Top 10 iPhone Apps for PreSchoolers

There is debate among parents for so many things that our kids can encounter.  When used appropriately, a phone can be an educational tool.  Having such portable technology brings more information for learning anywhere at any time.  Pick and choose which apps you let your children play with - pick educational ones, not violence based animated play, or "brain candy" apps.  It is important to know what your kids are doing and stay involved.  Technology is not going away so why not help our kids learn with it and have fun.

 

1. Balloonimals - $1.99

With this app,  your child picks the baloon,  then gently blows into the microphone to begin blowing up the baloon.  Once the balloon is full,  give the phone a shake to start shaping the animal.  Every shake brings you closer and closer to a beautiful balloon animal!  Ballonimals can even do tricks and make sounds from quacks to roars!

2. Cat Physics - FREE

 The goal of Cat Physics is to successfully direct a ball from one onscreen kitty to another. The layout of each level, placement of the goal cat,  as well as different obstacles work to prevent you from completing your task task. You launch the ball and move arrows to help bounce the ball to the goal kitty.  This is just like virtual ball bouncing!

3. Memory Matches - FREE 

This is a simple memory card game where your preschooler tests his memory by simply tapping card to flip them and making pairs.  This game can be played by up to  5 players. You can also adjust the flip time and pick different themes from simple shapes, black and white shapes, Dots, Matching numbers to dots, Colors,  Halloween, Sports, Animals, Ink Blots, and Signs.  

4. Kindle - FREE 

e-readers are every where and if you forgot to bring your Kindle with you, the iPhone app will do just fine in a moment when you need your child's favorite story. Kindle is very easy to navigate and you can download new books very quickly

5. Slice It - $0.99 

Slice It teaches geometry and algebra in such a simple way, you may not realize you are learning.  The goal is Slice It is to slice shapes with your finger into pieces that are equal size.  Once you have sliced, the puzzle tells you how close you were.  You have certain shape, and a specific number of slices each time - it may start with cutting a square in half, but every level evolves to be a bit harder.  There are 200 levels to keep you and your preschooler slicing away. 

6. Blocks - FRE

 Blocks is a puzzle game that a free version is available that allows only the Easy level of puzzles.  The point of the game is to slide the orange block off the board by sliding the grey blocks out of the way.  Vertical blocks only move up and down, and horizontal blocks only move left and right.  The first few puzzles are very easy, but they get tricky and require your preschooler to quicly build on problem solving skills.

7. Freefall Spelling

Freefall Spelling is another app that helps your early reader learn phonetics and ealry letter recognition.  As your reader gets more effecient at spelling, you can even turn off the hints so this can work for your child for a few years.  All artwork appears hand drawn and add whimsy to the app.  To play, tap and drag the falling letters to spell the object shown on the screen.  Once your child spells several words in a row, they get a surprise bonus game of such as balloon and bubble popping!

8. First Words: Animals - $1.99

  

First Words Animals is another spelling and educational app for preschoolers.  This app challenges your child to learn to recognize and match letters, learn the sounds letters make, learn the names of letters and to learn how to spell words.  There are 45 animals with illustrations and sounds.  This is another game where the settings can be adjusted for the earliest of readers to older kids.

9. Bob Books #1 Reading Magic - $1.99

 

This is very simple app based on the book series that so many children use to learn to read.  It is a series based on phonics.

 With only a few letter in the first book, your child can sound out all the words, and read the whole book. Children are so excited with their success, they want to try more. With each book read, their confidence and desire to learn grows.

10. Starfall ABCs - $2.99 

 Starfall.com has made available the ABCs portion of the website through this app.  All activities are playful and use reinforcement.  Children visually see the letters and  hear the sounds  They learn to recognize letters and develop skills thathelp with reading.