3 little kid-friendly apps that won’t make you feel like your phone is babysitting your child

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Kid’s Preschool Puzzle.
My kid is almost four, and like a lot of little kids who are growing up surrounded by computers and smartphones, he’s way into playing games on my phone. I’m very picky about what I let him play, but I have found a few targeted at kiddos between two and five that I like:

Kid’s Preschool Puzzle

First things first: I am a little in love with Intellijoy. Of the five kiddo apps on my phone, four of them are produced by that company. Kid’s Preschool Puzzle is pretty straight-forward: after opening it up, you’re presented with an outline of something next to a virtual pile of colorful puzzle pieces. You drag the pieces over, and upon completion you find out what the shape is. A cow? A frog? An alarm clock? THE POSSIBILITIES ARE ENDLESS. The app helps toddlers out with shape recognition, and hones fine motor skills and hand-eye coordination for preschoolers. Win-win.

Bonus: it’s $2.99 online, but we’ve been playing the free version for months. I’m not sure if I’m about to be asked to pay for it or if we just don’t use it that often, but hey! Free app!

Kids Learn to Read

OH LOOK: another Intellijoy product! When I first saw this app I was highly incredulous: if you want your kid to learn to read, I feel like no app or computer program is more effective than actually sitting down with your kid and reading a book. That aside, it’s not always as easy to pull out a book as it is to pull out a phone, and this game has totally come in handy on long car trips, in waiting rooms, and for a special treat.

This version is for the Kindle, but you can find smartphone versions in your respective markets.

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Connect the Dots

I can’t decide if my Intellijoy thing is getting embarrassing or if it’s just awesome, but I feel like I should point out that this post isn’t sponsored… I’m just a nerd for the brand. The “lite” version of Connect the Dots is free, and the game is simple and sweet. Like the others I’ve linked to, it’s very toddler and preschooler-friendly — like, they can do the whole thing themselves. This particular app is just like the connect the dots puzzles you can do on paper, but it’s digital! After the numbers are connected a fun picture pops up, and then you start again. Your kid will get help with number progression, and you might even enjoy helping out if asked.

My picks were focused on preschoolers because that’s how old my child is — what apps do your kids of ALL ages like?

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Comments on 3 little kid-friendly apps that won’t make you feel like your phone is babysitting your child

  1. First off, we use a program blocker. I can pop it on, and only my son’s apps/books are showing. Mostly, this is to keep him from opening up my smutty e-books, but also to keep him from opening up my smutty webpages that are bookmarked…

    Right now he really loves this game called ABC Maze, where he traces a maze inside of letters of the alphabet to collect items that start with that letter. It’s great hand-eye coordination, plus teaches letter recognition.

    • Try some Montessori apps as well, I am like you, very picky in what they play on the ipad and I love their large choice in apps, some are really beautiful!! I even found one on teaching on Life Cycles for when they are a bit older maybe, but my 3,5 year old loves that one too! Enjoy!!

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