Lovely animations, child-friendly illustrations and interactive content: There are a variety of learning and creative apps that have been specially developed for toddlers to support them in their development. We present a few apps for toddlers.
Children are fundamentally curious and learn through active trial and error. Learning and creative apps can support this natural learning process and promote cognitive and creative development. For example, there are apps that teach the alphabet or quantities, or let you solve puzzles and riddles. Children can also draw in apps, create their own artwork or tell stories. The playful design makes the learning process fun and can motivate children to express themselves or develop further.
You and your child can get apps in a number of ways. But it’s not easy to find the right product from the almost endless list of apps. For your search we recommend the DJI database, Seitenstark, SIN – Studio im Netz or the Spieleratgeber NRW.
This selection of apps is particularly suitable for getting started – for example, for two- to five-year-olds. Whether an app is really suitable for your child is individual and you know best. The apps all contain no advertising or in-app purchases. What else makes a good app for kids, we describe in this article.
The app for the show with the elephant offers, in addition to shows and laughs and factual stories, numerous games such as painting, puzzles, programming, dodging obstacles, hiding and rubbing a treasure chest free in pairs. With the help of the elephant alarm clock, the duration of the game time can be set.[iOS/Android/Amazon, Free]
As a firefighter, get to know the everyday life of the fire department. Your child experiences firefighting operations in the app and learns in a playful way how to behave correctly in the event of a fire. The self-explanatory and predominantly wordless tasks should be emphasized, which even young children can master perfectly.[iOS/Android, free of charge]
The app is based on the children’s series and offers children’s movies and music to sing along to, as well as some learning games such as a dress-up game, a flower chorus, cookie dominoes, a packing game, frog hopping or an ant rally. Again, no reading skills are required.[iOS/Android, free]
Discover his island together with Fiete the sailor: sort apples into a basket, mount tires on a car or crack eggs into the pan. The interactive picture book app can be controlled by simple and intuitive tapping and swiping motions. The soundscape and animations are also calm and unagitated. [iOS/Android, €3.99]
Select vehicles, hear their names and discover their characteristics. There are three types of games to get to know the vehicles: a puzzle, a spinning game, and a patience game with different difficulty levels. It should be emphasized that the app does not have a reward system.[iOS, €1.99]
Paint and compose – at the same time. To do this, select a motif, a color palette and you can paint colorful pictures and make music with colors and shapes. An overall picture is created from lines, waves and circles. The app promotes the perception of the connection between sound, color and form.[iOS, €2.99]
A read-aloud story in rhyme about a snail in search of itself. On her journey, she meets many animals. The calm and appealing design of the app stands out from many modern apps.[iOS, €1.99]
Shapes and colors, sound recognition, reading and writing the alphabet, numbers and math basics: the app offers several learning games based on the Montessori teaching method. Preschool at home, quasi.[iOS/Android, free of charge, exception: with in-app purchases]
Storybooks and phonics games, tracing letters and practicing writing, math facts and number games. In addition to educational games, the app also offers children’s songs and yoga videos to sing and dance along to – all in English.[iOS/Android/Amazon, Free]
Take time to review apps before providing them to your child. Read reviews from other parents and check if the app is from trusted developers or educational institutions.
Look for age-appropriate content and features. It is important that the app takes into account your child’s developmental level and provides appropriate challenges.
Use the apps as an opportunity for joint activities with your child. Accompany it, ask questions, encourage it to tell or discuss the content. Also, make sure that your child cannot access other apps.
Set rules for screen time– together, depending on age. And pay attention to how your child reacts to using the apps. When showing signs of frustration, overwhelm, or dependency, it is important to reduce screen time and provide alternative activities.
Your own behavior serves as a role model for your child. Try to set an example of a balanced approach to digital media yourself and not let screen time dominate family life excessively.
It is not necessary to have a large number of apps. Rather, focus on a few high-quality apps that match your child’s needs and interests.
Children and young people are passionate about video games and gaming. This often raises the question of how suitable the various digital games are. On spielbar.de, selected games (e.g. for Xbox, PC, Playstation or Nintendo Switch) are examined and reviewed with an educational eye.
There is a diverse selection of game reviews on the platform. Computer games that are well received by children and young people and are particularly popular are rated. Games with learning effect can also be found in the database.
The reviews contain a general and objective description of the game with information about the story, gameplay and game objective. In addition, there is a personal and pedagogical assessment of the game that describes what the learning objectives of the game are and what the risks might be. This includes, for example, educating people about the violent content of digital games.
In addition to game ratings, the online platform also features a guide for parents. Questions about the everyday use of media and video games are answered there, for example:
In addition, the website has a glossary that explains a wide variety of gaming terms.
The website is also interesting for teenagers and children, because they can get information about games through it. They can also see which games are appropriate for their age.
The game ratings on the website tell parents from what age their child can benefit from the games’ learning opportunities. The ratings are not to be compared with the age rating from the USK. The USK often pays attention to the potential danger and refers to how much violence is shown in the games. So it can be that a game, which is recommended by the USK for children from 6 by playable but only for children from 12 years. One of the reasons for this is that six-year-olds cannot yet understand the content of the game.
It is important that you do not blindly rely on recommendations and USK classifications when choosing video games. Each child develops individually and processes impressions differently. Use different game reviews, ask other parents for experiences, and try the game yourself if possible. Talk to your child about the computer games they play or would like to play. Don’t ban digital games outright, but explain your concerns so your child understands when he or she is not allowed to play a game. Ask why your child is interested in certain video games, have them explain and maybe even show you.
