Category Archives: FREE apps for kids

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BrainPOP and BrainPOP Jr.

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BrainPOP has been around for more than a decade as a website.  The content is geared for grades 4+ but I used a lot of the movies in my third grade classroom. It was truly one of my favorite websites. There are over 750 lessons covering science, social studies, math, art & music, etc.

Now you can download the BrainPOP Featured Movie app for FREE and your child can learn something new every day.  After watching each movie there is a short interactive quiz. If your child can’t get enough of this engaging app, there are two subscription options: $1.99 per month will get you four movies and quizzes each day and full access is $6.99 per month.

Highly Recommended!

BrainPOP Featured Movie - BrainPOP®

Also available for FREE is BrainPOP Jr. Movie of the Week. Every week Annie and Moby (two lovable characters) help 5 to 9 year olds learn about a different subject. There is also a quiz and activities to accompany each animated movie.  BrainPOP Jr. has been on the web since 2006 delivering content for younger students in science, social studies, reading, writing, math, and more.

Highly recommended!

BrainPOP Jr. Movie of the Week - BrainPOP®

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Bitsboard – Education, Games, and Flashcards for Learning Reading, Spelling, and more

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Bitsboard

Bitsboard is a FREE app for education with so many uses – it’s ideal for teaching languages, vocabulary, sight words, spelling, and more.The app comes with three games: Flashcards (10,000+ free flash cards with fully customizable settings), Explore (reviews all flashcards), and Photo Touch (spot the correct item game). There are 7 additional games available as in-app purchases. Bitsboard is easy to use and fully customizable so you can use it to create games for whatever you are teaching. And, you can see that people have done just that because the app includes FREE access to the Bitsboard catalog which includes thousands of flashcards with lessons covering a variety of topics. If all of that hasn’t convinced you that you need this educational app, this feature certainly will –  Bitsboard supports multiple users and keeps track of their progress!!

Recommended – a great app with loads of potential!!

Bitsboard - Education, Games, and Flashcards for Learning Reading, Spelling, and more - GrasshopperApps.com

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Toontastic

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Toontastic

Toontastic 2

Parents and teachers love this app and kids can’t stop creating! Named by the NY Times as one of Top Ten iPad apps of 2011, Toontastic is a fabulously creative FREE app for kids. This app allows kids to draw, animate and share their own cartoons AND it teaches them the elements of a story! Kids are able to use backgrounds and characters from the app or create their own with the drawing tools that are provided. The basic app is FREE but there are several in-app purchases available. Final creations can be shared online via ToonTube, Toontastic’s global storytelling network. Over 2 million cartoons have been created in over 150 countries. Unleash your child’s creativity with this great app!!

Here is a link to more information: Toontastic: Play, Create, Learn on the iPad!.

Not only are the possibilities for using this app are endless but a child’s work can be shared with parents, grandparents, other classes, etc.

Toontastic - Launchpad Toys

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Rocket Speller

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Rocket Speller is a FREE spelling app for the iPad and iPhone geared towards 3 – 7 year olds. Kids join Zip the alien on an adventure to build a new rocket. As the child successfully progresses through the levels he/she helps Zip choose the rocket pieces that he needs. Once Zip has collected everything, the rocket can be launched from the space pad. There are 4 levels. Level 1 allows you to match & place the letters in any order. In level 2, letters must be matched/placed in the correct order. Level 3 is spelling of simple words and level 4 is more complex words. This app promotes letter recognition, left to right order, awareness of how letters combine to make words, and vocabulary.

It’s cute, fun and you get the whole version for FREE.

Rocket Speller - Little Big Thinkers

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Little Story Maker

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Little Story Maker

FREE – Little Story Maker, an app which you can use to turn your photos into quick little stories. 🙂 Have your kids write about their summer adventures. Just click the plus button to add a new story. Then name it, add a photo, and the text/recording. You’re done!! I love the idea of this app but there are some limitations & challenges: the text for each page is limited to about 40 characters, word highlighting is available but you have to line it up for it to work properly, and the app crashed frequently as I was testing it. Hopefully the developers will work out the kinks – there’s a lot of potential here!

Little Story Maker - GrasshopperApps.com

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Herd the Words

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Herd the Word

Herd the Words is a FREE word ladder game. Word ladders were invented by Lewis Carroll (author of Alice in Wonderland) in 1877. Players are given two words – a starting word and an ending word. They must change one letter at time to create a ladder of words between the two. Here is an example for changing blast to lease: blast – beast – least – lease. Players switch out letters (written on sheep) to create the word ladder. The app keeps track of how many steps it took to complete the puzzle. There are two modes of play – single player and multiplayer. In app purchases are available for unlimited play, hints, and to disable ads.

Games like this one are great for helping kids develop a sense of word structure. 🙂

Herd the Words - Gabicoware LLC

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Oh No Fractions!

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on no fractrions

UPDATED and even better!! Oh No Fractions! is a great FREE iPhone/iPad app for comparing and exploring fractions. The app is simple to use – kids just swipe to the right or the left to indicate whether one fraction is “greater than” or “less than” or “equal to” (a new feature) a second fraction. Kids can use a manipulative to “peek” at an answer before they commit to it or they can use the manipulative to “prove” their answer later.  The “peek”/”prove it” feature of this app is fabulous because it allows the child to visualize his/her answer.

Kids can also practice finding the common denominator then use the app for addition, subtraction, multiplication and division of fractions. The app then generates the corresponding decimal and percentage for the answer. The developer made several improvements to this already great app after receiving feedback from teachers –  how wonderful to have a developer willing to listen to teachers’ needs!

Great tool for helping kids to understand fractions!! Recommended!

Common Core Standards met:

3.NF.3 – Explain equivalence of fractions and compare fractions by reasoning about their size. Understand two fractions as equivalent (equal) if they are the same size. Recognize and generate simple equivalent fractions, e.g., 1/2 = 2/4, 4/6 = 2/3).

Oh No Fractions! - Curious Hat Lab - Curious Hat

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Kids Puzzles Puzzingo – Learning Puzzle Games for Toddler

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PuzzingoVoted one of the best kid’s apps by the Chicago Tribune, Kids Puzzles Puzzingo (for the iPad/iPhone & Android) is a FREE app that offers additional puzzles as in-app purchases. Kids build 3 interactive puzzles (picnic, jungle animals, dune buggy) that teach vocabulary, colors, shapes, etc. The names of the animals and objects that are pronounced as the child moves each puzzle piece into place. When each puzzle is completed, kids are rewarded with a mini-game! Great fun for little ones.  :)

PUZZINGO Kids Puzzle Game for Toddler and Preschooler with Animals, Shapes, Numbers, and More - 77SPARX Studio, LLC

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Khan Academy

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Khan 2

Khan Academy

For my 500th post, I wanted to write about an amazing app and this one certainly meets that criteria. Whoever said the best things in life are FREE was absolutely correct. With Khan Academy you can learn almost anything and the app is completely FREE! It has a library of over 4,100 videos which covers a wide range of subjects such as K – 12 math, biology, chemistry, the humanities, and more. You can use the app to review a subject that you have already studied or to learn something completely new! You can watch the videos online or you can download  them to watch offline at your own pace. The videos are subtitled so that you can read along, skip ahead, or go back. If you log in with your Khan Academy account, you can track your progress. The app gives you credit for watching the videos and allows you to see your achievements. Badges and points are earned for learning. Teachers can access their students’ data – as a class or individually. Khan Academy is an incredible resource for all kinds of learners – students, teachers, principals, home-schoolers, adults returning to school, and anyone committed to be a lifelong learner. It is truly one of the best apps available – at any price!

Khan Academy - Khan Academy

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Sago Mini Sound Box – Fun sounds for infants, toddlers and preschool aged children

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Sound Box

New & Noteworthy and currently FREE – Sago Mini Sound Box – Fun sounds for infants, toddlers and preschool aged children. Toddlers choose from nine different sound makers such as chimes, horns, drums, animals and more. Notes are represented by dots that can be bounced around the screen. Kids can tilt the screen to hear sounds bump into each other, move sounds around the screen with their fingers, or tap and hold sounds for a silly surprise. The app works with multi-touch so that you can play with your child. There are no in-app purchases or third-party advertising so you and your child are free to play & discover without interruptions! Colorful, musical, and full of surprises – this app is great for little ones!

Sago Mini Sound Box - Fun sounds for infants, toddlers and preschool aged children - Sago Sago