages.
• Virginia Facts is great for a family who is bored traveling on a long road trip. Ask them to test their knowledge of home using this application which contains a collection of facts about Virginia. Make it a game to see how many of these answers each person can get right to make the ride seem shorter while learning interesting facts at the same time.
• West Virginia Facts is great for a family who is bored traveling on a long road trip. Ask them to test their knowledge of home using this application which contains a collection of facts about West Virginia. Make it a game to see how many of these answers each person can get right to make the ride seem shorter while learning interesting facts at the same time.

Apps for parents:

• Aloqa is an application that can help parents find local events and activities specifically for kids. Using GPS technology, Aloqa also provides a list of nearby restaurants and movie times.
• The Official VA State Parks Guide helps you celebrate the 75th anniversary of Virginia State Parks. This FREE mobile app is the only official state park app for Virginia which allows you to access the most up-to-date park information such as upcoming events, weather conditions and safety alert communications, while you enjoy the refreshing sights. Choose a park to visit by location or by activity, such as camping or fishing.
• The Official West Virginia State Parks Guide allows you to access the most up-to-date park information such as upcoming events, weather conditions and safety alert communications, while you enjoy the refreshing sights. Choose a park to visit by location or by activity, such as camping or fishing.
• See WV Wallpaper is an application that shows high resolutions photos of some of West Virginia’s most wild & wonderful scenic views, majestic mountains, pristine rivers, brooks and springs. This app works best, according to the developer, on a high resolution device. 

While kids continue learning on parents’ smartphones and tablets, parents can earn rewards for themselves through U.S. Cellular, which has the industry’s only 4G LTE network with a points-based rewards program. Points are awarded for simple things, such as paying bills on-time, adding a line or referring friends and family, and may be used for faster phone upgrades, additional lines, devices, accessories and ringtones. Earning points makes the summer rewarding for both parents and kids.

About U.S. Cellular

U.S. Cellular rewards its customers with unmatched benefits and industry-leading innovations designed to elevate the customer experience. The Chicago-based carrier has a strong line-up of cutting-edge devices that are all backed by its high-speed nationwide network that has the highest call quality of any national carrier. Currently, 25 percent of customers have access to 4G LTE speeds and 54 percent will have access by the end of 2012. U.S. Cellular was named a J.D. Power and Associates Customer Service Champion in 2012 for the second year in a row. To learn more about U.S. Cellular, visit one of its retail stores or uscellular.com. To get the latest news, promos and videos, connect with U.S. Cellular on Facebook.com/uscellular, Twitter.com/uscellular and YouTube.com/uscellularcorp.