As parents and children look to the end of the formal school year and on to summer, Educators are recommending that children of all ages engage in learning activities throughout the summer. What better way to do that than with educational apps? Check out my top picks for learning this summer!
Barefoot World Atlas (Social Studies)
Barefoot World Atlas will completely mesmerize all members of your family. Open to a globe dotted with images that just beg to be tapped. Read and listen to fun facts by touching the images on the screen. Looking for more depth? Search by country and region to learn facts that give you a look into the lives of people and places around the world. This app is completely worth the price of $4.99 and will be appreciated by both the adults and children ages 4-8. Find a time to sit with your child and enjoy Barefoot World Atlas together.
Human Body by Tinybop (Science)
The Human Body is an app made for exploring and asking questions. There is animation to accompany the six different body systems. Encourage and answer your child’s questions while exploring, and they will direct their own learning. Tap different parts of the brain, and an animation pops up depicting what that area of the brain controls. The app is not narrated, so parents need to provide the support for learning. In addition, the app offers a parent section and an option to set up multiple profiles for different children. Children can record questions while using the app, and parents can respond to them. Tinybop has even made a helpful parent guide to accompany the app. We highly recommend downloading it and using it with your child. It’s perfect for answering the tough questions your child may ask about their body.
ThinkRolls (Logic)
In Thinkrolls, your student must navigate mazes with rolling character balls, accomplishing different challenges that will activate their reasoning skills. As the levels progress, children have to use visualization skills to predict the cause and effect of several moves in the puzzle. Concepts about physics and chemistry are sprinkled along the way when children must make decisions about the moving gear box, figure out how to make the balloon pop, and move the ice to quench the fire. The app offers a huge amount of content in the 90 levels of easy game play and 90 levels of hard game play. Chapter descriptions in the settings section will give parents a complete understanding of all the challenges presented in each level or chapter. Thinkrolls is a truly unique app priced at $2.99, available for iPhone and iPad, and is recommended for children ages 3-7
Learn with Homer (Reading)
Learn with Homer is a full “Learn to Read” series of lessons for kids. The app features letter sound instruction, sight word introduction, read aloud stories, and a mixed review of concepts presented. The app does a nice job of mixing reading instruction, a review of previously-taught concepts and the reading aloud of real books which are all key components to learning to read. The developers of Learn with Homer conducted research using their app on children who were beginning to read and showed that the use of the app 15 minutes a day led to an increase in their beginning reading skills. Learn with Homer is free to download but does include in-app purchases to buy additional lesson content.
Hungry Fish by Motion Math (Math)
Hungry Fish helps your child learn how to build quantities. Addition is provided in this version with options to buy activities for subtraction and negatives. As always, Motion Math does a great job of introducing how to play the game through thoughtfully scaffolding strategies on familiar counting techniques. Multiple children can save their progress and easily navigate between easier and harder levels. Overall this app provides a beautiful environment to learn and practice the different ways to create quantities.
Stay tuned this summer for more learning opportunities from KinderTown!
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