HOMEWORK / iPad apps for kids

IN ANGRY BIRDS HD, $4.99, you launch cute, wingless birds with a slingshot at a bunch of evil pigs who are hiding in various kinds of shelters, having stolen the birds' eggs.

Use your finger to slice flying fruit before it falls off the screen in FRUIT NINJA HD, $2.99. Just don't get so too swept up by the fabulous squishing and splatting sounds.

Have a career, get married, have babies and make a pile of money in GAME OF LIFE HD, $6.99, all before you have to put your seat backs and tray tables in the upright and locked position.

A piece of candy dangles from one or more ropes, and you have to cut the right ropes in the right order so the candy swings into the mouth of Omnom the frog in CUT THE ROPE HD, $1.99.

IN TOY BALLS! HD, $3.99, you have to draw a line connecting three balls to make them disappear, but those pesky balls won't stop moving.

Guide a ball through a wooden maze by carefully tilting and rocking the iPAD in LABYRINTH HD, $2.99.

BOOKWORM, $2.99, is a fun word-building game in which you connect letters on sliding tiles to form words.

In CAKE DOODLE, 99 cents, follow a recipe and use the iPad to get the ingredients into the bowl by tapping, tilting and shaking it. Then decorate it.

STORY PATCH, $4.99, helps you write stories using photos from your library or a wide range of clip art.