Being a new iphone user, I am pleasantly surprised to discover that it can actually make my life as a parent easier. Here are some applications that I have found during my one short week of having the iphone.

1. iWriteWords Lite
I would never imagine that getting DS to practise his pre-writing skills can be so effortless. Instead of the usual coaxing, DS actually pleaded to practise writing his ABCs and 123s with this application, which showed DS the correct sequences of strokes and rewarded him every step of the way!

2. Shape Builder LITE 
The Preschool Learning Puzzle Game. A Jigsaw puzzle coupled with word recognition, this educational game kept him engaged and occupied.

3. Grimm’s Fairy Tales
Bedtime reading can now be done with the lights off, plus this free download comes with hundreds of stories. DS now gets a different story a day. There is also a version by of Fairy Tales by Hans Christian Andersen.

4. Audiobooks
This application features authors who record audio books of classics for free. There are all the classics you can think of. Those suitable for children include the Adventure of Tom Sawyer, The wonderful Wizard of Oz, They even have Di zi gui in Cantonese and Mandarin!

For those who do not want an iphone but still want access to the applications, there is always the ipod touch, which supposedly supports the same applications as iphone, sans the phone features.