Kid's Educational AppsHi this is Andrew from Kids Educational Apps.   Full disclosure: My mom, Sherry, runs Playonwords.com.  As a father and video game enthusiast, I started a website for parents who love games that engage kids and encourage learning.  It just so happens that I do a lot of reviews on our new family iPad.  Many of the apps below are “universal,” meaning they are also available on Apple devices like the iPhone and iPod touch.

Additionally, the list below is for younger kids, aged 2-4.  So if you’ve recently purchased an iPad and was wondering if your preschooler might enjoy playing apps with it, keep reading!

The New York Times put it best when they described the iPad in a 2010 article: “Young children think with their fingers. If they see something, they jab at it.”  Long gone are the days of coaxing a toddler to handle a video game controller or keyboard, the touch screen begs for interaction from tots.  And, you won’t believe the great learning experience being designed by app developers today.

OK, on to the top 5 Kid’s Educational apps!  Clicking on the links  below will take you to the review on KidsEducationalApps.com, where you can find the official download links to the iTunes store:

Monkey Preschool Lunchbox - THUP Games

1. Monkey Preschool Lunchbox:
Awesome app for little toddlers and offers no breaks in-between rapid-fire mini games. Common kids app themes are involved: memory, find the different shape , play with puzzles and get awarded with stickers.  Only the responsiveness to the tapping and the snappy, kid-friendly interface really stands out.   Our toddler asks for this app first 9 times out of 10!

Interactive Alphabet - ABC Flash Cards - Piikea St. LLC

2. Interactive Alphabet
Each letter has a fun animation that makes for a few quick rounds of the alphabet.  We liked the app because it allowed for interaction between parents and children, and wasn’t fixated on sticker rewards or audio accolades.  Each page is an invitation to dialogue with your child, pronounce letters and describe what is happening on the screen.

Animal Train - First Word HD by 22learn By CFC s.r.o.

3. Animal Train HD
Test your child’s memory, recognition and fine motor skills to capture the animals and drop them into the train.  The difficulty increases when multiple animals need to be found, and each must be located and placed onto the moving train.  The memory aspect of this game presents an interesting contrast to the flip cards we see in other educational games in the app store.

Miss Spider's Tea Party for the iPad - Callaway Arts & Entertainment

4. Miss Spider’s Tea Party
The real value in this app is the virtual coloring book.  It features several pages and a toggle to allow your tot to color freestyle, or only allow colors to fit into the lines.  Miss Spider’s Tea party also features a high quality story made just for the iPad.  Look out!  It may even make it into the rotation of your nighttime story routine, it is that good!

Splish Splash Inn HD - Shortstack

5. Splish Splash Inn
Immediately, it feels like a Nickelodeon mini-tv episode with the clever art and fun musical beat.  The artwork by Divya Srinivasan is minimalistic and professional, and each ocean creature is very easily recognizable.  Splish Splash Inn teaches basic counting and number recognition through animated ocean creatures.

And that’s it!  We hope you enjoyed this list of top apps for kids.  Visit us soon for the top education apps for kids.

– Andrew