Best Learning Apps for Kids

Add some smart children’s apps to your smartphone or tablet, but watch out – you may never get your gadget back! From math and mapping to coloring and composing, here are some of our favorite apps for homeschooling families.

Barefoot World Atlas $4.99 Ages 7-12
Put the world at your children’s fingertips! Travel around the globe with this interactive app to discover fascinating facts about different cultures, animals, environments, landmarks, buildings, and more. By Touch Press.
-Selected by Apple as one of the 10 best apps ever
-Downloaded over four million times
-“An immersive app that immediately invites exploration”  -The New York Times

Crayola Lights, Camera, Color! Free Ages PreK-8
Lights, Camera, Color! transforms the photos you take into coloring book pages for your child to enjoy. Embellish the pages with digital stickers, crayons, colored pencils, and markers, or print them out and color them by hand. Save the pages when they’re complete or share them via email or Facebook. By Griffin Technology.

Faces iMake – Right Brain Creativity $3.99 Ages 6-8
Create collages using pictures of everyday objects and increase visual awareness and associations. Faces is an intuitive app for children with disabilities and a lot of imagination. By iMagine Machine LTD.
-Top 10 Apps for Kids - iPad Apps for Kids
-“…like nothing else in the App Store.” –applenapps.com

Freefall Spelling $1.99 Ages PreK-8
This interactive, award-winning app includes three engaging activities to help children practice spelling: Letter Drag and Spell, Typewriter Spell, and Word Scramble. Choose from more than 150 built-in spelling words, or construct custom spelling lists by adding new words to the bank. By Merge Mobile.
-A Parents’ Choice Recommended Award Winner
-Ranked #1 Education App in U.S. on 10/8/13

Leo’s Pad: Preschool Kids Learning Series Free Ages 2-6
Join a young Leonardo da Vinci, Madame Curie, and friends on adventures filled with exciting games that provide practice in color and shape recognition, problem solving, and self-control. Designed by Stanford University researchers and Emmy Award-winning animators, this app also features a Parent’s Pad to help you keep tabs on your youngster’s progress. By Kidaptive Inc.
-5-star ratings from USA Today, Common Sense Media, and more
-Winner of a 2013 Family Choice Award

Math Bingo $0.99 Ages 4-8
Get a pattern of five BINGO Bugs in a row by correctly answering math problems about addition, subtraction, multiplication, division, or a mixture of all four genres. By ABCya.com.
-Featured in The New York Times
-Ranked #1 educational app for three consecutive weeks
-Ranked a top 50 education app for over three years 

Music4Kids $2.99 Ages 4 and Up
Touch the screen to create and play notes, then rearrange them to compose your own melody with this intuitive app that teaches music basics, develops creativity, improves your ear, and challenges you with up to 140 musical recognition games. By Olivier Romanetti.
-“Serious musicians will appreciate what kids learn about music through this app.” –bestappsforkids.com
-“An intuitive and fun music exploration app. Five stars.” The iPhone App Review

Stack the States $0.99 Ages 7-12
Test your knowledge of the U.S. with an interactive game that brings the states to life. As you learn state capitals, shapes, geographic locations, flags, and more, construct a stack of states that reaches the checkered line to win each level. By Freecloud Design. Inc.
-Voted Best Kids App for iPad -Best App Ever Awards
-Voted Best Educational Game App -iEAR.org

uKloo Free PreK
Build your youngster’s reading skills with this animated, seek-and-find literacy game. Complete with a picture helper, the app provides visual and audio prompts to help children look up unfamiliar words, grasp the basics of sentence structure, and develop initial research skills. By Smiley Guy Studios Inc.

Word Wizard - Talking Movable Alphabet & Spelling Tests for Kids $2.99 Ages 4-8.
With advanced text-to-speech capabilities, this app lets learners hear the pronunciation of letters, words, and sentences as they drag and drop letters from the movable alphabet to form an unlimited number of original words and phrases. By L'Escapadou.
-“Speak ‘N Spell for the iPad Generation” -The New York Times
-Editor's Choice Award for Excellence in Design -Children's Technology Review

What’s your child’s favorite learning app?