The iPad has great potential as a learning device for toddlers, if you don't mind the smudgy fingerprints on your screen. And a new iPad app by GoodieWords is aimed specifically at that sort of early education. The free app is aimed to help toddlers who are in their "What is it?" stage, but it explains words that parents might otherwise find difficult to define, like balance, fingerprints, time, air.

The multi-sensory app has great animations as well as a read-aloud section offering a definition and explanation of the item or concept. Each word also has a number of interactive games to help foster better understanding. Rainbow, for example, is defined as something that occurs following a rainstorm; its colors are noted; and then the child can tap the animated cloud to make it rain. Wiping away the rain from the screen makes a rainbow appear. And the rainbow can be played like a piano. These games make the app engaging, but also help place the new vocabulary word in a real-world sort of context.

GoodieWords is created with the help of Educational Consultants from Stanford University and New York City's The Dalton School.

The free app only comes with 3 words. You have to purchase additional language packages at $1.99 apiece for more vocabulary words.