The following apps are great resources for any early childhood environment. There is a great range of apps from math to sight words learning. They can be used at home or brought on the go with availability ranging from Android devices to Apple to PC. Many of the apps below are free but some require an annual subscription. These apps are qualified to help develop children's early learning skills through games and play, visual learning, and audio.
1. Splash Math
Splash Math is an educational math program that covers over 300 skills for math grades K-5. This is a self-paced math program that allows children to work at their own speed. There are unlimited math worksheets and problems along with interactive games and virtual rewards. It is wonderful for parents and teachers, because real time progress is monitored for each child. The topics covered are additions, subtraction, multiplication, division, and place value all the way up to algebra and decimals. The range of topics are Common Core aligned and follow the curriculum from kindergarten to 5th grade. This app, developed by StudyPad, INC, is available on Android devices, iPads, PCs, and other laptops. The free app features 20 questions per day. The single grade lifetime access is only $9.99 and the all grade package is $29.99. 2. PBS KIDS Video
PBS KIDS Video is a free app that allows kids to watch their favorite PBS KIDS series on a tablet or phone from any where in the United States! This app features over a 1,000 videos from the top television series, including The Cat in the Hat Knows a Lot About That, Dinosaur Train, Sesame Street, and more. This app is child-friendly, and new videos are added every week. There are also features for parents to see intended age and learning goals, along with related PBS KIDS apps. More videos can be found at pbskids.org/video. This app was developed by PBS KIDS and can be downloaded through the Google Play store on Android phones 4.0 or higher or on tablets. The app can be downloaded from the App Store for Apple devices. The shows can be watched on computers, and videos can also be connected to a Chromecast device and watched on televisions.
3. AlphaTots Alphabet
AlphaTots Alphabet is intended for children around the age of 3 and is an excellent tool for helping children learn the alphabet. There are a ton of creative and clever interactive activities that reinforces the knowledge of letters. The app is easy to navigate for children of all ages. With this app, education is turned into a game with a fun approach to learning that uses repetition, phonetic pronunciation and real world identification. There are 26 ABC puzzles and sing-a-longs to help children recite the ABCs. This app, developed by Spinlight, is offered on iPhone, iPod Touch, iPad, Android, Kindle Fire, and Nook HD. The cost is $2.99.4. ABC PreSchool Playground Free
ABC PreSchool Playground Free is a free app that includes three educational activities for toddlers and children. There is a doodle activity that allows children to show off their artistic skills with the variety of color choices. The play section lets children test out their memory by playing matching games. In the learn section, there are activities for children to familiarize themselves with the look and sounds of letters. This app, developed by Sound House LLC, is offered on the Google Play store and for Kindle devices.
5. Educational Games for Kids
Educational Games for Kids is a free app that features days of the week, educational quotes, educational games for kindergarten, abc flashcards, sounds of letters, apps for toddlers, shapes for babies, and many more activities for children of all ages! This app, developed by Zodinplex, is offered on Android devices and also through the Amazon App Store.
6. Raz-Kids
Raz-Kids app allows access to eBooks and eQuizzes for the 300+ titles on Raz-Kids.com. First, teachers need to buy a membership for their classroom and create a profile on Raz-Kids.com to get access to content. There are hundreds of interactive books that span over 27 levels of difficulty. Teachers can customize assignments, view reports, and track students progress on their reading skills. All student activity in the app is captured for parents and teachers to see. The classroom membership is $99.95 for 1-9 children. For 10+ children it costs $84.95 a year. This app, developed by Learning A-Z, is available through the Web, mobile apps for iPad, Kindle Fire, and other Android tablets.
7. Sight Words Learning Games
Sight Words Reading Learning Games is an app that uses six engaging, educational games to help preschool, kindergarten, and first grade children learn their sight words. The games include a word machine, spelling, bingo, memory games, gears, and flash cards. This app is the lite version and is free. It offers over 300 sight words from the Dolch word list. Developed by CFC s.r.o., this app is offered on Android devices through the Google Play Store.