Learning Apps - Toddlers & Preschoolers

Updated: Aug 3, 2017

As the next school year starts, I have been asked a few times what I use to educate my kids from home.

When my son was 3 years old, I looked into preschools but for the cost, we felt that the programs we were already using were superior for the money and left money in our budget for Kindermusik, sports, and other activities.

My boys are now 4 years and 1 year old respectively, and we have already tested lots of apps and curriculums. Some we have now tested with both children. Here are our favorites.

About Me

First, let me mention that I have a Master's in Education and I have been teaching children for 20 years.  I now have been teaching college courses for over the past 15 years. I feel I have plenty of experience as a children's educator to knowledgeably share these recommendations below.

Disclaimer

Yes, I know what the reports say about children and television. I am also aware that watching television and electronics are not recommended for children for the first few years, especially the first year.

I do limit my children's screen time (especially limit non-educational screen time), but let's be realistic. Sometimes, it is the only way to keep them from crying or it's the only way you sometimes can get a 10-minute break to brush your hair, brush your teeth, or take a shower.

This blog also included affiliate links.  This is one way I can provide you with free information and still support my family. Please also like our Facebook - Kid Wisdom page or follow this blog to continue to get free tips and tools.

Technology Recommendations for Preschoolers

For the apps listed below, I recommend an Ipad or Android Tablet. Kindle is great, but many apps are not supported on it, including my favorite - ABCmouse.com. We cover all our tablets with Otterboxes, and our current Ipad has lasted 5 years, 4 of which were mainly used by a toddler.

Baby to 6 Months

I love Baby Einstein Videos

Baby Einstein is visually slower than traditional television shows.  I like that it shows babies and kids doing what they do best, and stays on the same camera shot for up to 30 seconds and doesn't change images or camera shots every 5 seconds. I also like the classical music it has instead of inappropriate dialog that some kids shows have. We communicate using sign language with our boys and used the Baby Einstein Sign Language videos to help us all learn the basic signs, like "milk." The signs really helped us communicate when our sons were about 1-year-old, and helped my boys build a great vocabulary from 1-2 years old. Now son number 2 is a little over 1 year, and he loves the video.  My 4 year old also can be cause still watching the videos and practicing the signs.

Baby 6-12 Months Old
All Baby to 6 months apps plus-

Fisher Price Laugh and Learn Apps (free)
I remember driving to my in-laws house after a long day of flying and airports.  My baby was tired of traveling and was getting very fussy. How did I keep him quiet for the 30-minute drive and prevent a meltdown? I had these apps loaded on my phone and this was enough to keep him happy.

I really like the "Animals" and "Stamp Learn" apps. There are no right or wrong ways to play these apps.  Kids can just play and learn.

FYI-We use the Kids Place app to lock our android phones and tablets to keep our young ones in approved apps.

Toddler 12-18 Months
All baby to 12-month apps plus:

• All Fisher Price Laugh and Learn apps including "Story book" apps, "Where's Puppy," and "Puppy Play" apps.
• PBS Kids Video
• Phone4Kids - Good app for 1 to 5 years

I am fussy what I let my kids watch, especially what kids shows they can watch.  From 1-3 yrs, I even restricted what PBS shows they could watch. I noticed my toddler started to get sassy after watching some shows that were for older kids. At 3 years, he couldn't watch those sarcastic and sassier shows without affecting his behavior.

My PBS Kids favorite shows for this age:

• Daniel Tiger
• Dinosaur Train

Toddler 18 Months-2 Years

Fun Apps:

• PBS Kids Video
• Phone4Kids - Good app for 1 to 5 years
• "Squiggles" app

Learning Apps:

• ABC Mouse Early Learning Academy - Toddler Time Curriculum 

ABC Mouse 18 Months-2 Years Insights:



I love ABC Mouse Early Learning Academy.  I am so impressed.  At 18 months, my son could use the app and would listen to books, songs, practice colors, etc. For under 3 years old, they have a "Toddler Time" Curriculum. We didn't follow the curriculum religiously. From 1.5 to 2 Years, I would help guide him through the curriculum. Most of the time, we did the activities together and even at this young age, the activities were still very beneficial, especially for vocabulary building.


Toddler 2-3 Years

Fun Apps:

• Same as 18 Months-2 Years

Learning Apps:

• ABC Mouse Early Learning Academy - Toddler Time Curriculum
• PBS Parents - Great early learning app for Toddler-5 Yrs

ABC Mouse 2-3 Years Thoughts:
At this age, we still did not follow the curriculum strictly. I just let my son learn and discover the app. I would occasionally direct him to areas I favored for his age. Of course, the Zoo and Farm areas of the program were hits when he was this age. The books have really increased his vocabulary. He listened to "Big Bug and Little Bug" at least 23 times. Sometimes, I would have to help him if he got stuck, but really there is no wrong place in this app.  He can always exit and go back to the Home screen if he ended up in an activity he didn't like.  The Toddler Time activities were great and just on his level.  It took him about 1 year to complete the Toddler Time curriculum because we didn't push it and let him go at his pace.  He started Pre-K Level 1 at about 2.5 years old,  because this is when he completed and graduated from the Toddler Time curriculum. He would have been happy in either curriculum from 2.5-3 years, but now that he is 3, I can really see him absorbing the Pre-K curriculum.

Update Aug 2017: At 4 Yrs Old, my son is now on Level 5 of ABC Mouse and still loves it over any other app or learning program we have tried.  The Baby is now 15 Months and is beginning to us the Toddler Time App.  We plan to use this program until they both get to the end of the curriculum.  It is still the best curriculum and most user friendly that I have found for this age.



Preschool 3-5 Years Old

Fun Apps:

• All previous apps plus-
• 22 Learn Apps - Good kid-friendly entertainment, but not strong enough for a stand-alone preschool program
• PBS Games

Learning Apps:

• All previous plus-
• Curious World (free limited features)
• Kumon - practice writing ABCs (purchased app)
• Baby Sign Pro (free limited features)
• ASL Kids (free limited features)
• Learn ASL Lite (free limited features)
• Spanish thru eFlash Apps (free limited features)
• Espanol by Chungaboo (free limited features)

Additional that I personally have not reviewed:

• Waterford Institute - Free online preschool in UT - http://www.waterfordupstart.org

ABC Mouse 3-5 Years Review
Original Comments: After 1.5 years using the curriculum, we are still loving this program and curriculum. We tried Time4Learnings Pre-K curriculum, but it is not as user-friendly for this age group. The curriculum was good, but ABC Mouse has great technology features and is much easier to use with equally as good curriculum. We plan on finishing ABC Mouse through the 1st-grade curriculum, then we will transition to Time4Learning.

Now that my son is 3 Years Old, I am more strict about following the Learning Path and curriculum. I have seen his letter recognition skyrocket during Level 1.  Shapes and colors are covered in Level 1 also, but he already had those down from the Toddler Time curriculum.

About a quarter way through Level 1, I was getting worried that the curriculum didn't emphasize letter recognition and phonics enough. But by the end of Level 1, my insight has changed; the curriculum is nicely balanced between numbers, letters, colors, shapes, phonics, social studies, and several other areas. For example, we drove up a canyon near our home the other day, and my son said, "It's kind of like the [Grand] Canyon I see on Mouse School."  When we passed a replica of Mt. Rushmore, he said, "Hey Mom look, it's Mt. Rushmore." And as we drove past the letter Y painted on the mountain he said, "Look, it's a Z." When I said, "That's great buddy, but it's a Y." He said, "Y for Yo-yo." When I hear these little comments, I know the curriculum on ABC Mouse is working well for us and it makes me a proud mama.

Update Aug 2017: At 4 Yrs Old, my son is now on Level 5 of ABC Mouse and still loves it over any other app or learning program we have tried.  The Baby is now 15 Months and is beginning to us the Toddler Time App.  We plan to use this program until they both get to the end of the curriculum.  It is still the best curriculum and most user friendly that I have found for this age.

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Question from a Friend

Question: "Good morning, I was reading your kid wisdom post last night and really want to get abcmouse for [my daughter], but we have limited internet at the moment. Do you know if the app requires internet?

My Response: "Ya.  It does 100%.  It does work pretty well on the phone.  I just don't know how much data it uses.  They put out an app for ABC mouse Music Videos.  I don't know if this requires internet (probably), but it is free and includes all the toddler's favorite songs."

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