There are over half a million education and learning apps for kids out there. Whether on Apple or Android, the choice for parents is at times overwhelming. How do you really know which is the best?
It will depend on how old your child is of course. 7 years old compared to 11 years old will be a bit different. But mostly, it will depend on what you actually care about. Is it Math, English and Science etc? Or is it more 21st-century skill development? Things like creativity, communication, critical thinking and coding?
There are a lot of articles on how 21st-century skills will matter more than anything for our kids, given the pace of technological change. This is just one example. So no surprise this is what we focus on loads as a family.
And it is why I have built an app that does exactly this and it’s the one featured at the end (it was also given a 5* rating by the Educational App Store, just in case you think I am being too biased)!
But first I really wanted to mention these other amazing apps that I would personally vouch for (and which cost £5 or less a month so are good value for money also).
To do this review I tested every one of these apps out at our home with the kids. I also had my team do some in-depth research on dozens of apps, downloading them to play with, reading website FAQs and all the user reviews.
Some help with money management, others with coding skills. Some give kids practice at problem solving, others at communication.
All are great and I would personally vouch for!
At a glance:
Skill Built: Problem Sovling
Ages: 4+
Price: £4.49 one time purchase
Available: Apple and Android app stores
Why this skill matters:
Problem-solving, when don’t we need this skill? Critical thinking and problem-solving are everyday life skills that kids need to learn, not just through solving math equations at school. We want to teach our kids to think through any situation, not just give up when they get stuck.
How the app works:
Thinkrolls is a platform game that focuses on improving kids ability to battle problems in a fun way. You control a cute round character and roll them through different levels, moving blocks strategically and finding keys to unlock doors. It provides lots of fun and colourful levels that engage and encourage your child to focus on the problems presented to them and carry on to the increasingly challenging levels.
✔️ What we liked best about the app:
Playing on this app was fun and reminds us a lot of Super Mario! Even the adults were getting involved. The harder levels are challenging and addictive!
❌ What could be better:
For kids it can get pretty challenging quite quickly. At around level 10, my kids were struggling a bit with the puzzles and getting de-motivated. It would have been better to let kids enjoy certain difficulty levels for a while longer.
Typical review we saw:
Nancy: “Love this app! The grandchildren love the challenge of figuring out the way through the maze. They also challenge each other and/or work together to beat the puzzle. Good learning tool and great fun!"
At a glance:
Skill Built: Creativity
Ages: 6-12
Price: £3.92 per month, one week free trial
Available: Website, Apple and Android app stores
Why this skill matters:
The left side of the brain needs brain training too. Creative writing is a fun way to introduce your child to the writing process whilst getting to know what’s in your child’s mind. Creativity builds up confidence as the more they write the more they see themselves improve. Praise from parents only makes this fun hobby even more worthwhile. Creativity is a highly valuable life skill to have in the modern world. Not only does teaching your child creativity raise the chance of their future success. It also teaches them healthy ways to process their emotions.
How the app works:
Night Zookeeper invites you to the world of animals and mysteries. The narrative takes children on a wide range of interesting storylines, with engaging writing prompts and gamified learning to get reluctant writers started. Included in the subscription is a variety of word and sentence based games helping to develop your child's grammar and vocabulary skills. NightZookeeper provides a load of writing prompts for kids to write a range of different things from stories to cooking instructions. What better way to find out what your kid keeps daydreaming about than asking them to write a story?
✔️ What we liked best about the app:
The inbuilt feature allows children to get feedback from their favourite NightZooKeeper characters as well as the NightZooKeeper team, allowing for their writing to be praised and encouraged whilst also receiving tips on how to be the best writer.
❌ What could be better:
Feedback from NightZooKeeper characters and Professionals can take a while to message and the feedback can also be unclear at times. There is also no way of accessing the one week free trial without committing to a subscription at the end of it. You can always cancel before it starts but I’m sure some people just forget to do so.
Typical review we saw:
Brandy: “My sons absolutely love it and it has changed my youngest’s attitude toward writing.”
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At a glance:
Skill Built: Current Affairs
Ages: 6-14
Price: £3.49 per month, one week free trial
Available: Apple and Android app stores
Why this skill matters:
Current affairs. It's good for kids to know what's going on in the world. As they grow up we want them to confidently talk about what is going on and how they can improve society. It is a key life skill to form our own opinions and to be able to articulate them. As they grow up we want our kids to confidently talk about what is going on.
How the app works:
News-o-Matic teaches kids the importance of current affairs by providing daily newsletters on relevant, kid-friendly global news. Kid proofing daily news so you don’t have to! By allowing your child to slowly and mindfully be exposed to these issues they are made to feel included and as if their opinion matters. This boosts confidence as well as critical thinking. Kids always want to be right! Let's allow them to have the opportunity to tell us their thoughts on real-world problems such as climate change. Learning about global news also teaches kids the essential skill of empathy.
✔️ What we liked best about the app:
The read-aloud mode means kids can ‘read’ the newsletters even when time is scarce. Here we have my daughter Mia engaged in listening and reading along with the News-O-Matic app whilst eating breakfast. As you can see she is glued to the screen, I’m not complaining- she’s reading and learning about the world outside of her bubble! Five different news updates every day also give a good amount of variety, as some topics will interest your family more than others.
❌ What could be better:
The news that is covered tends to be around 5-7 days old by the time the News-O-Matic newsletter gets sent out. If it was much fresher news then it would be more exciting for kids to engage with.
Typical review we saw:
Kristen: “I am 10 and my mom and I agree that this is an awesome app. I totally recommend it to any kid who wants to stay informed!”
At a glance:
Skill Built: Meditation and Mindfulness
Ages: 6-14
Price: £7.99 per month, one week free trial
Available: Apple and Android app stores
Why this skill matters:
Stress is everywhere. For kids growing up now, stress manifests in many different ways. It’s sometimes hard for us parents to identify what those could be. Let alone for our kids to figure it out. Emotional regulation is arguably one of the most important life skills there is. By letting kids healthily sit with, reflect and meditate on their emotions they will improve their resilience and stress levels.
How the app works:
Think Headspace for kids. Moshi Kids is a fun and calming app that focuses on meditation and sleep quality. The importance of sleep is a major factor in these mood fluctuations. Therefore Moshi Kids prioritises sleep health for the overall emotional health of our kids. It does this by providing 100s of 20-30 minute long stories designed to make kids fall asleep calmly.
✔️ What we liked best about the app:
MoshiKids has many different categories for meditation and sleep such as confidence building, managing emotions and nap time.
❌ What could be better:
We were expecting the graphics to be soothing videos when in fact it is just a slow zoom-in of a static picture. The price is a little steep unless you were going to use it every single day (and I’m not sure that relying on technology in the bedroom every night time is something I want my children to create a habit of).
Typical review we saw:
Chantel: “My 2yo loves the stories/music and 9yo loves the relaxation he gets from the mediations. He winds down to one other school daily."
At a glance:
Skill Built: Money Management
Ages: 6-18
Price: £2.99 per child per month, with one-month free trial
Available: Apple and Android app stores
Why this skill matters:
Money, Money, Money. I think we can all agree that money management is a core life skill to have these days. There’s nothing like a global pandemic to teach us the importance of savings. GoHenry teaches our kids to prioritise healthy money management without fear-mongering.
How the app works:
GoHenry is an easy money management app and physical card for your kids. Parents can easily transfer pocket money. Unlike other debit cards, parents have access to see how much is in the child’s account and how much they have spent. Features that make this app perfect for kids is the fact that parents can control where kids can spend their money. There are sections for kids to learn about money management by completing GoHenry’s ‘Money Mission’ guides and ‘levelling up’ as they learn.
✔️ What we liked best about the app:
We loved the option for kids to accept chores to earn extra money. Parents can send chores to their children via the app such as ‘£10 for hoovering the house’. The kids can choose to accept it - an easy way for kids to learn the value of money (and for parents to enforce chores a bit more easily)!
❌ What could be better:
More control over where kids spend their money, e.g. options to block specific shops or places.
Typical review we saw:
Claire: “Has really helped my boys to learn about the value of money and to save for special things.”
At a glance:
Skill Built: Coding
Ages: 4-9
Price/Trial: £21.93 per Year
Available: Apple and Android app stores
Why this skill matters:
We live in a modern world that is becoming more and more technology-led. Tech-savvy skills now mean more to employers than just Excel spreadsheets and PowerPoint presentations. Coding has become an essential skill that employers look for on CVs. Being able to code allows for autonomy- the ability to create websites, apps and fix bugs without depending on someone else. It’s also great for problem-solving!
How the app works:
There is a range of 50 coding games where you have to do things like help the animals eat the fruit, or trucks to put the fire out or shoot the bad aliens etc. The idea is to programme in a series of instructions to go up, or turn around or to throw water etc to clear each level. It includes coding techniques such as Sequencing, Looping, Functions among others. All done with fun graphics and sound effects. Kids can see their coding sequences come to life right before their eyes.
✔️ What we liked best about the app:
Once paid for, it is accessible on three devices per account which is good for siblings to play separately. You can also play without the internet, something a lot of apps are unable to offer.
❌ What could be better:
It can be hard to correct the sequences if they are incorrect. The app only displays the wrong sequence for a few seconds, making it harder for kids to analyse and debug where they went wrong.
Typical review we saw:
Paige: “Me and my son played with the game and we seriously loved it! Such an easy way to introduce the simple building blocks of coding that will be such a large part of our kid’s future.”
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At a glance:
Skill Built: Communication, Critical Thinking, Creativity and many more
Ages: 6-12
Price/Trial: Two week free trial (no commitments needed), then £4.99 per month
Available: Apple and Android
Why this skill matters:
I’m sure we all want our kids to talk and think well so they can interact happily and successfully in society. Building communication and critical thinking in tandem together helps enormously with this. When this is part of a dialogue it means our kids are also building listening and empathy skills too. In fact, when you really think about it, discussing tricky topics with our kids leads to a lot of different 21st-century skills being built!
How the app works:
OK, so we are a bit biased. But we genuinely feel KidCoachApp deserves to be on this list. It is also the only app listed that you do WITH your kids, not TO your kids. Our app offers hundreds of quick, fun and thought-provoking questions for children. They are presented as conversation cards for parents to ask their children and are sorted into categories such as communication, critical thinking, creativity, teamwork, resilience, empathy and leadership.
✔️ What parents like best about the app:
Large range of skills to build and variety of questions to ask. It is visually appealing and uncluttered. You can access a two-week free trial with zero commitments to subscribe.
❌ What could be better:
We are always listening to parents and are open to ideas! At the time of writing we are adding a search bar to more easily find questions your kids like.
Typical reviews we get:
Rajiv: “Amazing, easy to use. The app is a great tool for parents to have meaningful conversations to build on key skills with their children. Rather than having to think of interesting topics to talk about to drive their imagination, this app does the work for you. With helpful hints and guidance along the way, it’s the only app you need in your pocket for those long car journeys."
So there you go. You probably won’t find this collection of apps in other “Best Apps For Kids” lists. That’s because we care the most about 21st century skills and life skills that will help our kids thrive in tomorrow's fast changing world.
Yes, math and English are important. But if we parents are going to supplement education at home, I firmly believe we should focus on those skills that are the true differentiators!
If you care as much about coaching your kids for their future happiness and success as we do, then please do try these awesome apps out!
Especially the KidCoachApp which you can download free below!
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Start your free 2 week trial seconds. No payment details needed.
Kavin Wadhar is a parent of 2 kids and founder of www.KidCoach.app: guided conversations for parents to get their kids talking, thinking and feeling. Kavin left his corporate role in education publishing to pursue his passion to help parents develop in their kids the skills they need to thrive in tomorrow’s world. Working with a team of parents and education experts, Kavin has built an App for parents with hundreds of questions like those in this article, and with additional guidance / prompts to take conversations deeper. Check it out!
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