So You Have an iPad and Some Kids…
Whether you just received a shiny new iPad for Christmas, or finally got comfortable with the idea of your child playing with your iPhone, you probably noticed it’s hard to pick out great educational apps. Hey now, there are more than 47,000 educational apps, no one is judging you.
You’re probably wondering things like:
- What makes an app great?
- What features should I consider?
- What is a universal app and how do in-app purchases work?
- Just tell me what the good ones are!
Okay, we hear you, which is why we put together this list of the best educational apps to get you started. You can jump straight to the list below, or, we offer up a few things we’ve learned so you can start separating the great apps from the duds yourself.
Teach Me How to Fish for Apps
So you’re a do-it-yourselfer type? You want to know our secrets for finding the best apps? Well, they aren’t secrets really, but here are a few tips that will help shorten your App Store learning curve:
Tip : Search the iTunes Description for Important Keywords
- “Settings” and “options” means there may be a place for customization in the app. This is good because it often allows you to adjust the app to your child’s skill level, which means not wasting money on apps that are too easy or too hard. Also, these apps can grow with your child and have a longer shelf life.
- “In-app purchases” means getting the full game will cost you more than what you’re paying at the time of download. Sometimes this is good because it allows you to try a game before committing a lot of money, other times it can feel like you’re being “nickel and dimed.” Worse yet – your child can start authorizing purchases without your knowing.
- Developers will often include in the description “reviewed by” sources or quotes from app review sites. These can be more informative than user reviews. Sure, developers cherry-pick only positive reviews to showcase, but these reviewers tend to be more thorough, and at least you can visit the source to judge their credibility for yourself.
Tip : One-word – Screenshots
- Note the graphics. Do they seem high-quality even to your relatively amateur eye? You can’t always judge a book by its cover. Everyone knows that. But need we remind you there are nearly 50,000 educational apps in the App Store? You can be choosy. Plus, great apps tend to have great artwork.
- However, great artwork doesn’t always mean a great app. This might seem obvious, but you’ll fall for this trap at least once and be disappointed in yourself.
- Don’t just look for pretty pictures. Search the screenshots for functionality. You should get an idea of what activities your child will do with this app. For instance, does it look like a game that transforms and strengthens the learning experience or just an animated workbook?
Tip: Get Your Money’s Worth
- If you own both an iPad and an iPhone/iPod Touch (or aspire to), Universal apps essentially give you two apps for the price of one. What’s a Universal app? Well with a few exceptions, apps are categorized as iPad – which means they only work on the iPad, iPhone – which means they work for the iPhone, iPod Touch, and iPad (although, “working” on the iPad means it will show up small like it was an iPhone) or Universal – which means the app was specially built to work at iPhone size and at iPad size, sometimes with different functionality depending on the device. (KinderTown is an example of this. Just look at the difference between the screenshots for the iPhone and iPad)
- We mentioned it above, but we’ll reiterate it here in the “money” section – apps with settings that allow you to adjust the difficulty get used longer and have more value than apps that are static and possible for your child to easily grow out of.
- It’s a somewhat rare feature, but some educational apps are starting to embrace the idea that multiple kids may be using the same app by allowing you to save different points in the game or multiple scores. Again, this feature essentially gives you multiple games – one for each kid – for the price of one.
THE APP STARTER GUIDE
It’s one thing to find apps that your kids like playing, it’s another to find apps that they like and teach them something at the same time. Until app developers stop making fun apps that also teach (they won’t), KinderTown will only ever show you the latter, which is why you don’t need to think twice about downloading any of these apps because each one…
- has a “wow” factor that will delight both you and your child
- has significant educational value as determined by KinderTown’s experts in early childhood education
- was approved for its design and ease of use
All of these apps and a lot more can easily be found in the KinderTown educational app store, available as a free download for the iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch. You can download it here.
Now, without further adieu…
The Best Educational Apps for 3 year olds
MATH
Splish Splash Inn
Splish Splash Inn is a beautiful environment for learning numbers. It feels like a little surprise every time you open a door and see the colorful sea animals inside.
MATH
Jewel River
Jewel River has two features you won’t find in many apps. A two-player option that will have you on the floor playing with your child and a valuable learning concept that is rare to find.
SCIENCE
i Learn with Poko: Season & Weather
We love how this app encourages children and supports learning with problem solving activities. An outstanding feature is the self adjusting level system that get progressively more demanding based on your child’s responses.
ART
Scribble Kid
Scribble Kid is special because it takes game-play, extra features, digital sound tracks and throws them out the window. We love this app for young children because it allows them to draw freely and sparks creativity with simple lines and shapes on a sheets of white paper.
The Best Educational Apps for 4 year olds
LANGUAGE
Starfall ABCs
A classroom favorite, Starfall ABCs brings letters to life with interactive pictures, animation, games, songs and stories!
LANGUAGE
Elmo Loves ABCs for iPad
Elmo Loves ABCs is special because the app seamlessly moves from activity to activity, complete with teaching moments, encouragement and lots of participation.
SCIENCE
Sid’s Science Fair
Sid’s Science Fair has a large collection of activities a scientist would engage in and encourages thinking and discovery.
SCIENCE
Find them All: Looking For Animals
We enjoy playing Find them All: Looking For Animals because it continually changes and challenges children to search and discover. This app also uses in-app purchases in a child friendly way, it locks them up and gives parents the control to unlock the purchases.
The Best Educational Apps for 5 year olds
LANGUAGE
Howie Hungry Monster: Builds Words
We look for apps with excellent parent features and Howie Hungry Monsters provides both customization and activity reporting, two key features. Parents are able to adjust the difficulty and see how their child has answered each question in all 5 levels of word practice.
MATH
Toca Doctor
Going to the doctor’s office is stressful for many children. Toca Doctor lets children play through situations they often encounter there, lessening their anxiety.
LANGUAGE
Art Maker by ABCs Play School
Art Maker by ABCs Play School transformed the standard art app into a storytelling app. Each picture can be saved in the app, assembled into a storybook, or transformed into an interactive video as your child narrates and moves the images around.
The Best Educational Apps for 6 year olds
MATH
Ansel and Clair Adventures in Africa
Apps that are built around one theme, but integrate Science, Social Studies, Math and Language learning, are exciting to find. Ansel and Clair Adventures in Africa does just that and also develops higher order processing skills.
MATH
Sums Stacker
We love Sum Stacker because it provides an interactive experience for children to build quantities in a non-traditional way.
ART
iLuv Drawing: Animals
iLuv Drawing is a one of a kind app that walks users through 40 different animal sketches with step-by-step directions and has features for personalization. Th best part? It is so easy to go off your device and create these drawings on paper.
The Best Educational Apps for the Family
MATH
Spot the Dot
Spot the Dot is a fantastic app that does more than teach color. It sparks creativity and joy. It’s pure fun for the whole family.
LANGUAGE
KidsMag
KidsMag takes the traditional children’s magazine and makes it come alive with thematic interactive games, teaching moments, art and music. Each magazine has different themes and activities for hours of fun learning. Currently, there are multiple issues of KidsMag and all our available now for the iPad in the App Store.
LANGUAGE
Noodle Words
Noodle Words is a short app, teaching 18 words, but done so engagingly that everyone in your home will be laughing and acting out each word. Be sure to read the tips for parents!
About KinderTown
If you’re wondering about the makers of this list, and what forms the basis of our opinions, let me drop a little knowledge on you:
We specialize in this
KinderTown reviews and finds the best educational apps for kids 3-6 years old. This is all we do. All day. Everyday. Okay, that’s not entirely true, but we do work a lot of nights and weekends.
We tell you what educators think
Our review team is lead by two early childhood educators. One was a kindergarten teacher recognized for her use of technology in the classroom. The other has 20+ years experience teaching and writing curriculums for school districts.
We look at A LOT of apps
We’ve tested over 500 educational apps for this age group. We’ve combed through 1,000’s more trying to find ones that teach certain educational concepts. We know what makes for good education and good design.
We’re choosy
Of the 500+ apps we’ve reviewed, less than one third received our approval. Our goal isn’t to review every app or even a lot of apps. We’re looking for the BEST apps in different educational categories.
So as you can see, anything we recommend is a good place to start trying out your new mobile device with your kids.
If you have any other questions about searching in the App Store or using mobile devices to help your kids learn, don’t be shy, send us an email at sayhello@kindertown.com. We’re here to help.
Don’t forget, there’s an even easier way to find great apps than reading this blog post. Just download KinderTown. It’s an educational app store that only includes the best apps for kids. Download it now.