10 of the Best Educational Apps You Need to Download Today
Whether you have been thrown into schooling at home without a clue or are looking for another activity to keep your kids busy, here are the best educational apps you need to download today to help save your sanity. Bonus points for it being a learning activity too!
When we homeschooled, we had parts of our day where we did hands-on learning activities like learning about polymers while making slime, read-aloud books, worksheets, and we also used learning apps to help supplement their learning.
If you feel overwhelmed right now, know that you aren’t alone. It’s okay. Don’t feel like you have to do it all. There are lots of resources available right now to help you as you figure this out. Educational apps are a great place to start.
Some of our best learning days were spent together, reading and making up stories on the couch. Play games, cook together in the kitchen, read lots of books, let them watch movies based on books, and have fun with it!
Affiliate links have been added to make shopping easier. I will receive a commission at no extra cost to you.
The Best Educational Apps
1. Osmo Kaleidoscope
Osmo Kaleidoscope is a hands-on, collaborative and creative learning tool co-designed with the help of TESLab students (pre-kindergarten to 4th grade) at Bennett Day School in Chicago, Illinois. This highly creative app empowers kids to design and create beautiful kaleidoscopic images with everyday objects, toys, art materials, or seasonal items from nature. For example, it helps them create beautiful symmetrical patterns from items found in nature, like a butterfly, leaf, clover, in addition to learning the alphabet or numbers. Osmo Kaleidoscope requires the use of an Osmo base set for iPad or Fire (sold separately). The app can be downloaded at the iOS App Store and the Amazon App Store.
2. Duolingo – Language Lessons
Take 10 minutes a day, and you’ll surprise yourself with how well you can speak a new language 3 months from now! With Duolingo, you’ll practice with fun lessons that will leave you eager to learn more, and develop reading, writing, speaking, listening and conversation skills along the way. They offer Spanish, French, German, Italian, Chinese, Japanese, Korean, Portuguese, Russian, Irish, Dutch, Danish, Swedish, Turkish, Norwegian, Polish, Arabic, Latin, Hindi, Czech, Indonesian, Hebrew, Esperanto, Vietnamese, Ukrainian, Welsh, Greek, Hungarian, Romanian, Swahili and many more. Duolingo is a free app.
3. PBS KIDS Video
Watch all your child’s favorite PBS KIDS shows anytime, anywhere with the PBS KIDS Video app! Now you can live stream educational videos and TV shows to help your child learn and grow. With PBS KIDS Video, your child can catch up with the shows they love. Take a trip to Sesame Street, explore Daniel Tiger’s Neighborhood or go on an adventure with Wild Kratts right from your iPhone or iPad. PBS KIDS Video is free.
4. Khan Academy Kids
Children can learn reading, language, writing, math, social-emotional development, problem-solving skills, and motor development. Open-ended activities and games like drawing, storytelling, and coloring encourage creativity and self-expression. Khan Academy Kids is free.
5. ABCya
Millions of kids, parents, and teachers visit ABCya.com each month, playing over 1 billion games last year. For over ten years ABCya has been one of the most popular K-5 educational gaming websites in the world! The ABCya iOS app features six free games each week. There is also an option for in-app purchases.
6. ABC Mouse
The ABCmouse Early Learning Academy is the research-validated program that kids 2–8 love to play with as they learn:
- Full standards-based curriculum for learning on the iPad and iPhone
- Trusted by teachers and designed by early learning education experts
- Used in more than 70,000 classrooms and in nearly half of all U.S. public libraries
- 10 levels, over 850 lessons, and 10,000+ individual Learning Activities
- All academic subjects for toddlers, preschool, kindergarten, 1st grade, and 2nd grade
- Accelerates children’s development of early literacy and math skills
- Helps ensure kindergarten readiness and 3rd-grade readiness
- Covers math, reading, science, social studies, art, and music across all levels
- Thousands of books, videos, puzzles, printable activities, songs, games, and animations
- 900+ books and activities in Spanish
- Customizable Avatar, My Room, My Hamster, and Pet Park features
- Step-by-Step Learning Path and independent learning
- Great for homeschoolers and learning on the go
- Easy to track and monitor progress
ABCmouse.com – 1 Year for $45 Sale! – Click here!
7. Adventure Academy
Adventure Academy is the new interactive learning program for kids from the creators of ABCmouse! The Founders of this prestigious school have created one of the world’s largest collections of educational games, books, learning challenges, and more, all designed to help strengthen children’s skills across thousands of key elementary and middle school learning objectives.
Key Features:
- Discover and play thousands of learning activities to help boost key skills and abilities across many subjects, including math, language arts, reading, science, social studies, and more
- Share amazing experiences with your best friends in a safe and secure environment
- Play simultaneously with up to three other scholars within the same account on your individual smartphone, tablet, or computer
AdventureAcademy.com – 1 Year for $45 Sale! – Click here!
8. Reading IQ
ReadingIQ is the comprehensive digital learning library app for kids ages 2 to 12, designed by national education experts to perfectly align with your child’s reading ability and grade level. ReadingIQ features over 7,000 award-winning books and childhood classics your kids won’t want to put down from popular publishers such as National Geographic, Whitman, Charlesbridge, and Highlights, and includes the entire ABCmouse library as well as exclusive titles that aren’t available anywhere else.
ReadingIQ.com – First Month Free – Click here!
9. Reading Eggs
Reading Eggs has already helped over 10 million children worldwide learn to read. The monthly subscription includes full access to:
• Reading Eggs Junior (ages 2–4): Toddlers build pre-reading skills such as phonemic awareness and alphabet knowledge with fun activities, games, videos, and read-aloud books.
• Reading Eggs (ages 3-7): Children take their first steps in learning to read, covering phonics, sight words, spelling, vocabulary, and comprehension.
• Reading Eggspress (ages 7-13): Continues the learning journey by helping children learn to read for meaning and enjoyment.
• Mathseeds (ages 3–9): Develops essential early numeracy skills, covering numbers, measurement, shapes, patterns, and more.
• Printable teaching material: Hundreds of printable worksheets reinforce essential skills and concepts covered in the programs. Homeschoolers have access to detailed curriculum guides for grades K–2, as well as lesson plans, assessment tasks, printable certificates, and real-time progress reports.
10. Cosmic Kids Yoga
Cosmic Kids makes yoga fun! Yoga and mindfulness videos for kids aged 3 to 9, presented by Jaime. This is our full and regularly updated streaming video archive. Kids love to follow Jaime as she goes on yoga adventures and explains mindfulness in ways that they really get. My kids love this one and it’s great for stretching muscles and practicing calming techniques.
What are your favorite educational apps for kids? Add them below in the comments!
