Free! Yes, there are some great free apps out there, but it takes a lot of work to find them. Most free educational apps are a preview of the full featured versions. I would recommend taking advantage of these when you are thinking of purchasing the full version. There are a few educational apps that are free and full featured. Here are three of the best ones from the KinderTown educational app store for parents. Download the free KinderTown app, and select Free, to find these superb free apps for kids. Note: The free apps selected do not include in-app purchases or links to ads. This makes them a win-win for parents and children.
Rocket Speller offers children an engaging space scene to practice spelling. The app presents words to students and they must reconstruct the word. In addition, each word is presented with a picture to reinforce vocabulary development. Rocket Speller has the option to have the word displayed (visual hints) so students are reconstructing the word in order to continually practice spelling the word and build visual memory of the letters. Children like how getting a few correct answers leads to different choices for designing their own rocket ship and eventually blasting it off into space. Parents can choose between capital or lowercase letters to form the words. KinderTown recommends choosing lowercase for activities involving common words that mostly appear in lowercase print. Rocket Speller has five different levels that offer options for visual hints, audible hints and smart technology that can determine when a child is having difficulty and provides assistance called Adaptive Assistance. Rocket Speller is free and available for iPhone, iPad and iPod Touch. Rocket Speller is appropriate for children ages 4-7.
ABC ZooBorns is an excellent app in the Peapod Labs ABC series that combines safe searching with the topic of animals. If you have five minutes or fifteen minutes to spend with your child on ABC ZooBorns, they are bound to learn something about animals. The app is easy enough to open quickly and dive into the learning, or explore more during a longer time period. Each ABC app by Peapod Labs incorporates an easy to use alphabet layout. Once a letter is chosen, an animal picture, a fun fact, and an interactive area that includes a video or activity for children is shown. Delightful classical music plays in the background as children explore through tapping different letters. Children can research and discover based on their interests and letters are reinforced as kids search. Videos, interactivity and facts that are read aloud in the app keep both children and parents in love with the ABC apps. ABC ZooBorns is free and appropriate for children ages 3-7 and available for iPhone and iPad.
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