High-quality apps you can feel good about using with your child.
Librarians have been giving advice about how to make choices in media forever! Books, music, movies... Apps are simply another form of media to hit the market and for families that are choosing to use apps with their kids, it can feel overwhelming deciding which apps to choose.
There are a number of great resources about using apps with kids. Here are a few favorites:
- Family Time with Apps
- Apps en Familia
- iPad apps and your Pre-Reader
- Tips for using screen media with young children from Zero to Three
Read to start browsing apps? Check out our most recent app reviews below:
This app should really be labeled "all ages" because it has so many different options to explore on so many different levels. Babies will be entertained by the kaleidoscopic swirls, toddlers will love the opportunities to create swirls of color using the slightest of touches, older kids will enjoy making careful spirograph-like works of art and adults can spend a long time…
Kids learn about temperature, seasons and weather of all kinds in this weather app from marco polo. Choose from three different characters to place into the environment, then make sure they're wearing the proper clothes and accessories for the temperature you've chosen or they'll get very uncomfortable! In addition to dressing the characters, players can also feed them or give them toys…
A classic picture book that works well in the app form. The developer has also added some additional features including several narrator options (one is even a sung version!) or a read-it-myself option.
Play with the pigeon that everyone loves! Write your own story about him, draw with him.... this app has lots of fun things to do! Big fans should also check out the Mo on the Go app.
(By Herve Tullet) The print book is almost an app already. This app incorporates new games not in the book, taking it just a step or two further. Perfect. Note: this app may not work on newer iPads.
Stay very true to the originals with just a touch of (non-intrusive) interactivity options.
Similar to Minecraft, this app allows users to build a world using cubes. There are six characters, each with a specific skill. Learn how each character works and you can build whatever you can imagine!
Create a picture using found objects combined in an infinite variety of ways, based on the artwork of children’s book illustrator, Hanoch Piven. There are so many ways to play with this app. It truly has freeplay and the instructive videos encourage participants to just play around with the objects, not worrying about doing it right or wrong. This app is entertaining for ALL ages. There…
And Sound Uncovered. Both of these apps were created in partnership with San Francisco's Exploratorium. They include lots of fun optical and aural illusions. There's a lot of text to explain the different phenomena that the app covers, so this is best suited for independent readers or for families enjoying them…
Lovely design, lots of scaffolding, and a simple premise drew me to try this app, but it’s earned a review here because i’ve actually seen real-world addition/subtraction learning in my son now that he’s used it for awhile. There are many, many math apps on the market, but if you're looking for something simple for beginners, this is a fine option. Tags:…
This simple little app aims to promote emotional intelligence–a lofty goal for an app–and does it well (no surprise, knowing it’s from Sesame Street). There are 5 scenarios in which a little monster is feeling strong, uncomfortable emotions [frustration, nervousness/separation anxiety, disappointment, impatience, apprehension (about bedtime)]. Players use the prescribed three…
It’s rare that I would like an app even better than the original book it’s based on... but this might be one of those situations. This book was just BEGGING to be made into an app and they’ve done it well here. A HUGE hit at our house.