It doesn’t matter what age you are, it seems kids out of the womb are given a mobile device these days. Older adults may have not even had a computer growing up, let alone a smart phone or tablet to play with and keep them occupied. But just like TV, movies, music and other forms of entertainment, parents need to be responsible about the apps that they allow their kids to use and spending time using them together. There are plenty of effective learning apps available, as well as ones that can help parents themselves. These top apps for babies and toddlers are meant to enrich and help both babies and their parents alike.
Shapes & Colors Music Show
One company that has been around since those days of no tablets, cell phones and computers is Fisher-Price. The toy company has specialized in quality products and learning tools since 1930. With this app, they bring the excitement of learning new colors, shapes and actions through an interactive game that babies play along with. Your baby will start off clicking on different shapes and being told the name of the color and object, and they can tilt the screen to see them animated, bouncing across the screen. Once your child gets the hang of it, it can play along on a piano and watch as the shapes slide around the screen. Babies can dance along to songs and sing along to some as well. It’s a basic app with a basic purpose – teaching your child colors, shapes, reactions and first words. With a name like Fisher-Price, you can expect it to be well-made and effective.
Storybook Rhymes Volume 1
Fisher-Price has really cornered the market in transitioning their traditional methods of learning and child development to an interactive digital experience. This app includes classic nursery rhymes “Itsy Bitsy Spider” and “One, Two, Buckle my Shoe”. Your child will hear the fun songs and see colorful animations as they follow along, finding surprises and new content as they tap on the screen. Once your baby gets to this level of learning, you can add various other Fisher-Price apps which include other nursery rhymes, animals, counting, the alphabet and even body parts as taught by an animated dog and cat. The pace of how your toddler uses these apps is up to you, as long as you believe they’re absorbing it and taking something from it. As they begin to complete each one, Fisher-Price has even more for more challenging learning.
Baby Songs
Believe it or not, but Fisher-Price isn’t the only developer online to help your baby learn and develop. Lively Minds has produced this app, which has 18 different nursery rhymes and lullabies to send your baby off into a deep slumber. With an interface similar to a music play-list, parents can choose which song to play, and set a timer to turn off after a certain amount of time. Some of the songs include “Ring Around the Rosie”, “Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star”, “Baa Baa Black Sheep”, “Jack and Jill”, “Three Blind Mice”, “Pop Goes the Weasel”, “Row, row, row your Boat”, and “Hickory, Dickery Dock”. If you need quick and easy access to something to help get your frantic and hyper baby back to sleep, or simply want to familiarize them with classic childhood music, consider this app for your one-stop nursery rhyme play-list.
Baby Games
Lively Minds has also carved out a niche in including the top games for your child. This one has all those games you love to play with your baby, but now they can do so with a cast of animated characters and scenic learning environments. There’s a soundboard of different car noises, a whack-a-mole game, peek-a-boo by simply tapping along the device, a fireworks animation and even a range of animals, that if pressed, will tell you their name. And if you leave your child with the tablet, there’s a lock screen when you enter the apps which keeps them from wandering through your Tinder account or calling your ex.
Baby Phone. Kids Game
Appquiz is responsible for this colorful and unique game. Covering the alphabet, music notes and numbers, toddlers press keys on various ‘phones’ that are soundboards reading everything back. It’s an interactive learning experience that will have your baby taking it all in while familiarizing themselves with the core of reading, math and expression. Your child can be entertained by short cartoons and nursery rhymes as well. Edujoy, the parent company, has 50+ other apps built specifically with learning for toddle in mind. If they take to “using mom’s phone” or “dad’s tablet”, look into their other offerings and set positive device habits before they grow up surfing YouTube for hours like you channel-surf your television.
ABC Kids – Tracing & Phonics
Here’s a fun app to teach your toddler the basics of reading and writing. It’s an app both of you can use, as you help them match, trace and sound out the alphabet. It’s a bright and cute app that will challenge your baby and reward them virtual toys and stickers for their effort. You can review their progress through “report cards”, adjust difficulty levels and use teacher mode, which asks for parental participation helping them. You’ll find your baby not only developing stronger motor and memory skills, but coordination, habit-forming and cognitive skills.
It seems like there are more apps for kids than adults. With so many games and learning activities out there, it’s hard to pick the best ones for your children. These top apps for babies and toddlers can be a good start, but ultimately it’s about finding what they enjoy most and what is most effective for them. Devices have given parents a chance to make learning fun, whether it be in their crib, stroller or before and after meals. Never before has the opportunity to learn been so interactive and animated, empowering parents to be able to take on the skills and pace of their child’s learning. Put mobile technology to use for good, as if you take a look around at your peers you can see what slaves we are to our devices. Instill habits now where your baby is using technology from an early age, and they’ll be able to use it for good on their own the older they get.
