Apple App Store: Four of the top-rated apps for teaching young children basic reading and maths skills

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These apps help ‘gamify’ learning for toddlers and younger children 🎮
  • Children’s screen time has shot up in recent years
  • But alongside its potential pitfalls, the right content can help boost educational outcomes
  • There are plenty of ad-free, child safe games for toddlers and older children alike specially designed to help them grasp key academic skills
  • Most try to gamify learning, to keep their young audiences engaged

Smartphones and tablets have become a near ever-present part of daily life for many British households, and tots are often drawn to them like magnets.

Whether it be streaming the latest episode of Bluey, or downloading every free (and often ad-riddled) game they can find, screen time seems to sing out to young children, capturing their attention and their imagination. But there are also many apps available that are designed to be just as educational as they are fun.

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Although Parliament’s Education Committee recently warned against too much screen time for young children despite a huge uptick in recent years, it also acknowledged that it could have some benefits, “such as bettering their educational outcomes through helpful educational content online”. This is more important now than ever, with a report last year finding 30% of five year olds in England were falling behind expected reading levels in the wake of the pandemic, the Independent reports, which could eventually end up costing the economy some £830 million.

We’ve sorted through the most popular free ‘education’ apps in the Apple App Store for Great Britain (as of Thursday, 23 January), and curated a list of those aimed specifically at young children, and developing their literacy and numeracy skills. This means that we’ve excluded some high-rated education apps, including those aimed at adults, classroom apps, and those that are more game than learning tool.

Here were four of the most popular and highly-rated apps available for Apple devices:

There are plenty of safe and child-friendly apps that can help young people build essential skillsThere are plenty of safe and child-friendly apps that can help young people build essential skills
There are plenty of safe and child-friendly apps that can help young people build essential skills | (Image: National World/Adobe Stock)

1. Times Tables Rock Stars

Times Tables Rock Stars is ranked 16th overall for iPhone education apps in Great Britain, and has a rating of 4.6 stars out of 5, by more than 100 thousand users. It is aimed at building maths skills, with a particular focus on multiplication and division.

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With its colourful rock star theme and customisable characters, this app helps children with memorising their times tables with speed and accuracy. It is a gamified learning platform with all sorts of different game modes, including multiplayer ones that allow children to compete against friends or family. The developers say the app can adapt to suit each learner’s needs, and keeps track of stats for parents too - like fluency and effort.

“It’s so fun to play when you’re bored doing nothing all day and it improves your times tables knowledge massively,” one young reviewer, who uses it via a school membership, wrote. “It is great to battle out with your friends and see who gets the highest score... If your school signs up, you can be seen across the entirety of England in schools and classes and even your own stats. You win a prize by getting the highest score in your school and so could your school.”

Times Tables Rock Stars is free to download and sometimes offers a free trial, but usually requires a subscription to use. These start at £9 per year for a family. The app is suitable for children aged 4 and up, but is specifically aimed at young people aged 6 to 16. You can find it in the Apple App Store here.

2. Lingokids

Lingokids is currently ranked 39th overall in education apps for iPhone, although its developers note it is primarily designed for iPads. It has a rating of 4.3 stars out of 5 by nearly 49 thousand users, and offers maths, literacy, science, art, music, and even basic life skills.

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With exclusive content designed by academic powerhouses like NASA and the Oxford University Press, Lingokids specialises in ‘playlearning’ - a patented teaching methodology that uses games, quizzes, digital books, videos, and songs to help children learn. With subjects, themes, and courses that grow with its young users, the app offers a truly vast library of educational content, in a safe, ad-free environment.

One reviewer, whose 5-year-old daughter asked them to download it after seeing it advertised, wrote: “Ever since she has loved it. I had to install it on both my tablet and phone in the end as she couldn’t get enough of. Then I ended up buying the membership. The games seem fun for her and [she learns] at the same time.”

While the basic version of Lingokids is free, families can also upgrade to a premium subscription for additional content. Lingokids is classified as suitable for children aged 4 and up, but the developers say it is designed for 2 to 8 year olds. You can find it in the Apple App Store here.

3. Bebi

Bebi is currently ranked 46th overall in education apps for iPhones, with a rating of 4.7 stars out of five by about 12 thousand users. Aimed at toddlers and very young children, its educational games help build basic skills, including phonics, alphabet, words, shapes, patterns and colours.

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Another app which teaches young children through play, Bebi offers more than 500 different educational activities, puzzles, and games - and “keeps your toddler occupied and away from video streaming apps”. Created and tested by child development experts, the app is designed to be safe for small children to use unsupervised, with parental locks to stop them making unwanted purchases, and “timely hints” to stop them getting frustrated.

One recent user wrote that their toddler “loves the games, but is also learning at the same time”. “Apps like these are the only ones I let my little one (3 years old) use, because of the learning element. I recommend this app to all parents.”

While classified as free, this app does offer a premium subscription with more features. Bebi is classified by the App Store as suitable for children aged 4 and up, but it is designed to be safe for 2 to 5 year olds. You can find it in the Apple App Store here.

4. Keiki World

Another app specialising in learning games for toddlers, Keiki World is currently ranked 50th overall in iPhone education apps. It has a rating of 4.5 stars out of 5 by about 2.6 thousand users.

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With flash cards, colourful worksheets, toddler-friendly games, and interactive cartoons, Keiki World aims to help toddlers grow in a core set of 10 key skills. These include alphabet tracing and spelling, counting, colour and shape recognition, hand-eye coordination, fine motor skills, logical thinking, problem solving, creativity, self confidence, and attentiveness.

A recent reviewer wrote: “My two-year-old boy is absolutely obsessed with the game, and it’s made his speech development come on so much better. He recognises numbers he can trace them... he’s absolutely in love with this game, it’s also a win because it keeps him entertained while I do housework.”

Keiki World is free to download and offers a free trial period, after which it requires a subscription to use. It is classified as suitable for children aged 4 and up by the App Store, but is designed to be safe for younger children too. You can find it in the Apple App Store here.

Which educational apps has your child really connected with, or have helped them to build their skills? Let other parents know by leaving a comment below.

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