Apps For Presidents Day

American Presidents for iPad is an excellent tool for learning about George Washington, Abraham Lincoln, and our country’s other presidents. It presents each president in the context of America’s history by providing a timeline of important events. Each president is given a short, but concise biography. The app is also packed with other features, such as maps, speeches, quizzes, and more. In terms of Presidents Day apps, American Presidents is the complete package of design, utility, and education.

Although informative, American Presidents might have a little too much information for young children. For a more digestible overview, Britannica Kids: US Presidents presents just a few facts about each president, including his vice president, first lady, birthday, and a fun fact. The app also features a picture-filled “Did You Know” section, a quiz, and a sing-along version of “Hail to the Chief.” Please note that this app is free in honor of Presidents Day Weekend, but the sale ends Monday, Feb. 20 at Midnight EST.

To learn about the current presidential administration, you can check out The White House iPhone app. It gives you news, videos, blog posts, and photos to keep you up to date with President Obama’s activities. There’s nothing particularly flashy or impressive about the app. You may also run into some crash issues. However, the app does offer a decent amount of content.

Of course, the above apps may not provide enough data to satisfy everyone’s intellectual curiosity. While perhaps obvious, the best place to go for more information is Wikipedia. There are a number of good Wikipedia apps available. Wikibot was chosen because of its simple interface and its helpful features, like tabbed browsing, language switching, and offline caching.

After filling your brain with all that presidential knowledge, you may want to put your expertise to the test with a game. Presidents vs. Aliens is a quirky and entertaining way to quiz yourself. By answering a question correctly, you gain a little president disk to fling at aliens. Get enough questions correct and you gain “Executive Powers.” From a game design standpoint, Presidents vs. Aliens is not the most polished game out there. It’s also somewhat simplistic in its gameplay. But for Presidents Day, it’s a fun way to celebrate the occasion.

Another recreational activity that you can enjoy this Presidents Day is coloring. Kids Fingerpainting - President’s Day HD allows you to turn your iPad into a canvas. The app is fairly self-explanatory; you start with a picture of your favorite president and color it in. You can also personalize your picture with a frame or message. There is also an iPhone version of this app, although I prefer the iPad version, since there’s more room to color.

Perhaps you’re the type of person who wants to celebrate the holiday by getting out of the house. Roadside Presidents for the iPhone makes for an excellent companion. It is a guide to more than 1000 U.S. presidential landmarks, from museums, to tourist traps, to some really random locales. The app prides itself for being offbeat and to that effect, also features some quirky trivia in its “Arcana” section. Please note that although this is an interesting app, you may want to read the license agreement before using it; it has some language in there which may be a turn-off to some users.

Finally, there are those looking for good Presidents Day sales. This app allows you to browse the weekly ads for over 100 major retailers, without having to leaf through piles and piles of paper. Although this app is useful all year round, it should be particularly useful for today. Happy Shopping!