Best Learning Apps for Kindergartners

While an infinity of educational apps and platforms are available, not all of them cater to kindergartners’ specific needs. So, it’s important to choose a learning app carefully with your child’s interests and requirements in mind.

Key features to look for in a learning app for a kindergartner

Educational apps and platforms for kindergartners can be found in all shapes and sizes on the market. However, not all of them suit your kid’s specific requirements. When looking for a learning app for your kid, pay attention to the following details:

• Age-appropriate content: The app must offer lessons, activities, and games related to early learning development, such as letters, sight words, number recognition, phonics, as well as fine motor and social skills.
• Ease of use: The app must allow kindergartners to use it independently. Its instructions need to be clear and straightforward, its layout should be designed to appeal to kids, and its buttons and controls have to let kindergartners navigate easily.
• Interactivity: The app’s learning environment has to be highly interactive and engaging, with activities that contain hands-on elements like drag-and-drop tools, swiping, and tapping.
• Progress tracking: It’s fundamental that parents, guardians, and educators are able to follow and assess kids’ progress throughout the learning process.

The benefits of educational apps for kindergartners

Learning apps stimulate kindergartners’ cognitive and social-emotional development while making screen time meaningful. The benefits of educational apps for 5 and 6-year-olds include:

• Skill development: Educational apps help kindergartners learn and improve fundamental skills such as reading and math, which are crucial for building a strong educational foundation.
• School reinforcement: Learning apps are parents’ and educators’ allies in complementing what children learn in school. They provide additional exercises in a more fun and attractive way to kids than traditional textbook activities.
• Independence: Kindergartners can explore the educational apps independently and at their own pace, which helps them develop self-directed learning skills.
• 21st century skills: Several educational apps include creativity, problem-solving, and critical thinking topics among their subjects.
• Add value to screen time: Nowadays, kids’ exposure to screens is nearly impossible to avoid. Learning apps are an excellent resource as they truly make screen time count.

Free vs paid learning apps for kindergartners

Although it’s easy to find many free educational apps for kindergartners, most have a few drawbacks. For instance, the number of resources they provide tends to be limited. However, the biggest issue with free learning apps is that they may be less secure, as they usually display ads and in-app purchases.

For these reasons, paid learning apps are better than free ones, as they offer more resources in a safe, ad-free environment. In turn, this reduces distractions and guarantees that kids aren’t exposed to inappropriate content that ads may lead to.

Still, whether paid or free, learning apps complement kindergartners’ cognitive development perfectly. Their interactive learning environment and gamified approach help kids learn through play, so parents and educators should use them to their advantage to create purposeful screen time and keep them interested in learning.