6 Best Learning Apps for Kids : Free/Paid

The fact that your preschooler is the only one still using Legos doesn’t mean he/she won’t be interested in trying out some of the cutting-edge, high-tech learning apps you’ve been hearing so much about. Many educational apps and activities are available for parents who are worried about their children’s growth.

Our Parenting Writer Gurmeet says that her 8-year-old daughter loves to play with problem-solving skills and is getting better at it daily. She says that puzzle games are also suitable for kids’ minds. Also, she emphasizes that parents engage and participate in plays with their children while they use educational apps to discover new things.

But it can be challenging to sift through all the options, so we did it for you! Six of our favorite applications for teaching kids the fundamentals of shapes, letters, and numbers have been identified.

We have also covered  Best Apps for Toddlers

There are quite a few apps that you can use to enhance your children’s education, but the learning available in many of them is limited by the fact that there needs to be a teacher guiding kids through the process. Luckily, education apps include content that will help kids and educational tools designed to help parents teach their children through the process.

Khan Academy Kids and HOMER Learning are these apps designed to provide parents and teachers with a way to guide kids toward a better understanding of reading. The app is geared primarily toward early readers and contains thousands of books for kids.

The books start with nursery rhymes and short stories, eventually leading to longer ones with more advanced vocabulary. The app reads each story aloud in a soothing voice that’s easy on the ears and is accompanied by visual animations that further help keep kids interested in what’s happening.

To help parents facilitate their children’s learning, Khan Academy Kids includes an intuitive interface with high-quality graphics and helpful tools like word count displays so you can be sure your child is reading through all of an individual book or poem before they move on to something new.

How We Select and Test Apps?

Criteria	Description
Purpose/Goals	We determine the intended purpose and learning goals of the app to ensure that it aligns with our mission to provide quality educational content for kids.
Content Quality	We assess the quality and accuracy of the educational content in the app, including the accuracy of information, appropriateness of language, and the level of engagement and interactivity. We also ensure that the content is age-appropriate and suitable for the target audience.
Educational Value	We evaluate the educational value of the app, including its ability to promote critical thinking, problem-solving, creativity, and other important skills. We also consider its alignment with relevant curriculum standards and best practices in education.
User Experience	We evaluate the user experience of the app, including the ease of use, intuitiveness of the design, and overall functionality. We also consider the accessibility of the app and its compatibility with different devices and platforms.
Safety and Privacy	We prioritize the safety and privacy of our users by reviewing the app’s privacy policy and terms of service, ensuring that the app complies with relevant laws and regulations, and taking measures to prevent any potential risks or hazards.
Parental Involvement	We consider the app’s ability to engage parents and caregivers in the learning process, including features that allow for progress tracking, feedback, and communication with teachers or other educational professionals.
Testing Process	We test the app with a diverse group of users to evaluate its effectiveness in achieving its intended learning outcomes. We also gather feedback from users, experts in the field of education, and other stakeholders to inform our decision-making process.
Value for Money	We assess the value for money of the app by considering its price, features, and benefits compared to similar apps in the market. We also evaluate any additional costs or in-app purchases that may be required for optimal use of the app.

We choose and evaluate the apps based on how well-liked they are among our readers and other kids. We pay close attention to whether each app suits a given age group. For instance, we won’t review or recommend an app if we discover that it needs to be more fascinating and engaging for children ages 4-6. We might still check an app even if parents and teachers give it a bad review if it has a high user rating, but we’ll make sure to mention any issues.

We downloaded and tested 15—5 grade-appropriate apps for preschool through third grade and ten apps aimed at helping kids with reading, writing, math, science, geography, history, and other subjects.

>> Best family calendar apps

First, we had to figure out our criteria. “Appropriate” was a given: if an app had inappropriate content or links to other sites that weren’t safe for kids, it was immediately crossed off our list. We also wanted to make sure the apps would be easy to use.

It can be frustrating to kids when they have to learn how to “work” something new to use it; we wanted something that seemed intuitive and could help guide them along the way. Some of the best apps we reviewed got parents involved by inviting them to create an account or log in on the device so they could track their child’s progress.

That way, kids knew their parents were in their corner, which made it more likely they’d want to keep using the app for fun—or even take it seriously during school time!

We rigorously and in many ways test every software. We first try the app without a child to check how simple it is to use independently and how the in-app purchase procedure works.

We give the child control of their favorite gadget until we better understand what will be necessary to utilize the application correctly and whether it is worth it to us. We observe them while they play to gauge their level of enjoyment and whether or not they would be willing to use their own allowance money for the application. Finally, we test out a few features to see if they are as simple as they appear to be to children.

Finally, we discuss whether any other apps out there could perform the same functions as this one just as well (or even better) and for less money. Finding an app that offers exceptional value for money is always our aim.

Below are the 6 Best Learning Apps for Kids : Free/Paid

Learning App	Price	Ages/Grades	Why We Recommend	Features	Pros	Cons
Busy Shapes	Paid	2-5 years	Develops problem-solving skills through interactive play	100+ levels, customizable gameplay, progress tracking	Engaging visuals and sound effects, challenges and puzzles for young learners	May not provide as much educational content compared to other apps
Khan Academy Kids	Free	2-7 years	Offers a comprehensive curriculum that covers reading, math, social-emotional learning and more	Interactive activities, personalized learning, parent and teacher dashboard	Free, no ads, engaging content and design	Limited content for higher grade levels
ClassDojo	Free	K-12	Helps teachers and parents manage and track student behavior	Points and rewards system, instant messaging, photo and video sharing	Easy communication between teachers and parents, motivates students to behave better	Can be distracting for students, may not provide enough educational content
HOMER Learning	Paid	2-8 years	Offers a personalized learning path for kids to develop reading, math and other skills	Fun and interactive lessons, adaptive technology, progress tracking	Comprehensive curriculum, easy to use interface, personalized learning	Limited content for higher grade levels, some bugs reported
codeSpark	Free/Paid	5-10 years	Teaches coding skills through interactive games and puzzles	Interactive coding lessons, open-ended play, progress tracking	Engaging and fun way to learn coding, promotes problem-solving and critical thinking skills	Free version has limited content, some technical issues reported
Night Zookeeper	Paid	5-12 years	Inspires creativity and writing skills through storytelling and game-based learning	Drawing and writing challenges, personalized feedback, progress tracking	Encourages creativity and imagination, personalized learning experience	Limited content for higher grade levels, can be expensive for some users

1. Best for problem-solving: Busy Shapes

Why We Recommend It: The busy Shapes app is cute, easy to use, and engaging for kids. The app has a fantastic interface and simple functions for children to create artwork. If you want your children to learn shapes and colors, this is an excellent app. Busy Shapes is available on iTunes for $2.99.

You draw triangles, squares, and circles on the screen, and various animations are applied. The app has three modes: one where your shapes move around the screen, another where they collide in the traditional pachinko fashion, and a third where they animate into random sections of digitally drawn fractals. Moreover, changing modes might alter the speed of some components or introduce new backdrop colors.

Drawing shapes is simple. Trace a form with your finger on the screen (or use many drawing tools at once by selecting an area), and then press “play” to watch your design come to life. Making funny shapes and seeing them move across the screen is fun.

There are numerous choices for editing your drawings after you’ve drawn them if you want to create something more complex than just a few circles and squares bouncing off one another. When two items are close enough, it’s fascinating to see how they react to one another. Several forms produce various effects. When you use this program, it’s incredible how quickly your imagination takes control.

2. Khan Academy Kids: Best Overall

Why We Recommend It: The app makes learning fun for kids by having them do activities while watching videos or playing games. For example, while watching a video about how the water cycle works, kids have to drag the clouds or different objects into the correct area on the screen based on their learning and then tap on the sun icon when they’re done.

It seeks to teach arithmetic fundamentals to children ages 5 and 12 using age-appropriate methods. The app includes more complex math concepts for older children, covering basics like counting, addition, subtraction, and basic fractions.

The software consists of animated scenarios and characters that the children may connect with, making it simpler to absorb the information. Each topic has an introductory movie that clearly and engagingly conveys all of the pertinent facts about it.

The subject of each issue is then divided into manageable chunks and described in phases. When a youngster has mastered a lesson, there is an evaluation part where they can put their knowledge to the test. Kids might also practice arithmetic problems with their parents to ensure they notice all crucial ideas.

Regardless of your child’s proficiency in arithmetic, Khan Academy Kids is designed to be simple to use. You can go back to previous lessons if your child is having problems understanding a subject or move on if it appears they already understand it.

3. Best For Behavior Management: ClassDojo

Why We Recommend It: ClassDojo Kids app ensures that all children in the classroom learn at a level appropriate for their education needs. Whether you have a high school student or a kindergarten student in your class, ClassDojo has got you covered.

It’s always challenging to handle behavior management in a classroom, but with the ClassDojo app, teachers have a helpful tool to do it. Teachers can use this app to take pictures of misbehaving students and attach a specific reason why the student deserves their punishment.

It also allows teachers to build an online class community where they can easily send messages, post pictures, and share files with their students. With the ClassDojo app, teachers can see how well each student is behaving in each class period throughout the day.

The app has a 5-point system from the top (perfect) to bottom (worst), allowing teachers to discern which students need extra encouragement and which ones are doing great. This feature is handy for recess monitors who want to know who’s been getting into trouble so they can redirect them before it gets out of hand.

ClassDojo is available for both iOS and Android devices. Teachers can quickly create an account using their school email address and password, making the process very simple. The only downside to this app is that there are only free features if you have a paid subscription.

4. Best for behavior learning: HOMER Learning

Why We Recommend It: A free educational tool for young learners called HOMER, which stands for “Handwriting Observation, Measurement, Evaluation, and Reporting,” is available. Children between 2 and 8 can practice writing letters, numbers, and shapes using the app. Depending on the student’s age, the teacher (or parent) can alter the lessons to make them more challenging or accessible.

The fact that HOMER is tablet agnostic or compatible with both iPads and Android smartphones gives you freedom in deciding which device your child will use HOMER on for the rest of their lives. Kids may practice creating letters, numbers, and shapes using the HOMER program using various materials, including tracing paper, a chalkboard, and a paintbrush.

Students can even alter the color of their writing and erase using some of these tools! Students can also try writing with their fingers or a stylus to create a more natural learning environment. By offering graphs that chart a student’s writing abilities over time, HOMER also enables parents, teachers, and other adults to keep tabs on advancing their charges.

HOMER has established itself as a successful teaching tool for kids thanks to its user-friendly layout and transparent information on how well the child is doing in their learning pursuits.

5. Best for learning coding: codeSpark

Why We Recommend It: Kids between the ages of 5 and 10 may learn programming fundamentals, including problem-solving and critical thinking, with the app codeSpark. The software is entertaining, engaging, educational, and accessible!

The mini-games have nine stages, each focusing on a distinct idea. The players will pick up jewels as they progress through the levels. When the youngster reaches Level 9, the Code Cave—a digital treasure trove with a special reward—will be unlocked. But how do users get there? You’ll have to play the game’s nine stages to discover repeatedly!

Playing codeSpark involves dragging and dropping commands from a toolbox onto a programming environment while taking place in a wooden treehouse with vibrant colors, adorable characters, and entertaining animations.

Each command has a different meaning; some control the screen’s objects, while others modify what occurs when you click them. These commands are constructed using fundamental programming syntax; if/then statements, which mean “if something happens, then do this,” are only one illustration of ideas that young children will become familiar with.

6. Best for creativity and writing : Night Zookeeper

Why We Recommend It:  Night Zookeeper offers a complete online language arts curriculum taught through games, challenges, interactive lessons, collaborative projects, and creative writing prompts.

The program is aimed at children aged 6+, but many of the activities are great for older kids and can easily be adapted to fit your child’s needs.

Night Zookeeper offers a complete online language arts curriculum taught through games, challenges, interactive lessons, collaborative projects, and creative writing prompts. The program is aimed at children aged 6+, but many of the activities are great for older kids and can easily be adapted to fit your child’s needs.

In this program, kids learn to read by solving riddles with words that help them decipher what is written on a page. They will also have fun practicing their spelling by typing out funny stories about animals who like to eat alphabet cereal. And when they’re ready to write creatively, they’ll learn valuable lessons in word choice, sentence structure, and story development by creating fantasy tales involving memorable characters, magical creatures, and incredible adventures.