Whether you’re grocery shopping with your toddler or trying to keep them entertained on a long road trip, educational apps are a great boredom buster. They not only entertain your toddler but also teach them valuable skills that prepare them for school! Here are our 5 favorite toddler learning apps.
Khan Academy Kids
Age: 2-7 year olds
Price: FREE
One of the most highly-rated educational apps out there is Khan Academy Kids. We love how the app doesn’t have ads or require a subscription. And once you create an account for your child, the app leads kids through various lessons that focus on educational concepts like matching, patterns, and shapes. According to their YouTube channel, the Khan Academy Kids app “engages kids in core subjects like early literacy, reading, writing, language, and math, while encouraging creativity and building social-emotional skills.” Kids absolutely love this app because it’s intuitive, has cute characters, and the activities are fun and rewarding.
Busy Shapes & Colors
Age: 2-5 year olds
Price: FREE (with additional levels available for purchase)
Kids apps can be too complicated, don’t you think? Busy Shapes and Colors is super simple, though, which is perfect for toddlers. We love how it helps kids develop reasoning and critical thinking skills with Montessori-style, self-guided tasks like dragging shapes into their proper spots. This app is easy to use and doesn’t require constant supervision, which is super helpful for parents.
PBS Kids
Age: 2-8 year olds
Price: FREE
Another digital learning tool we recommend parents take advantage of is the PBS Kids app. Just like PBS Kids television, this app is a classic. On their YouTube channel, PBS Kids says that the app helps your child “engage in skills related to science, math, creativity and more.” As they play and learn, your toddler will love seeing familiar faces from shows like Molly of Denali, Daniel Tiger, and Eleanor Wonders Why.
The PBS Kids app stands apart from its competition in one area and that is that they created the app for kids while also keeping parents in mind. One of the app’s best features is that parents have the freedom to browse and download games for their toddler to play and then turn off the phone or tablet’s data/internet connection. (Essentially, the games, once downloaded, will work without data or internet). This gives us as parents peace of mind, knowing our kids are only able to play the games we’ve previewed and picked out for them.
Hungry Caterpillar Play School
Age: 2-6 year olds
Price: 7-day free trial, then $5.99/month subscription
Once again, simplicity wins the day! With the Hungry Caterpillar Play School app, your child can learn how to trace letters, use shapes to build objects, learn how seeds grow, you name it, but it’s all laid out in a very user-friendly way. We also love how the illustrations are taken from the delightful world of Eric Carle. StoryToys says that the app is “designed to give young children every advantage they need in math, spelling, reading, writing, science, nature studies & creative arts.”
Homer Learn & Grow
Age: 2-8 year olds
Price: first 30 days FREE (with paid tiers after free trial)
Homer Learn and Grow scores major points in our book, because it recognizes that every child learns at a different pace. Upon startup, the app walks parents through a survey about the child and then creates a learning pathway for them based on their age and skill level. The preview on the Apple store says that it “builds skills for school and life— taking kids on a personalized learning journey that boosts their confidence and grows with them.” This app is bright and happy and very easy for kids to use too.