We talk about fun a lot. Fun for kids especially. There’s a reason for that: Our little ones like doing things that are fun—whether it’s a haircut adventure at Snip-its or a reading app—when things are as fun as they are educational or needed, the kiddos are much more apt to use them. Parenting life is a whole lot easier if our kids are ha-ha-happy.
What makes a good reading app?
- Well designed
- Intuitive
- They do what they should
- Kiddo fun factor
- User friendly…and did we mention FUN.
METAMORPHABET APP
$3.99 for early readers, but fun for all!
Imaginative alphabet animations from A to Z. This app transforms letters into words and images. Your little one can poke, prod, drag and spin each of the 26 letters of the alphabet and watch them transform before their eyes.
SPELLING BUG HANGMAN APP
$2.99 for ages 5-10
You had us at hangman! It’s a bug version of the popular game where tiny tots have to guess the words before a caterpillar chomps through the vine. At the end of the vine: a chrysalis that grows bigger with each letter you guess correctly – transforming into a butterfly if you get the word right in time. BONUS: You can add in your child’s weekly spelling list from school—or any other custom spelling words you can think of.
SIGHT WORD: GAMES & FLASH CARDS APP
$2.99 for ages 6-8
includes 6, fun, interactive games to teach kids all 220 sight words in the English language (on the Dolch list). The games—Word Machine, Spelling, Bingo, Memory Game, Gears and Flash Cards—are set in a colorful and quirky mechanical/industrial world your little ones will love. You’ll love that learning sight words will give them the building block they need to read.
TEACH YOUR MONSTER TO READ APP
$4.99 for ages 3-6.
A phonics and reading game, this app covers the first two year of learning to read, from matching letters and sounds to enjoying little books. Children create a monster and take it on a magical journey over three extensive games—improving their reading skills as they progress.
LEVAR BURTON KIDS SKYBRARY READING APP
$4.99 monthly subscription; free one-month trial – year long subscription for $39.99. Ages 2-6
Take a look, it’s in a book—now in app form! LeVar Burton and Reading Rainbow are iconic symbols of early literacy and fun. This app preserves a digital library on the web packed with hundreds of high-quality children’s books. Kids get to hop on a hot air balloon (woo!) and pilot from island to island. Each island offers a selection of books kids can read by themselves, have narrated, or they can watch educational videos about the book topics. There’s even a parent dashboard to track your young reader’s progress!
LEARN WITH HOMER READING APP
$7.99 monthly subscription; although free for the first 30 days as a trial – Ages 2-8. This one is available on iTunes only.
This app creates personalized lessons for your little ones based on topics they are most excited about. The goal: to read every day. Why: proven uptick in early reading scores. This is a subscription service app which teaches your child to read and spell one step at a time while they explore topics they are passionate about. They boast 1000s of phonics, sight word, and vocabulary games. This one really seems to have it all: personalized videos, stories and songs all around the topics your kids are excited about as well as parent interaction—you can work on lessons with them and track their progress—and hundreds of worksheets, mazes, puzzles and other activities to print out and take with you anywhere.
Your kiddos will love these apps so much they may not even know they are learning. We celebrate kids with this list of FUN reading apps just waiting to be discovered.
