Four of the Best Learning Apps for Kids

Times are certainly changing. Just one generation ago all that was needed to mold a young mind was a textbook, No. 2 pencil and a blank sheet of paper. These days, technology informs almost every aspect of modern life – and that includes learning. Kids, some as young as toddler age, are almost as entrenched in the mobile culture as their parents, and its no secret that many children surpass their elders when it comes to computer skills.

Best Learning Apps for Kids

So since kids are becoming more and more savvy when it comes to mobile technology, it only makes sense to use the platform as a learning tool. With that in mind, here are some quality learning apps to help kids of varying ages on their educational journey.

Endless Alphabet – free

This fun and colorful learning app is the brainchild of the creators of “The Monster at the End of This Book,” a popular “Sesame Street” title. The goal of the app is simple: to help teach kids who are coming up on their first years of schooling new words and spelling. To this end, the app succeeds wildly, as it offers a number of stimulating monster-themed activities with fun animation. This is one of my favorite learning apps for kids.

Rocket Math — $0.99

Another app that sugarcoats the educational pill with gameplay, Rocket Math succeeds by framing the notion of learning mathematics in a rocket-building scenario. The app offers 56 different “math missions,” and the user must complete them in order to continue construction of their rocket. The missions range in difficulty, featuring everything from basic subtraction and addition lessons to square roots. The varying difficulty levels make this app ideal for kids of various elementary-school grades.

Eye Paint Animals — $0.99

This entry is bound to go down as one of the most innovative and stimulating educational apps currently on the market. The goal of Eye Paint Animals is to foster creativity and discovery in young children, and they do this by providing illustrations from world-renowned artists that children can “finger paint” over. The user has a number of tools and options at his or her disposal in order to nurture their inner artist including a camera, brushes and patterns.

Geography Drive USA — $3.99

This app manages to do the unthinkable – make learning geography fun. That’s because Geography Drive USA utilizes gameplay techniques in the lessons. For example, in this app the user must navigate all 50 states in their virtual car, learning about the various capitals, time zones, parks, rivers and monuments along the way. Users must also answer questions correctly in order to unlock fuel stations that will transport them to the next location – and the next lesson.

These are just a few options parents can utilize to help keep their children learning outside of the classroom. And it should be noted that while most of the above examples are smartphone compatible, the ideal way for kids to experience educational these learning apps is through the larger screens on offer from tablet devices.

Elizabeth Wright is a professional blogger that provides information and advice for early childhood education and after school program in Manhattan NY. She writes for The Learning Experience, a leading Day Care Center.