Smartphones have become a staple for children nowadays. There are endless apps available for kids, and it’s always handy to use them to entertain little ones anywhere you go. The great thing about this is that most kids’ apps usually have an educational spin on them, making them perfect for young minds. Today, we bring you a selection of apps for children of all ages, from preschool to preteen.
On this list, you’ll find apps that let you watch cartoons without the need to find a TV nearby or draining your data, since you can use WiFi or watch downloaded content. You’ll also find apps to review math problems, improve English vocabulary, and even learn the ABCs. So, without further ado, here are some of the best kids’ apps you can find.
Kids’ apps for cartoons
Clan RTVE
Here you have all your children’s favorite cartoons, ready to be watched wherever you go. Clan RTVE lets you watch Peppa Pig, Pocoyo, Cleo & Cuquin, Caillou, and more. It’s an app that lets you watch entire videos and episodes: you just have to choose the show you want and select the episode you want to watch. You can also filter by content available in other languages to help your children learn new vocabulary while watching their favorite cartoons. The app is intuitive and can be used easily by preschool-aged children.
Aside from cartoons, Clan RTVE has a section with basic tools to color pictures of your favorite cartoon characters. You just have to choose a topic, a specific drawing, and use the brush available with the color palette the app offers.
Lastly, it also has a feature that uses the camera on your phone. You can take pictures or selfies that include stickers showing some of the most loved cartoon characters from the shows the app offers. It’s a really complete tool that offers a ton of entertainment opportunities for your little ones. [Download]
YouTube Kids
YouTube Kids is the children’s version of the video platform. Adults can create profiles for different children and control their usage. Among the parental control options, you’ll find the ability to choose if you want to allow your children to be able to search for their favorite videos, or simply see the content the app shows. Whether they search for videos or not, all the app’s content is filtered to make sure it’s appropriate for children.
The app is simple to use: four categories are shown at the top (heroes, learning, music, and shows) and a fifth category to explore all sorts of recommended content. All the videos are for children, cartoons or not. And each video, like in the conventional app, offers related videos for you to jump to.
Plus, you can use a timer that will turn off the app automatically after a certain amount of time. You can set it to turn off after a maximum of 60 minutes. After this time, the app will be locked and won’t be able to be used without the help of an adult. [Download]
Pinkfong TV
If you want a dose of Baby Shark, here you have the perfect app for watching these videos to your heart’s content. Pinkfong TV has tons of videos on YouTube and they’re all gathered together here in this specific app. Some specific songs require payment, but most are free and can be downloaded to be watched wherever you go, without an internet connection. You’ll find collections of 15 or 20 minutes worth of the most popular PinkFong songs and every version of Baby Shark, animals, dinosaurs, etc.
Parents also have their own section in this app. So you can manage the content according to the child’s age: baby, preschool, over nine years old, or all ages. You can also choose the language of the videos in case you want a specific language, making it great for language learning as well. You can also decide which videos come up and which ones don’t, in case you don’t like any particular videos. [Download]
Learning apps for kids
There are some really useful apps for reviewing what kids learn in school, or for introducing them to new material. You’ll find apps to improve language skills, math, or to discover more pleasant learning methods.
Fun English Learning
Here you have an app for learning English, but in a fun and pleasant way. The app gives you access to different categories according tot he type of vocabulary you want to learn (numbers, food, vehicles, school, etc.) and depending on the type of activity the child can complete. There are all sorts of games and tools for learning a basic level of English and improving pronunciation.
It’s a really interesting app and it’s perfect for all ages. Eye-catching, colorful, fun and very basic games that can be easily used by the littlest ones in the house. [Download]
Kindergarten Math
Reviewing math concepts is easy with Kindergarten Math, a game where you need to help an alien decorate his apartment. To decorate it, you’ll need money and you can only get it by solving math problems throughout the galaxy. It’s fun, attractive, and full of customization options: children can create their own profiles and choose their own alien avatar.
The way it works is simple thanks to its intuitive interface and basic and visual explanations. Thanks to these explanations, your children won’t have a single problem when it comes to using the app. The difficulty level will increase as the levels increase, so your little ones will get better and better the more they use the app. You have a wide variety of exercises to complete: counting, addition, subtraction, and more complex problems. It’s the perfect app for children between 5 and 10 years old and it offers all sorts of math problems to help children practice and remember math lessons they’ve learned in school. [Download]
iCuadernos by Rubio / Work notebooks by Rubio
The classic workbooks from Rubio now have their very own smartphone app. In it, you can create profiles for children of all ages. There are all sorts of workbooks available: Children’s education, numbers, upper case letters, lower case letters, coloring, problems, and activities. From the most basic concepts like following the dotted line, to more complex operations and math problems.
The interface is similar to the classic paper workbooks and you can complete various levels in each subject for free. Plus, you can buy new workbooks with coins called “Rubis.” There are dozens of workbooks available and you can search for them by filtering according to collection or age. You just have to choose whatever’s most interesting to you. [Download]
Papumba Academy
This app is geared toward preschool-age children to help them learn about all sorts of things on a smartphone. They’ll learn about animals, letters, and numbers with colorful, attractive games, perfect for ages two to three. It’s easy to use, all it takes is simple swipes on the screen that any child can do without a problem.
The interface is colorful and eye-catching, making it unlikely to get boring. As you pass through the levels, you can earn collectible objects that will be added to an album. It’s a great app for small children who are just starting to use a smartphone for the first time. [Download]
Parental control apps
Although it’s become the norm for small children to use smartphones, parental control is necessary to keep an eye on what your little ones are doing with the smartphone or to keep track of the amount of time they spend using it. This list of apps will help you maintain control over the apps they use, discover when they’re used, and even see your child’s location in real time.
Google Family Link
Parental control is easy with Google Family Link, an app that works with a remote control and that can manage all the the content on children’s smartphones. You can create profiles for each child and control their smartphones from yours. Plus, you have different options to use: choose what time they can use games and apps, or block any sort of activity you consider suspicious.
You just have to install the app on the adult’s and child’s device to get control. You can register an entire family, adding up to five children. Plus, you can receive advice about responsible smartphone usage and even get periodic reports about the usage: how much time and what apps have been used on the device.
Another one of the most useful features of Google Family Link is knowing where the phone is at all times. You can locate it in real time to make sure your children are where they’re supposed to be and safe from harm. [Download]
Parental Control Secure Kids
This app is another great parental control alternative. Thanks to Parental Control Secure Kids, you can control the apps that can be used on the smartphone or the websites that can be accessed. Plus, you can see the outgoing and incoming calls, create custom alarms or access the location in real time.
Just like Google Family Link, this app gives you a detailed report with information about which apps have been used the most or how long the device was in use. You can also create alarms and notifications in case you want to, for example, tell you child it’s time to eat dinner.
This parental control tool can be controlled from the Android app on another device, and/or from the Secure Kids website. It’s a really useful, complete, and efficient app. [Download]
