Best learning programs for kids
13 Best Online Education Programs for Kids
We all want the best for our children—in both school and life. We at CodaKid understand this, and that is why we scoured the web for the best online educational programs for kids.
Given the incredible advancement in technology and the exponential growth of the web, online educational games for kids are abundant and relatively easy to find. There is a wealth of online opportunities available for your kids to develop their skills if you just know where to look.
What is the best part of online educational programs for kids? They can be done from the safety of your home!
From completely free resources to free-to-try internet academies, here are 13 of the best online educational programs for kids:
Table of Contents
CodaKid — Online Coding for Kids
Rounding out this list of best online educational programs for kids is our own platform, CodaKid: an online resource full of award-winning online coding courses targeted specifically for young learners aged 8 and up.
Winner of a Parents’ Choice GOLD Award and a CODiE Finalist for Best Coding and Computational Thinking Solution, CodaKid is an online coding academy that teaches kids how to create games, apps, Minecraft mods, Roblox games, and Unity projects with real programming languages and professional tools. We have affordable monthly and yearly subscriptions for access to the courses. What’s more, you get access to a team of friendly teachers who can help your child during their coding journey, at their own pace.
As mentioned earlier, we believe coding has become a critical must-have skill for students in 2020. Tech industries are constantly expanding, and giving your kids the tools to succeed in those industries will open up incredible opportunities for them. By teaching kids real-life programming you are equipping them for the future.
CodaKid’s online classes are all self-paced and include live support from engineers, giving your kids all the guidance and encouragement they could need.
By making computer programming fun and engaging through game design, we hope for CodaKid students to develop real-world skills like tenacity, patience, problem-solving, and rationalization.
Find out why CodaKid is loved by so many kids and parents by starting a free trial today!
ABCMouse.com — Full Online Curriculum for Ages 2-8
Winner of the Mom’s Choice GOLD Award, Teachers’ Choice Award, and Parents’ Choice GOLD Award, ABCMouse is a “global education initiative” that aims to help kids start strong in their academic journey. They offer intuitive and interactive tools to strengthen the foundational education of young learners.
With over 850 lessons spread out over 10 levels, ABCMouse’s online curriculum is extensive, engaging, and highly educational. Initiated by Age of Learning, Inc., this subscription-based online educational program for kids uses videos, games, printables, songs, and other online interactive media to help early learners succeed in their school programs.
Kids can enjoy over 9,000 online activities from the comfort and safety of their own homes.
PBS Kids — 360-Degree Approach Towards Reaching Kids
Do your kids love the Wild Kratts? What about Arthur, Curious George, or Jet—from Ready Jet Go? Then they’re going to love learning via the PBS KIDS website. With hundreds of incredibly unique and colorful games featuring beloved characters from the PBS Kids channel, this platform teaches your child the fundamentals of critical thinking, imagination, and problem-solving in the most entertaining and enjoyable way possible.
PBS KIDS strives to make a positive impact on children using curriculum-based entertainment. Their 360-degree approach to imparting education makes full use of interactive, intuitive online media. By leveraging technology and characters that young learners are already familiar with, they hope to inspire in them a love for learning and a thirst for knowledge.
Kiz Phonics — Phonics Activities for Pre-K to 2nd Grade
Phonics is a method used to teach reading and writing by developing “phonemic awareness”—the ability to hear, identify, and manipulate the sounds of a language. It’s meant to help learners master the sound of letters so that they can eventually master words.
Kiz Phonics makes use of this technique to teach young children—specifically, kids aged 3-8—how to identify the words they read by sounding them out; in other words, through phonics.
It’s important that children start learning how to read at home rather than in school. A safe, familiar environment is more conducive to learning, and building a strong foundation in literacy early on will give them a significant advantage in a classroom setting. Kiz Phonics, as an online educational program for kids, gives parents the tools they need to start strengthening that foundation as early as possible.
ReadWriteThink — Extensive Interactive Resources for Grades K-12
ReadWriteThink’s mission is to “provide educators, parents, and afterschool professionals” with high-quality tools, materials, and strategies for different academic courses.
With lesson plans, student interactives, printables, and even mobile apps for language arts and literacy, ReadWriteThink is definitely a comprehensive resource platform worth visiting.
The different resources are tailored for educators, parents and afterschool professionals teaching grades K-12. They’re professionally designed, intensively tested, and—best of all—100% free.
Reading and writing can be incredibly difficult when they don’t automatically come naturally to a student, so the quality of the instruction and learning materials can make or break a child’s education.
#MetKids — The Metropolitan Museum of Art, for Kids
“Made for, with, and by kids,” MetKids is a branch of the Metropolitan Museum of Art’s website that is tailored specifically to introduce children to the colorful world of art and art history. With fun, creative media like behind-the-scenes videos, DIY projects that they can try at home, and even a fully interactive map of The Met, kids can discover love and appreciation for art.
The #MetKids blog offers fascinating art facts and art history tidbits written in a fun, engaging way. They also have a “the time machine” that lets kids explore different time periods, learning the culture, inventions, and innovations of that time in different locations.
With this online platform, The Met hopes to encourage the inner artist in every child by inspiring an inclination for creativity and color.
For additional resources of creativity make sure to check out CodaKid game design courses by signing up for a free trial!
Fun science experiments you can try at home? Quirky quizzes? Homework help resources?
The National Geographic Kids’ website has something to satisfy even the most curious of little minds! Your children can browse stunning photos of nature at its most beautiful or watch videos of baby animals in their natural habitat. They can also discover in-depth stories of different people, places, and cultures through interactive media and fun games.
Although the website is more of a colorful, multimedia resource and lacks a specific, structured curriculum, National Geographic Kids still deserves to be called one of the best online educational programs for kids. Perfect for kids as young as 3 and as old as 14, it utilizes technology and leverages the very best of interactive media to bring users a learning experience they aren’t likely to forget.
Little Pim — Online Language Learning Subscription for Kids
With over 25 awards and international press coverage to its name, Little Pim is one of the best online educational programs for kids to learn a language. It’s known as the “most comprehensive foreign language program for kids” and offers a whopping 12 foreign languages to choose from!
Think your child is too young to learn a new language? Think again.
According to the Little Pim website, the best time to learn a language is under the age of six.
At this age, children are open and receptive to learning new things.
Mastering a language as foreign and complex as French, Chinese, or Italian can be made fun and enjoyable with Little Pim’s Entertainment Immersion Method®. This patented technique engages learners by appealing to a child’s natural inclination—and love—for play. It encourages recognition through repetition. The more your child interacts with their professionally-prepared activities and mediums, the more they learn and absorb.
Being multi-lingual can open so many doors for your children, granting them access to incredible opportunities. By inspiring love and mastery for different languages early on, Little Pim makes it possible for students to broaden their horizons.
SumDog — Personalized Maths & Spelling Practice that Students Love
For students from kindergarten to eighth grade, SumDog is a cutting-edge site that offers interactive content and intuitive media to help kids with math and spelling.
Tailored to engage learners from a wide age range through multi-player games and free, easy-to-use online tools, Sumdog is proven to accelerate academic progress.
SumDog’s personalization feature is where this online program truly shines. Their platforms utilize an adaptive learning engine to help guide different students’ learning pace and discover their individual strengths and weaknesses.
SumDog can be used at home and at school, affording students the help they need at both common critical places for educational growth.
SplashLearn — The Complete K-5 Math Learning Program Built for Your Child
Also known as SplashMath, SplashLearn is an online platform specifically geared towards younger students in grades K-5 who need additional help with math. It aims to boost students’ performance through fun, interactive methods like online games, math apps, printables, and even digital classrooms. Their mission is to “boost confidence” and “increase scores” to help young learners get ahead.
SplashLearn offers what they call personalized learning paths to help students catch up, enrich their learning, or just practice and improve their current skills.
With mastery in over 350 math skills available, SplashLearn is incredibly comprehensive and covers most of the bases. By using fun interactive games, rewards and experiences, children will feel more motivated than ever to practice and master their mathematical skills.
Khan Academy — Providing Free World-Class Education for Anyone, Anywhere
Yet another personalized online resource for a myriad of subjects, Khan Academy is a powerful educational program that provides free tools for students to learn anything, anywhere.
Utilizing intuitive technology and professional feedback, Khan Academy has created videos, global classrooms, and other interactive online content for a wide variety of subjects. Learn anything from basic math to AP calculus, science, and engineering to economics and finance.
They offer a computing course that teaches coding for kids—a valuable skill that any student can benefit from—and even in-depth test prep for SAT, LSAT, GMAT, and more.
Through their partnership with institutions like NASA, The Museum of Modern Art, MIT, and The California Academy of Sciences, Khan Academy also offers specialized content for students and teachers that you won’t find elsewhere.
Coolmath — Making Math Enjoyable
Whether your kid loves math, hates math, or just needs help passing their math class, Coolmath is a website worth checking out. With math games and step-by-step lesson guides for pre-algebra, algebra, and pre-calculus, Coolmath is one of those online educational programs for kids that caters more to casual, at-your-own-pace learning than strict, curriculum-bound study.
Founded in 1997 by a certified math teacher, the goal of this website is to make math fun and enjoyable for kids of all ages.
The games on this site are an enjoyable mix of math fundamentals and good old problem solving, meant to give users a mental workout. It doesn’t teach coding for kids, but it definitely encourages logical thinking!
Scratch — Imagine, Program, Share
As a kid-friendly coding program that encourages users to “create and share,” Scratch is an incredibly gentle introduction to coding for kids. Specifically geared towards children aged 6-12, Scratch aims to inspire children to think creatively and reason systematically by teaching them the basics of coding. They implement tools, techniques, and interactive content to help familiarize children with common programming languages in a fun and enjoyable way.
On the subject of coding, we personally feel it’s become less of an optional hobby and more of a critical, highly beneficial skill to have. Aside from the fact that the computer engineering industry is growing more and more each year, coding for kids instills in them universal skills like problem-solving, discipline, and creativity.
As a free educational programming website, Scratch is primarily used by kids. However, it can be used by anyone interested in learning how to code. They use an easy-to-use visual block interface that saves beginners from the grief and frustrations of writing out code. Rather than sweat the details, this easy-to-use interface helps them focus instead on the basics of game development, graphic design, and animation.
CodaKid’s award-winning Scratch program has 14 courses, 40 quests, and 90 challenges with mentors who are professional programmers that guide you every step of the way! Try it for free!
Conclusion
There you have it, the 13 Best Online Educational Programs for Kids:
- CodaKid
- ABCmouse.com
- PBS Kids
- Kiz Phonics
- ReadWriteThink
- MetKids
- National Geographic Kids
- Little Pim
- Sum Dog
- SplashLearn
- Khan Academy
- Cool Math
- Scratch
Be sure to try our award-winning courses today at no cost!
Do you know of other good online educational programs for kids? Comment below!
Best online learning platforms for kids: Use screen time well in 2022
> Life > Education > Online Learning
We are living in a new age of widespread remote, online learning.
Even before COVID-19 forced the shutdown of schools all over the world, investment in edtech (education technology) had reached $18.66 billion in 2019 and the market of online education is projected to be $350 billion by 2025.
Today, the internet is becoming a virtual classroom for a growing number of kids as parents are turning to online resources to help plan lessons and look for activities for their housebound kids. Even high schoolers are also looking for additional test prep help from home. But here’s the good news: The quality of online learning platforms has only grown to meet this demand.
Some offer games that teach young children in a fun, engaging way that barely feels like school, while others offer in-depth curriculums in foreign languages for students whose parents only speak one language.
That said, when you’re looking for an online learning platform for your kids, especially little kids, there are a lot of factors to consider to make sure that your child is actually learning something from it.
You want them to be engaged with the material and not fight you every time they need to log on. You also don’t want to waste your money on something clunky or dangerous.
The answer, of course, depends a little on the student you’re looking for, but in general, all good online learning platforms should meet the following criteria:
It should not be weighed down in ads.
Free educational apps might sound good, but bear in mind that free platforms often require advertising to keep the app running — and some of that advertisement might not be kid-friendly.
It is especially important to avoid ads if you’re looking for a learning platform for young children because studies of children under the ages of four or five have shown that this age group doesn’t consistently distinguish what an ad is. This greatly diminishes the educational value of the platform.
Ads can also just be cumbersome, crowding the screen or slowing down how quickly the learning platform loads, making for a clunky user experience.
They should be educational.
This might sound obvious, but just because something is labeled as educational doesn’t mean it actually provides the best educational experience. Games should mostly — if not entirely — be focused on teaching.
They should also engage kids so they're actively learning. If the platform allows the child to zone out and just “watch,” chances are they won’t remember as much. But if the platform asks them questions, has them create something, or invites them to actively use their new knowledge — much like a teacher in a classroom — chances are the child will pay more attention and recall more information.
They offer something an off-screen experience can’t.
With the rise of remote learning, this is often the feature that gets set aside, especially with early-learning apps that let kids put puzzles together or trace letters on the screen — two activities they can also do in real life instead of the screen.
The best learning platforms are aware of the dramatic increase in children’s screen time and try to offer something pen and paper or physical games cannot. Some teach children how to code, others offer them access to experts in a foreign language that simply wouldn’t be available closer to home. And others still compete with non-educational games by making learning fun.
Some of the best also spark an interest in off-screen activities. Many of the best will offer ideas for kids to continue their learning offline by grabbing a pen and paper to draw, work out a math equation, foster a love of reading books IRL, or experiment with hands-on-art projects.
They should be safe.
This means that they should not expose kids to strangers who could harm them.
Avoid learning platforms that feature online chat rooms that a stranger could join and use to talk to your child. For young children, you’ll also want to avoid platforms that link out of the app because this can lead them to browsing unsafe or unverified sites.
It is against the law, thanks to the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Rule (COPPA), for websites to collect personal information from children under thirteen without parental consent. That said, make sure you choose an online platform or tool that follows the law and has the necessary privacy settings.
If you’re not sure if a program is safe for use, you can always check with the Common Sense Media Privacy Program.
Even for older children, learning platforms that allow you to create a username — instead of their whole name — can be a wise choice, especially if there is a public aspect to the platform (i.e. a score ranking).
They should allow you or the child to track their progress.
Some will do this with a parental tracker. Others will offer grades. But monitoring progress is key so that kids can see how they’re improving and know where they need to improve. This can boost their confidence and engagement too.
For young children in particular, you might feel more comfortable with an app that also alerts you to their progress and lets you know of an issue or concern early on.
This can help you know what you need to work with them on offline and one-on-one. For example, if you know that your child is behind on reading comprehension, you’ll know that you should make more time to work with them offline and find fun ways to read in the evening or on weekends.
Be careful of educational platforms that emphasize rewards instead of actual learning. You want them to be motivated to learn the actual concept being taught, not just reach the next level.
A clear sign of gamified platforms is if they rely on in-app purchases. Those platforms are steered more towards leveling up and making money than actually teaching your children. (Plus, platforms with in-app purchases can get very expensive quickly — another reason to avoid them.)
They should be clear about what age they’re geared for.
Nothing can hamper a kid’s self-esteem or confidence faster than material that is way too hard. Similarly, material that is too easy can bore children.
To make sure that neither of these scenarios occurs, parents should know what ages the content is made for so they can help pick an age-appropriate platform.
For younger children, you’ll also want to prioritize platforms that make learning fun or that offer rewards or achievements for every lesson they complete. That way they’ll feel encouraged and engaged.
Do you really need it?
There’s no need to increase your child’s screen time just because. There are lots of offline activities (think: crafts, books, sports, etc.) to keep a child entertained. So there’s no need to just plunk your child in front of a screen if the platform is teaching them something they can already get elsewhere.
That’s why when you’re picking a platform, consider its true purpose and what it really offers your child. Is it teaching them something new or is just keeping them from being bored?
Here are some of our favorite online learning platforms for kids in 2022 that meet these criteria — but keep reading to get the full list below.
Best overall for early learning
ABC Mouse(opens in a new tab)
With more than 950 lessons in math, reading, science, social studies, and art, ABC Mouse is a great overall learning platform for kids ages two to eight.
Best for honing reading skills
Reading Eggs(opens in a new tab)
Reading Eggs is a great platform that will not only teach kids to read but hone their comprehension skills too.
Best for learning to code
CodaKid(opens in a new tab)
CodaKid makes coding fun and teaches kids a range of different coding languages, not just the most popular ones.
ABCmouse (opens in a new tab)
Best For Early Learning
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Credit: ABC Mouse
Specs
- Age Appropriate for: 2 to 8
- Subjects: Reading, math, science, social studies, art
- Price: $12.
99 per month
Buying Options
See Details (opens in a new tab)
ABCmouse is a subscription-based, learning-through-play educational platform aimed at children ages 2 to 8 that teaches kids math, science, reading, social studies, and art. To keep it fun, the platform is laid out a little bit like a kid’s video game, allowing kids to create their own avatar and teacher’s avatar before entering their virtual classroom. However, the emphasis remains educational despite its game-like features and because it is subscription-based, parents can rest assured knowing that there are no pop-up ads and no external links to take children off-site. There is also a way for parents to track their children’s progress.
Adventure Academy (opens in a new tab)
Best Overall For Elementary School Kids
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Credit: Adventure Academy
Specs
- Age Appropriate for: 8 to 13
- Subjects: Language arts, math, science, social studies
- Price: $9.
99 per month
Buying Options
See Details (opens in a new tab)
Created by the same company that made ABCmouse, Adventure Academy keeps the fun going with an immersive, virtual educational world aimed at kids 8 to 13. It teaches kids everything from geometry to reading comprehension, science to geography. Kids can play with their friends in this virtual world but parents can rest easy because they’re doing so in a safe environment with zero links out, ads, or strangers.
Hooked on Phonics (opens in a new tab)
Best For Early Readers
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Credit: Hooked on Phonics
Specs
- Age Appropriate for: Pre-K to Second Grade
- Subjects: Reading
- Price: $12.99 per month plus $2.99 shipping
Buying Options
See Details (opens in a new tab)
More than 5 million parents and teachers have used this award-winning program, which was developed by education experts.
Early readers can learn to read and write through a series of under 20 minute sessions that include videos, interactive games, and illustrated stories. With your subscription, you get unlimited access to their “Learn to Read” app, as well as a workbook, 2-3 storybooks, discussion questions to strengthen reading comprehension offline, and tips for parents. In addition, the app can be used offline and on multiple devices.
ReadingIQ (opens in a new tab)
Best For Avid Readers
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Credit: ReadingIQ
Available for tablets, phones, and computers, ReadingIQ offers kids access to over 7000 books of all different reading levels, from picture books for pre-readers to chapter books and graphic novels for independent readers. It features lots of fun titles by fun publishers, including Disney, National Geographic, and Marvel, as well as subject books on math, mythology, history, and science, and award-winning books that have won the Caldecott and Newbery Medal.
Early readers can get some guided help when they read and parents can track their children’s reading habits.
Reading Eggs (opens in a new tab)
Best For Honing Reading Skills
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Credit: Reading Eggs
Developed using research on the process of learning to read, Reading Eggs helps children as young as 2 learn to read through read-aloud books, videos and educational alphabet games. Later, it helps kids learn sight words, phonics and develop their reading skills and vocabulary. Once they learn that, it offers games and digital books to help kids ages 7 and up to hone their reading comprehension skills. You can also purchase physical book packs to complement online learning and foster an offline love of reading.
Mathseeds (opens in a new tab)
Best For Teaching Early Math
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Credit: Mathseeds
Brought to you by the same company that created Reading Eggs, Mathseeds is a platform for kids ages 3 to 9 that focuses on teaching math, shapes, and time through interactive games.
To help gauge your child’s math level, it starts with a short quiz, then places your child in an interactive classroom full of puzzles and games to enhance their core math and problem-solving skills. It also includes a parent dashboard so you can track your kid’s progress.
Babbel (opens in a new tab)
Most Affordable Language Learning Platform
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Credit: Babbel
Specs
- Age Appropriate for: K-12 and beyond
- Subjects: Foreign Language
- Price: Starts at $6.25 per month
Buying Options
See Details (opens in a new tab)
Babbel is an online foreign language platform that will help subscribers learn one of several different languages, including French, German, Italian, Russian, Portuguese, Turkish, Dutch, Swedish, Polish, Norwegian, Indonesian, and Danish. It focuses on building your conversational language skills. While technically suitable for all ages, Babbel will likely be more appealing to older children (middle school-age, high school-age or college) because the emphasis is very much on learning vs.
games and younger children are likely to lose interest quickly.
Rosetta Stone Homeschool (opens in a new tab)
Best For Learning A Foreign Language
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Credit: Rosetta Stone
Specs
- Age Appropriate for: High schoolers
- Subjects: Foreign Language
- Price: $11.99 per month
Buying Options
See Details (opens in a new tab)
Rosetta Stone has long been the go-to online learning platform for learning a language, but this version was tweaked to make it more engaging and fun for kids. With speech-recognition technology, an immersion method, and interactive games, it will help your child learn a new language from home on their computer, tablet, or phone. It also offers the option of downloading lessons with the audio companion feature so that they can keep learning even when an internet connection isn’t available. Parents can also track their student’s progress and print out graded reports.
Exam Edge (opens in a new tab)
Best For High School Test Prep
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Credit: Exam Edge
Specs
- Age Appropriate for: High Schoolers
- Subjects: Multiple
- Price: Varies depending on test
Buying Options
See Details (opens in a new tab)
When it comes to passing a high school exam, you don’t need fun learning games. You need real practice exams and that is exactly what Exam Edge does: it offers students practice questions and test prep on 52 different subjects from 15 testing groups so that students walk into their actual exam feeling confident and prepared.
CodaKid (opens in a new tab)
Best For Learning To Code
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Credit: CodaKid
CodaKid teaches kids to code in a variety of coding languages — including Python, Javascript, Lua, Html/CSS, and more — by integrating coding into video games, robotics and apps to keep kids engaged and interested.
It is self-paced, allowing kids to learn at their own speed. It’s also fun, especially since it uses popular games, like Minecraft, as backdrops for projects.
PBS Kids (opens in a new tab)
Most Fun
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Credit: PBS Kids
Specs
- Age Appropriate for: Kids over 4 (though aimed at young children)
- Subjects: Language and reading, math, science, arts, reasoning
- Price: Free
Buying Options
See Details (opens in a new tab)
Created by PBS, this educational online platform is full of lessons involving recognizable characters, like Arthur and Curious George. Through interactive content and animated videos, kids learn a variety of subjects and real-life skills and there is a mobile app for parents to receive updates about your child’s progress. Though the site doesn’t specify a maximum age, the material is best suited for younger children. However, since it is a website, it is recommended that parents keep an eye on children while they use it to make sure they don’t click offsite and you should know that there are some sponsorship ads on the site.
Khan Academy (opens in a new tab)
Best Free Platform
Opens in a New Tab
Credit: Khan Academy
Specs
- Age Appropriate For: Pre-K through High School
- Subjects: math, science, engineering, arts, humanities, economics, finance, test prep
- Price: Free
Buying Options
See Details (opens in a new tab)
Covering a wide range of subjects like math, science, engineering, arts, and the humanities, as well as test prep for standardized tests, Khan Academy offers a wide range of online courses — all for free. It’s also aimed at a wide age range, from children to teenagers and allows kids to learn at their own pace.
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14 educational apps for kids for free
My son goes to kindergarten, but now he is in self-isolation at home.
Maria Kolenkova
found something to do with the child
Author profile
I continue to work remotely and try to keep my child busy in order to earn easy money.
During the first week of self-isolation, I wanted to teach him how to play chess and study English in traditional “tutorials”. But too formalized classes turned out to be boring. After them, my five-year-old son said: "Mom, please, let's not play anymore."
Therefore, I have collected games that develop logic, thinking, memory, teach counting and writing, but at the same time are interesting for the child.
Cut The Rope
Age: 2-4 years
What will teach: Logically think
Price: free
download or open: Android, iOS, desktop
Green monstrik Nyami from the same name cartoon character loves candy. The whole game is built on this: you need to feed the hero. But to do this is not so easy. The child needs to cut the ropes that the candy is tied to and watch how gravity works, in which direction the sweet will fly off or swing. Complicating the passage of the level are bubbles that can pick up the candy and take it upstairs - then you have to start over.
The logic and laws of physics in the game are not presented boringly and formally, but are explained in practice. The creators of the game marked it 0+, and even kindergarteners can really handle the very first levels. But then it can be difficult for younger students.
/list/online-games-for-children/
English, programming and logic: 9 educational online games for children
Drawing
Age: 2-7 years old 1 Price: first month free, full version — 299 R Drawer develops fine motor skills in children over two years old. The characters of the game teach how to draw animals: all you have to do is trace the dotted lines with your finger. If the child succeeds, then the picture comes to life - animation is built into the application. Age: 3-5 years old The name of the application says it all: the child really has to deal with funny food that smiles and sings. Age: 2-6 years old Application "Math and Numbers for Kids" » is intended for children from two years of age. The child will be able to count the objects in the picture aloud, circle the number with his finger, hear how it is pronounced, and even see how to show it on the fingers. This is ideal for an early introduction to numbers. And for children 5-6 years old, there are more difficult tasks: you need to learn numbers in one of 20 languages - including Chinese, Hindi, Norwegian and Romanian. /list/family-games/ Board games for kids Age: 5-6 years old This application is useful in the period when the child has already learned the letters, but he still cannot combine them into syllables. It helps to learn how to read the unicorn Ray, which divides words into parts and pronounces each syllable - so the child understands how to pronounce the whole word. The application is designed in such a way that the child learns to read on his own, without the help of adults. Featured Articles for Parents Everything you ever wanted to know about children and money is in our mailing list twice a week along with the rest of the material about money Age: 4-7 years Teach think spatially The rules of the game are as simple as possible: you need to connect all the dots with one continuous line. The player's task in the Line Puzzle is to repeat the pattern according to the pattern. To do this, you need to stretch the rope and fasten it at certain points. The main difficulty is that at some points the rope is already fixed initially and it will not be possible to move it. This may confuse the child. The first levels are very simple and perfect even for a three-year-old. But the further, the more difficult - the latter will also interest adults. /list/study-for-free/ Free courses in Russian: 20 online platforms Age: from 4 years
Learning to draw:
Download: Android, iOS Funny food!
What will teach: think logically, determine color and shape
Price: free
Download: Android, iOS 
On the example of vegetables and fruits, children learn the color and shape of objects, the concept of part and whole, and master sorting. The advantage of the application is that all subjects are familiar to the child, so he will learn new skills easily. Math and numbers for kids
What it will teach you: to count, including in a foreign language
Price: several levels for free, the full version is 75 R
Download: Android, iOS 
Letters: learning to read fun
What the price will teach: to read in several syllables,
for free full version — 999 Р
Download: Android, iOS 1Line
Price: for free, for additional tasks they will take from 75 to 279 R
Download or open: Android, iOS, desktop 
A child of 3-4 years old will cope with the first levels, but the task gradually becomes more complicated: there are more and more dots, and the pattern is more and more intricate. The game trains spatial thinking, allows you to go through the same level many times until you find the right solution. 9
Star Walk Kids
What it will teach you: to navigate by 2 stars
Download: Android, iOS
This is the children's version of Star Walk star mapping app.
If you give the application access to geolocation, it will show the constellations in the night sky and talk about them.
In addition, the child can explore the structure of the universe in a playful way and even find the Hubble telescope and the International Space Station in the sky. This is a complete encyclopedia about space that will answer all the questions of children.
Puzzles with matches
Age: from 6 years old
What will think: think logically, count
Price: free, but you can buy tips - 6 pieces for 149 r or 300 for 2990 p
download: download Android, iOS
The classic match-shifting puzzle has taken on an absolutely safe form. There are more than a thousand different tasks in the application. Moreover, the complexity increases very slowly - the child will be able to gradually master the game. In addition to the usual graphical puzzles, there are counting tasks, so you can also improve math in the process.
Sea of words
Age: 4-7 years old
What will teach: to read and compose words
Price: free, you will have to pay for hints from 379Р
Download or open: Android, iOS, desktop
"Sea of words" invites the child to make as many words as possible from a certain set of letters. The higher the level, the more initial letters and the more words to be composed. But the length of the words is known, so some of them can simply be guessed. In addition, there are hints - children will see the first letter of one of the hidden words.
The game has more than 2000 levels and 6 languages, so you can learn more than just Russian words. The only drawback is that there is no built-in dictionary. Therefore, at more complex levels, the child may encounter words that he does not know. Parents will have to explain them.
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What to buy in ikea children
Words from words
Age: from 6 years
What will teach: Read and be attentive
Free
Download: Android, iOS
The old game of making short words from one long one has found a new life.
Now you can play in the application, both alone and compete with other participants in the tournament. At some levels, up to 150 new words can be made from one original word, and all unknown words can be looked up in the dictionary.
Home speech therapist
Age: 5-12 years old
What it will teach you: to speak correctly and think logically
Price: for free; a new lesson can be opened for viewing ads
Download: Android, iOS
The Home Speech Therapist application will help those who cannot yet contact a professional speech therapist. 350 lessons will allow you to practice problematic sounds and correct minor speech defects that almost all children have at an early age. In addition, in the process of completing tasks, the child will develop memory and logic. But a child must be engaged in this application with an adult.
2048
Age: 7-12 years old
What will think: Logically think, be attentive, count
Price: free
download or open: Android, iOS, desktop
Game, which is distant resembles tags, was created by 19-year-old Italian Gabriele Cirulli in the JavaScript programming language and posted in the public domain.
Therefore, there are dozens of options that differ only in graphics, but with the same rules.
Two deuces appear on the square field. They can be moved in all directions. Identical numbers are summed up, so twos eventually turn into fours, and fours into eights. The player's task is to get 2048 in total. The child trains the skill of addition and learns to build a game strategy, calculate a few steps ahead - like in chess, only easier.
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Skazbuka
Age: 2-6 years
What will teach: to think both as an engineer and as a philosopher
Price: trial subscription - 149 R per month, then - 999 R for 3 months
9019 Download:
Android , iOS
Skazbuka is an educational application with beautiful graphics and a familiar voice: Vadim Demchog voices tasks.
The game is divided into blocks depending on age, and there are 776 levels in the game. The creators allow you to play only half an hour a day, so you won’t be able to quickly complete all the levels.
The child will learn to read and count, learn the names of colors and shapes, and get ready for school without being bored. Parents can also view the progress report and limit the amount of time their child spends playing directly in the app.
Top 10 mobile games for kids development
My Sunday morning started with a letter from the editor of Kaspersky Daily.
“Denis, you once wrote for our blog about games for the development of children. This post is still in the top of the most popular content. Now the topic has become even more relevant - millions of families are trying to peacefully coexist in self-isolation. Do you want to update the post?
One of the features of self-isolation* of our family is the blurring of boundaries between the days of the week.
We do not have working days and days off - instead of them, something new has arisen, a hybrid. We strictly carry out our kindergarten-school-work tasks, but at the same time, a lot of time was freed up, which was previously spent on moving around in space. In general, despite the fact that today is Sunday, now I will write this post - and only then I will switch to classes that are more characteristic of weekends.
More than four years have passed since the old post was written. During this time, a lot of things have happened: experts have invented new teaching methods, developers have released new applications. My children have grown up and new ones have appeared :)
What hasn't changed is my attitude towards computer games. Everything electronic is firmly registered in people's lives, and to deny, and even more so to counteract the new realities, is tantamount to a strategic defeat in the future of our children. It is pointless to fight - you need to lead and manage.
This paragraph from my previous post about mobile games has definitely not lost its relevance:
It is not in our power to change the fact that synergy “human-computer” is growing, but it is in our power to show children why computers exist. Show who serves whom - who is the master and who is the servant. Do not let computers enslave you, but take the best from them to improve the quality of life, while not losing your soul and the ability to lively communicate.
Forbidden fruit is sweet. Uncontrolled consumption of the forbidden fruit is fraught with deviations, antisocial behavior and degradation. You can avoid these consequences by depriving the fetus of the status of the forbidden. Eat it together! Keeping the dose, consciously choosing the genre and teaching children about the basics of relationships with smart devices (including, of course, the rules of cybersecurity). The current period of self-isolation is the time to do it.
I bring to your attention ten (in fact, even much more) mobile games and really interesting educational applications that my children and I are happy to dive into and gain intelligence.
1. What's inside?
Download on Google Play Download on the App Store
How does it all work and why does it work the way it does? These and another million and thirty-six thousand other natural science questions swarm in the minds of all children, regularly splashing out on their parents - and now, as you know, they work at home , and it is not always convenient for them to be distracted.
But - hooray! – in mobile stores there is something to satisfy this hunger! For example, a series of entertainment and educational applications from Learny Land:
- How are things done? (Android, iOS)
- What is there in space? (Android, iOS)
- May the forces be with you (iOS)
- How did dinosaurs live? (Android, iOS)
- How does my body work? (Android, iOS)
2. Bradusyatina
Download on Google Play Download on the App Store
Cheer up the gray matter of the brain is useful not only for children, but also for adults.
I confess: Bredus (as well as their prequel "Rebuses" and the English version of REBUS) is my favorite thing to do in air travel. Nothing shortens travel time like (quoting the game's blurb) "a game that makes your brain curl and tickle your skull from the inside. Each solved puzzle will make a pleasant click in the brain.
Some puzzles can be spent days and weeks in thought. Others pop like nuts one after the other. But together they perfectly develop non-standard thinking and combinatorics. And for the smallest, the developer has AZZL - however, only for iOS.
- BREDUS (Android, iOS)
- REBUSES+ (Android, iOS)
- AZZL (iOS)
3. Shake the old days!
Download on Google Play Download on App Store
Arcades… And especially ancient arcades.
Oh, how many nostalgic memories such "warm tube" titles, such as Digger, Lode Runner, Tetris and PAC-MAN, evoke!
The games that have changed the fourth decade are still more alive than all living ones, because the ingenious game dynamics will forever remain brilliant, all ages are submissive to it. And thanks to those kind people who ported the "good old" to the "new-smart".
- Digger (Android, iOS)
- Lode Runner (Android, iOS)
- Tetris (Android, iOS)
- PAC-MAN (Android, iOS)
4. Mystery Finder
Download on Google Play Download on the App Store
CHUCHEL. First, it's very beautiful. The games of the Czech studio Amanita Design are distinguished by amazing elaboration of the smallest details, wonderful, unexpectedly embossed characters and hypnotic magical worlds.
Second, in the spirit of the classic quests of the 80s and 90s, this game elegantly makes children's balls go behind the rollers and break the usual stereotypes of problem solving.
Thirdly, if you didn't have enough CHUCHEL and want more, then continue playing other games from the same studio - Samorost 3, Machinarium, Botanicula and Pilgrims (for the little ones).
- CHUCHEL (Android, iOS)
- Samorost 3 (Android, iOS)
- Machinarium (Android, iOS)
- Botanicula (Android, iOS)
- Pilgrims (iOS)
5. It's hard to be a god
Download on Google Play Download on the App Store
That's right! In the Pavilion game, the protagonist is encouraged to act with the help of various otherworldly signs. Because of this, the developers cleverly positioned the application as a “fourth-person puzzle adventure”.
This alone arouses curiosity and fuels the willingness to pay four bucks! To be honest, we have no regrets!
In 2019, we were promised to release the second part of Pavilion, but alas, it is still not and is not expected. It's a pity!
- Pavilion (Android, iOS)
6. Visiting Cheburashka
Download on Google Play Download on the App Store
I continue the theme of beautiful adventure quests - Lumino City.
This game could be put in the "and others" list under Pavilion, but I can't, it's just impossible! The game deserves all the attention for its stunning aesthetics and scenery. The developers erected a miraculous monument to themselves in the style of puppet cartoons of the 70s and 80s.
Perhaps, to create an appetite, you can first watch this amusing video about the creation of the game Making of Lumino City. Awesome!
And if you liked it, the App Store also has a prequel - Lume. By the way, its developers are now distributing for free.
- Lumino City (Android, iOS)
- The Making of Lumino City (iOS)
- Lume (iOS)
7. Beyond everything
Download on the App Store
And here is a museum exhibit in the good sense of the word - INSIDE. This is a game from the creators of the old hit LIMBO about the adventures of a little boy in the other world. It sounds creepy, but it looks so that you can’t take your eyes off. That's why it's a "museum exhibit".
At INSIDE, parents can just look and admire, and children can play.
- INSIDE (iOS)
- LIMBO (Android, iOS)
8. Creative Brain Explosion
Download on Google Play Download on the App Store
If your kids have already completed CHUCHEL and Lumino City, the Bredus are clicking for dessert and are crazy about the worlds of Pavilion and INSIDE, then you need to urgently install gorogoa. This is an original adventure puzzle game with very unusual game dynamics.
Well, at least I haven't seen anything like this before, and for the first five minutes I was just "stupid", not understanding what was going on. But as soon as it becomes clear how and what to strive for, then .
.. you will dream of this game :)
- Gorogoa (Android, iOS)
9. Smart words
Download on Google Play Download on the App Store
Parallelepiped, bisector, centroid. Pythagorean theorem, right-angled trapezoids, perpendicular bisectors. Isosceles triangles, central symmetry, medians.
A rare child does not want to shine in front of peers with deep knowledge of the foundations of Euclidean geometry. Moreover, you can get to know them in an accessible and entertaining manner in the Pythagorea application. Who knows, perhaps this will open a future great architect or mathematician in a small person?
- Pythagoria (Android, iOS)
- Euclidea (Android, iOS)
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