Last week was an exciting week at Duck Duck Moose! We launched our long-awaited Trucks and Trucks HD app last Wednesday.

The team has been especially excited about this title since it was in beta and is over the moon to see that our Trucks HD iPad app is outselling many popular casual games in the US, including Angry Birds HD, Cut the Rope HD, and Fruit Ninjia HD. Trucks is currently ranked as the #12 Top Paid App Overall on the iPad and is the #1 Top Kids Game for the iPhone and the iPad.

Trucks includes 5 interactive activities: Soap and rinse a car in a carwash, drive a garbage truck, tow a car with a tow truck and fix a flat tire, dump dirt with a dump truck, and play with a car and truck parade. This app includes an ice cream truck, fire truck, cement truck, police car, mail truck, ambulance, and much more!

Trucks is an educational app that will teach children about sequencing, sorting, and problem solving. The activities encourage experimentation and will stimulate their imaginations.

To learn more about Trucks, check our our product video

e are excited to welcome two new members to our creative team!

Queeny: Digital Illustrator & Designer

Queeny is our resident science fiction nerd who is convinced that her acceptance letter to Hogwarts somehow managed to get lost in transit. In her spare time, Queeny likes to take catnaps, discover new music, and go on adventures in her green bug. She often likes to doodle silly animals and is delighted that some have managed to find a great home in Duck Duck Moose mobile applications.

Sally: Digital Animator & Concept Artist

Sally has been drawing and loving it since she was able to pick up a pencil on anything from paper to the walls of her house. She works mostly using charcoal pencil, watercolor, and digital, but is never afraid to venture into other media. Creating illustrations, especially for kids, is Sally’s true passion, and she feels blessed to find a spot at Duck Duck Moose. In her spare time, she enjoys playing guitar and singing off-tune.

*(and growns up and growns up)

t’s hard to believe March has arrived and that spring is officially on its way. But then again, who isn’t looking forward to some sunny skies and longer days. If your conditions permit, now can be a great time to get started on some fun outdoor activities and celebrations. Here are some beautiful spring party decoration ideas (indoor and outdoor) that can help get the ball rolling. Great inspiration for any spring birthdays out there as well!

Check out all of these great ideas and much more at our Pinterest.

See more of the above at Jose Villa’s photography blog.

More of the Caterpillar Party at Hostess.

Cute gardening party from Pizzazzerie!

Fun spring dessert recipes at The Party Dress.

Check out all of these great ideas and much more at our Pinterest. Happy almost spring!

Duck Duck Moose

n celebration of our newest app launch Draw and Tell we are giving away 18 free coloring pages for kids. All the artwork from the Draw and Tell app is available for download in printer-friendly versions. Just visit our Facebook welcome page to download.

Draw and Tell is available for iPad and iPhone on the App Store.

Thanks for all the emails, love and support!

Duck Duck Moose
Caroline, Michael & Nicci

e have lots of exciting things going on at Duck Duck headquarters lately. First, we are pleased to announce the release of our new creative app Draw and Tell for iPhone and iPad. Draw and tell is our first truly open-ended creative app which allows children of all ages to color, draw, and create works of art and then record their voices while interacting with their drawing.

When creating Draw and Tell we were inspired by our own kids and their boundless creativity. They freely experiment in ways that we seem to lose the ability to do as we grow older. As I look back on the photos of my own daughter taken during the past year, I realize how quickly the time goes. The days are long, but the years are short. I have the feeling that if I blink, she will be 16. Like all parents, I want to freeze time, to gather all the memories I can before she changes again. For me, this is the best part about Draw and Tell — it encourages a child’s uninhibited creativity and records the memory for posterity by capturing the child’s voice. We have had so much fun watching our own children play with this app and we hope that you will too!

Two weeks ago Caroline had the idea to make a product video showing children playing with our app. In typical Duck Duck Moose fashion (after getting over the hurdle of convincing the Moose — turns out he will agree to almost anything for a raisin oatmeal cookie) we jumped in with both feet. Never having done anything like this before, we had the wide-eyed innocence of the truly ignorant (our editor was rendered speechless when I said “what do you mean, a story board?”). However, we quickly found a few key players to help us make it happen. The lovely Monique Miller took the footage and it was edited and beautified during many sleepless nights by Joe Hall. The actors were paid in Annie’s bunny crackers.

Check out the video

View more artwork from Draw and Tell on Flickr

Valentine’s Day is just a week away but it’s not too late to start on some fun Valentine crafts or bake yummy Valentine inspired foods. Here are some great design ideas and mouthwatering Valentine treats that have been floating around the Web. For even more inspiration, check out our Pinterest!

Craft and Design

DIY translucent hearts at Martha Stewart.

A great DIY Valentine’s card by Mer Mag that can be an awesome project to do with kids!

Fortune cookie Valentine design with free template and instructions provided by Celeste.

Googly eye cards by Armommy.

Crayon Valentine craft by Whipper Berry.

Valentine’s Craft Ideas for Kids

Marthastewart.com is offering many DIY Valentine’s projects this year and currently has a small section specifically for Kid’s Valentine’s! You can find many of the projects featured below at this page.

A fun twist on creating cards using personal photographs and lollipops. Definitely a popular trend for parents and children this year.

Silly animal Valentine cards! Free template available at Design Mom.

DIY felt bow and arrow Valentine craft by two shades of pink.

Valentine’s Themed Foods

Have a wonderful Valentine’s Day with your loved ones!

Duck Duck Moose

Head on over to the Duck Duck Moose Facebook page and give us a like to download our weekly coloring pages. All you need is a printer and a little artist!

At long last, we’ve launched Wheels on the Bus on Android. I know, I know, took us a bit, but we promised and delivered (we are only 4 people after all)! For those Android enthusiasts you can check out Wheels on the Bus on the Android Market

‘Wheels on the Bus’ by Duck Duck Moose is a fun, interactive musical book, based on the popular children’s song. Come aboard the bus to spin the wheels, open and close the doors, swish the wipers, pop some bubbles, make a dog bark, and much more!

Some of the recognition we have been privileged to receive:

• 2010 Parents’ Choice Gold Award winner – Parents’ Choice Foundation
• Winner of “Best Children’s App” KAPi Award – 2010 International CES
• Editor’s Choice Award for Excellence in Design – Children’s Technology Review
• A Top 10 Educational App on the Apple AppStore since January 2009
• Featured in Steve Jobs’ Keynote address announcing the launch of the iPad 2
• Featured in The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, USA Today, MSNBC, Wired

Check out the Wheels on the Bus app on the Android Market

In addition, we have lots of cool stuff going on at Duck Duck Moose, including the launch of our very first music album (!!!!) Duck Duck Music: Favorite Children’s Songs, more apps coming for Android and two more apps for iOS in production.

I have been trying to carve out a little time for nesting projects, but with a 6 month old and 2 apps in production at Duck Duck Moose, there never seems to be enough time. Here are a few recent projects I have worked on around the house.

“I love you because”
I saw this idea on Pinterest and figured everyone can use a little bit of love and positive energy.

Lamp Makeover
An old lamp gets a new life courtesy of some paper and a scrap booking element.

Painting a painting
I love this painting from Urban Outfitters, but when I got it, I was disappointed with the colors. I decided to add some color of my own and now it brightens up my daughter’s playroom.

Tree and Hearth
A metal tree from Urban Outfitters hangs over our fireplace right next to a hand built, pit-fired pot – one of the many I have collected on trips to the South West.

Colorful Reading
A while ago an interior designer friend of mine suggested I arrange the books in my living room by color. What a difference it made! After I did the arranging, I found that I often remembered my books by color anyway which made them easier to find.

Faux animal heads
I know these have had their day and then quite a few days after that, but I confess, I still love them. This was another great find from Urban Outfitters. The paper and frame were my additions. I feel like there are endless possibilities for adornment come the holidays.

Welcome home
My little lantern from Flora Grubb has seen better days, but paired with some mini pine cones and a bright ribbon, it is kind of a sweet welcome for guests.

Wall statement
On the wall of my office. It is hanging above a settee I found in the trash that *some day* I *will* recover.

More for the walls
I finally put up some photos of our travels. I found great instructions on Ballard Designs website on how to hang these without making swiss cheese out of my walls.

Plants that don’t die
Believe me, that’s saying a lot because I work hard to kill them.

Product Manager
We added a new PM to our team!

In case you haven’t gleaned from the previous post (and the silence) we have a new product manager on board at Duck Duck Moose! In all my abundant free time I have been fully absorbed in sleeping (turns out nothing sounds more attractive to me than an extra 5 minutes of sleep these days) and decorating spaces for kids (if anyone would like to volunteer their kid’s space for a make-over I am your woman). A few months ago I saw these cute posters for kids from Land of Nod. They aren’t exactly my style, so I decided to make some of my own for little G’s bathroom.




I am going to endeavor to blog a little more often now that I have finally caught my breath, but in the meantime be on the lookout for another app from Duck Duck Moose (coming soon) and check out our pins on Pinterest

Our new little soon-to-be product manager’s nursery was featured on the Dwell blog this morning featuring their new Thompson Glider in the Chocolate Dot fabric. With 3-4 more weeks until her arrival, this little one is DDM’s longest development cycle to-date.

We just realized it has been two whole years since we started Duck Duck Moose — time sure does fly! When we take stock of all that has happened in the past two years, we can hardly believe it — 6 iPhone apps, 4 iPad apps, 2 years (and a partridge in a pear tree). Our kids have gotten older (and more sophisticated as product managers) and we are about to welcome one new little project manager to the fold, due in March. We are so thankful for all the recognition, feedback and love we have received from fellow app developers and customers. Please keep it coming — we love hearing from you!

To celebrate our 2 year anniversary, we wanted to do something to celebrate (other than eat massive amounts of chocolate cake — mostly to be consumed by the pregnant duck), so we decided to offer Baa Baa Black Sheep at 50% off for a limited time!

This educational puzzle app includes two popular nursery rhymes: Baa Baa Black Sheep and Row Your boat. Explore the island of Baa Baa, where you can row-row your boat, see Baa Baa and his friends, and explore 3 underwater worlds, all while looking for matching puzzle pieces hidden throughout the island!

Download from iTunes

The best part of this wild ride has been working with children. We are constantly amazed by the little ones and how quickly they learn and discover new things. Check out a little video that we put together of children using our apps.

Happy Holidays!
Caroline, Michael, & Nicci

e at Duck Duck Moose have a lot to be thankful for this year! As Thanksgiving approaches, we want to give a special shout out to those who have supported us…

• The Moms With Apps community of independent parent developers, who support each other in developing quality apps for families. Happy 1 Year Anniversary, and here’s to many more!
• Lorraine Akemann – A fellow Bay Area mom, Co-Founder of Moms with Apps, and app developer herself, who tirelessly supports indie app developers through her posts, networking, and connections.
• Jennifer Evans Beatty who is not only the beautiful voice of Fish School and Baa Baa Black Sheep and our daughter’s preschool teacher at Bing Nursery School, but also an app developer herself of Little Bot
• The Saint Michael Trio for their music, and particularly Danny Cher, for his original arrangements. And yes, it is no coincidence that the cellist has an uncanny resemblance to Duck Duck Moose Co-Founder, Michael Flexer.
• Brennan Pursell and Karen Frankenstein for their amazing singing in Wheels on the Bus, Old MacDonald, and Itsy Bitsy Spider.
• The Dust or Magic Institute and its community for introducing us to the industry and for educating and inspiring us. A post on the 2010 Institute coming soon.
• To fellow kid app developers BabyBinks,Tickle Tap Apps, MomMaps, Picpocket Books, KidCalc, Ten Toed, Fourth Story Media, Motion Math, Launchpad Toys, Pi’ikea Street, Nosy Crow (and many others!) for great apps and conversations.
• All the children, parents, and educators, who have supported us on this journey, have let us test with their kids, sent us feedback, showed us their home videos, and shared wisdom and resources with us.Our own children (ages 2 and 5) who were our original inspiration, are now our product managers at “The Duck Duck Moose,” and are the voices behind many sound effects “Wow!” “Cool!” “Oh no, piggy!” And of course to the Gicclet… Our newest product manager-to-be.

Caroline, Michael & Nicci

  we are honored and thrilled to announce that we won iLounge.com 2010 iPod/iPhone Kids’ App of the Year Award for our app Park Math!

Park Math introduces early math concepts to children in Preschool and Kindergarten (ages 1-6). With 7 fun educational activities, Park Math teaches counting, addition, subtraction, sorting and more as children play with Blue Bear and his friends in a park. The music arranged and recorded especially for this app is performed by cello and guitar. Park Math includes two levels for Preschool and Kindergarten. Level 1 includes counting up to 20 and addition/subtraction with numbers up to 5. Level 2 includes counting up to 50 and addition/subtraction with numbers up to 10. The iPad version, Park Math HD, will be released shortly, and will include a third level for First Grade with counting up to 100 and addition/subtraction with numbers up to 20.

We would like to thank Jeremy Horwitz, Editor-in-Chief of iLounge.com. We are so honored to be selected for this prestigious award!

Get Park Math on iTunes

Of the many developers now producing apps for children, Duck Duck Moose has repeatedly stood out because of the excellence of its art, music, and kid-friendly interfaces. Park Math builds upon all of the company’s past titles, teaching basic counting, addition, subtraction, and related skills in a manner that’s gentle and polished enough for young children to enjoy. Who knew that math could be so fun?”
– Jeremy Horwitz, Editor-in-Chief of iLounge

am a fan of silly holiday traditions. I love to carve pumpkins, dress up for Halloween, dye eggs, decorate Christmas trees, so as you can imagine, I jumped on the chance to carve a pumpkin for the App-o-Lantern pumpkin carving contest. (PSSST, by the way the top prize is an Apple TV! Check out the contest rules for more info)

Some of my favorite pumpkins designs are those that make use of a shaving technique to allow light to pass through certain portions of the pumpkin. Our pumpkin was Duck Duck Moose themed, but in case you are looking for something more traditional, here are some ideas and techniques to get you started.

Marthastewart.com is always a great place to start your search. Each year they post innovative pumpkin designs along with great how-tos. There are a host of tools that can make carving easier, for example:

• A sharp knife or bread knife (for cutting a hole to hollow out your pumpkin)
• A linoleum cutter (for shaving off sections to allow light to pass through your pumpkin
• Miniature saws (for smaller cuts)
• Power drills (for small holes)
• Needle tool – found in most ceramic tool kits in an art supply store (for punching holes to mark a pattern)
  mellon baller (for gouging out large round holes)
• Cookie cutters

My tool kit was pretty sparse — I used a bread knife, paring knife, acrylic paints and some paint brushes.

Design ideas

From Martha Stewart (many of the templates for these and how-to’s can be found on marthastewart.com)

Other favorites from around the web








Pumpkin seed recipe
1. Rinse out the seeds with water (I did this in a colander) and pick out the pulp and strings
2. Coat seeds with a tbs of oil (I used meyer lemon oil for mine, but olive works fine)
3. Sprinkle seeds with salt or other flavors (this year I coated mine with chili powder and salt, but in the past have used lemon zest, herbes de provence and cayenne)
4. bake seeds at 325 until crisp

Happy Halloween!
Duck Duck Moose