Both of our kids have had a Kindle Fire since they were two. While I don't believe in letting a kid look at a screen and play games all day long, I do think a limited amount of time spent on educational apps is beneficial. And...if timed correctly, it can give mom or dad time time without kids underfoot to get chores or other work completed, or just a little down time to relax. We go on several long car trips throughout the year, and the kindles help make those long stints in the car a little easier for everyone.
There are so many apps out there to choose from, some paid, and some free. We've downloaded and tried hundreds, some great, some fair, some not so much. So, I thought I'd write up a quick little post to tell you what our top picks for preschool apps are. These are apps that I approve of as a mom and apps that the kids go back to time and time again.
#1) Top of my list is Barnyard Games for Kids. There is a free version and a paid version. The free version allows you access to a few of the games. You can unlock the rest after you've tried them or you can just download the free version right off the bat. The full app includes shapes and colors recognition, upper and lowercase letter recognition and alphabet order, number recognition and counting, puzzles, and memory games. The full version costs $1.99...money well spent in our house.
#2) Next up...Preschool and Kindergarten Learning Games. This is made by the same people as Barnyard Games for Kids. The games are a little more advanced including some from each of the categories Barnyard Games for Kids includes plus spelling, addition, subtraction, positions of objects, basic grammar and counting backwards. I would put this on the must have list for advanced preschoolers and kindergarteners. Again, there is a free version including a few of the games and a paid version. The full version costs $1.99.
#3) Don't forget Count-A-Licious Free: Learn 123 Number Writing and Tracing Games with Counting Songs for Toddlers and Preschool Kids. If I have to be driven crazy by the counting song, so do you. My kids LOVE it and will play it in tandem on their kindles just to drive me batty. But seriously, it's a great preschool math app. The lessons are progressive, so the only way for them to repeat a completed lesson is for you to go into the menu and reset the game. In the parent's only section, there are downloadable worksheets to compliment the app. The free version has quite a bit included, but the full app is only $0.99. You simply can't go wrong.
#4) Trains, Planes & Sea Vehicles - Puzzle for Toddlers. This app is just what it says. Both of our kids really like to put together these little puzzles. The free app only has a couple puzzles included. The full app costs $1.99.
#5) 123s ABCs Print Letters Kids Tracing Handwriting Fun ZBP. There are three versions of this game. One for Zaner-Bloser style letters, one for Handwriting Without Tears style letters and one for Manuscript style letters. It's a fairly plain app, so I have been pleasantly surprised that both kids like to use it. All three versions are FREE. The only drawback for me is that a small add is displayed at the bottom of the screen. The ad is not intrusive, but Sophie seems to always want to click on it.
#6) EduKidsRoom-Amazing Customizable Logic Learning Games for Toddlers & Preschool Kids to Teach Time, Organizing, Matching, Colors & More! is an absolute favorite in our house. Instead of having a menu of games to pick from, the child must complete each game before moving on to the next, so there's no skipping over the challenging stuff which I love. The games include sorting, matching, number recognition digits, telling time, memory, patterning, and puzzles. My favorite feature is the parent's menu. You can set the skill level by device so my 2 year old can play easier versions of the game while my son plays harder versions. You can also pick and choose which games appear for each child in case you want them to focus on a single or set of skills. This app is free but it does contain periodic ads that you can remove for $0.99. Love, love it!
#7) Moofy Recognizing Pattern Games. This game includes ordering numbers and letters and 3 increasingly difficult levels of patterning. There is a parent menu that lets you choose the set of skills your child will work on. For example, you could set it to only include numbers 1-10 in the ordering section, or you could set it to include 1-100, or backwards from 20...you get the picture. There is no free version of this app that I'm aware of. At a $1.99, it's great practice for a child that is having trouble with recognizing patterns.
#8) Zoo Train. My son loves this app. He saw in a youtube review and had to have it. It contains puzzles, songs, and very beginner spelling. One of the games is a smokestack xylophone that plays one of four nursery rhymes. Having played them so many times, he can now play them on our little xylophone...and is very proud about it I might add. I personally like the train track puzzle. It has greatly increased my daughter's spatial awareness. There is no free version of this app. It costs $0.99.
#9) Phonics Island: ABCs First Phonics and Letter Sounds School Adventure vol 1 Kids Ready to Read. This is a great app for practicing letter sounds and early phonics. It's a little slow moving for me, but the kids both love it. There is a free version that includes a few letter sounds, but you have to unlock the full version to get access to all of the sounds. The full version is $1.99.
#10) iStoryBooks is a great ebook app that contains a bunch of children's stories all in one. We read to the kids all the time, but the kids like that they can hear stories we don't have in the voice of a different narrator whenever they like. When they are playing independently, I will often play one or more of the books while they're playing for more exposure to the written word. And the best part of all...it's completely FREE! There are also separate apps for Christmas and History stories that have both free and paid versions.
There you have it. In a few months, after we've flushed out a few more kindergarten apps, I'll have another top 10 list for you.
**As a disclaimer, this post contains affiliate links.**
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