With summer vacation drawing near, I know that my ‘weekend only’ rule for playing electronics will probably be broken. Don’t get me wrong, I am not opposed to kids playing electronics, I just don’t want my kids to be consumed with them. However, as I was saying, about this whole summer vacation thing, I know I will give in and let the kids have the tablet because I need to get stuff done around the house and I know that the precious tablet will allow me hours of peace and quiet.
To make myself feel better about letting them play, I recently added some fun educational apps and games onto the tablet. I figure if they really want to play, they will play anything, and I can keep those reading and math skills sharp. I love multitasking!
In doing research for the best education apps – I played a lot of games, some were great and some were so-so, but here is my list of favorites for every age.
TODDLER
1. Okay, so this first one is not an app, but it has literally kept my child busy for hours and hours so I feel the need to share it. Little Baby Bum on Youtube. Little Baby Bum has hours of cute little animated videos of all the favorite children’s songs and nursery rhymes we know and love. Truth be told even my 10 year old doesn’t mind watching You can use the Youtube Kids app and find this and many more child friendly videos.
2. Sago Mini Friends, This app is super cute and is perfect for little fingers just learning how to use their fingers on the touch screen. This version is free, but there are many other games and stories in this series that can be purchased.
3. Wee Sing & Learn ABC, this cute app had it all for the toddler – letters, sounds, colorful animation, and music.
4. Eli Explorer, Language Learning, Eli flies around learning new words and phrases, and the best part is that it can be played in 10 different languages!
5. Color Shapes by Happy Touch, the perfect app for teaching shapes
PRESCHOOL
1. PBS Kids, this app has something for everyone with all the lovable characters your kids know and love from PBS Kids.
2. Elmo Loves ABC’s and Elmo Loves 1,2,3’s, both of these apps are great for early learning of letters and numbers, counting, and sounds.
3. Little Writer, this is a tracing app to get those little hands practicing their fine motor skills while learning how to write letters
4. Endless Reader, this app has cute little monsters that teach phonics, letters, and sight words. There is a free version, which I originally had the kids use, but they loves it so much, that I ended up buying the bundle. There is also Endless Numbers and Endless Wordplay, all of which are great for children ages 2-7.
SCHOOL AGE
1. Fun Brain Jr., this app has letter recognition, basic counting, number sets, and sequencing.
2. Splash Math – this is a great app for children Kindergarten thru 5th grade to practice their math skills based on ability and level.
3. Vocabulary Spelling City – this app allows children in all grades and abilities to practice spelling words with games.
4. Number Run – My daughter loves this app to help her prepare for the timed math tests that are required for her. It helps with quickness in finding simple addition and subtraction problems. It does also have multiplication and division.
5. Thinkrolls 2, Logic Games to help with memory, problem solving, and spatial cognition.
Of course, these are just a few of the many wonderful apps available, and new apps are being designed everyday! What are some of your favorites?
