Welcome to another MacStories’ 2010 Roundup! In this new series, we collect the best apps released in 2010 for the Mac, iPhone and iPad — apps we have or will feature here on MacStories. Only the best apps, both free and paid. Apps you shouldn’t miss.

Do your kids often ask you do play with your iPads or iPhones? I know my 3.5 year old son does, he’s always asking me! Entertain your little ones with these iOS apps and games, great for toddlers, preschoolers, and big kids at heart.

Why 8? Because we tried and tried to narrow it down to 5 but we couldn’t do it! So, we have collected our top 8 apps for kids released this year. We think they are great apps you should go install right now. We could have included more, but we wanted to bring some of the best to your attention, not just the “pretty good” ones.

So jump after the break, and check our Top 8 list of kid’s apps for iOS.

Headspin: Storybook

Headspin is more than just an interactive storybook, it’s an experience! It’s like a pop-up storybook of old but with the magic of touch that tests your visual awareness skills against a clock. The goal of the game is to get through 20 levels by trying to duplicate the imagery on the left page of the storybook to the right page. Simply flip each object (by tapping), then as each level progresses, so does the difficulty. This beautifully illustrated game can be addicting as you spin the interactive objects to complete the increasingly challenging levels within each ‘chapter.’ The UI is phenomenal and is great for kids of all ages.

Available for $.99 in the App Store, Universal

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Etch A Sketch HD

This one is close to my heart. I use to burn up Etch A Sketch as a kid and now my son and daughter each have one around the house to play and draw with, dial turn by dial turn. This is the “Official” Etch A Sketch application for iOS. You can re-live the classic fun on your iPad. You can even shake the iPad to undo your doodle! This version brings some iOS device options as well: import a photo from the Photo Album, draw on it, and post to your Facebook account, or save it to your gallery. Relive the classic device by using the knobs, or draw with your fingers.

Available for $1.99 in the App Store, iPad

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PopOut! The Tale of Peter Rabbit

PopOut! The Tale of Peter Rabbit was the first in the PopOut!™ series of super awesome & unique interactive digital books. Who didn’t love Peter Rabbit as a kid anyway? Take a romp through a grumpy farmer’s field as pull-tabs, spin-wheels, and spring-mounted elements bring each of Beatrix Potter’s original illustrations to life. There’s also a classical piano soundtrack with some singing mixed with sounds of birds, fire, and wind blowing through the wilderness. You can explore every scene and find the many life-like interactions at your fingertips.
 
Touch and drag objects to make them move or tilt to watch them slide. Objects look like they pop out of the page. You can enable “Read to Me” with word highlighting to help improve your child’s reading skills or read it yourself and hear individual words spoken with the tap of a finger. It’s over 50 pages with realistic page turning fun for the whole family.

Available for $3.99 in the App Store, Universal

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Interactive Alphabet - ABC Flashcards

There comes a time when you teach your kids their ABCs, so why not do it with an iDevice? It only makes sense, right? Start ‘em early. These ABC flashcards have great stylized characters and every letter (upper and lower case) is unique & interactive. The xylophone on the ‘X’ card plays music, and the dinosaur on the ‘D’ card roars! It is a hands-on learning experience for babies, toddlers, and preschoolers! 

It has fun original artwork, animations, music, and sound effects to engage and capture your kid’s curiosity.

Available for $.99 in the App Store, Universal

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My Very First App

My Very First App is a fun, interactive, and educational game based on Eric Carle’s best-selling My Very First Books. It was created by Night & Day Studios, based in Portland, OR. They develop educational iPhone apps for kids, and most well known for Peekaboo Barn. It’s a top 10 app that has been featured by the New York Times and Apple.

The app has Carle’s unique stylings and its very clean, attentive interface. The idea is easy - match colors with images, or play a flip-over matching game. You can choose to match colors with objects like shoes, trees or animals or step it up a notch and try animal homes - match the animal to where they live. There are three different difficulty modes as well.

My son STILL asks me to play this all the time and he’s so proud to show me what he has accomplished. I asked my son why he liked this game so much, he said, “because I like doing it by myself.” I think he’s now ready to start remembering my Pantone libraries. If you have children, I highly recommend this app. It’s great fun for your kids and educational.

Our review here. Available for $1.99 in the App Store, Universal

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“C” is for Cow

A Modern Eden makes some great kids app, their style is like no other. “C” is for Cow teaches kids recognition & phonetics of each letter in the alphabet, along with a corresponding animal for reinforcement. 

The name of the animal is displayed at the top and a big capital letter is displayed at the bottom. First, your child can tap the letter button to hear the sound each letter makes. Next, they can tap the second button to hear the letter and the coordinating animal, like “A is for antelope.” The learning experience is loads of fun and looks great!

Available for $.99 in the App Store, iPhone

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Speak Piggy

A Modern Eden’s other app made it into our list as well. Speak, Piggy! will keep your little one busy, and will help learn animal names, how to spell them, the sounds they make, and the different habitats where they live. Speak, Piggy! will also give your child a lesson in aesthetics. 

Created by a people with their own kids and educational experience, Speak, Piggy! was developed to match the learning and usability patterns of children. Just slide your finger to switch between animals. Speak, Piggy! has something for all kids of all ages - babies will like the colorful pictures, toddlers will enjoy connecting sounds with animals, preschoolers will improve sight reading for early literacy development, and you’ll love the classic design and correct pronunciations.

Available for $.99 in the App Store, iPhone

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Plants vs Zombies

Okay, I had to add one ‘adult’ game that all ages can play. Why not introduce your little ones to zombie slaying at an early age? Using plants is much more humane than a shotgun or a bat right?

Have you justified buying the same game across an iPad, an iPhone and OS X, knowing what you’ll get? With Plants vs. Zombies, that is certainly the case; but if you don’t have the iPhone version yet, get the iPad version first. It’s a far richer experience. But whichever version(s) you get, it’s one of 2010’s must have games (for all ages). Kids and kids at heart love this game, including myself, I have the iPhone and Mac version and will no doubt get the iPad version as soon as the iPad 2 arrives in 2011.

Available for the $9.95 on the Mac, $2.99 for iPhone, $6.99 for iPad in the App Store

You can expect more reviews for kid-friendly apps in 2011 by MacStories, as my kids get older they really want to be immersed into the iOS experience as they see their daddy (me) use it on a daily basis!