The 11 Best Preschool Learning Apps Your Kids Will Love (2023 Guide)

With the best preschool learning apps, you can not only give your child excellent fundamental early learning but also help them fall in love with it!

Preschool education has benefits beyond the visible academic framework. When given correctly, it can nurture youngsters to thrive beyond the classroom and help instill crucial skills that will definitely be beneficial throughout their life.

In fact, several pieces of research back this by suggesting that preschool education offers young children an advantage in all areas of learning, including not only academics but also self-control, planning, listening, and social skills. This is true whether you’re homeschooling a preschooler or sending them to a traditional in-person preschool

What’s more is that in today’s world of technology, you can give your young kids quality preschooling education by simply downloading a few of the great preschool educational apps.

The best preschool apps for kids ages 5 and under help your child not only get acquainted with technology but also allow them to grasp important lessons and skills in a playful manner. They’ll be having so much fun they won’t even realize they are learning!

We’ve reviewed and ranked the top educational apps for preschoolers based on a variety of key factors, including ease of use, entertainment factor, educational quality, cost, and more.

We’ve updated this guide completely for 2023 to include the best options currently available so you can be confident you’re getting the most useful guidance around.

Disclosure: Some of the links in this article are affiliate links, meaning at no additional cost for you, we might get a commission if you click the link and purchase.

 

What are the Best Preschool Learning Apps?

Once you have decided to make a preschool learning app a part of your child’s early education, the next step is to choose the best one for your child.

With numerous options in the market, one can easily get flustered.

So, in order to make things easy for you, we have compiled a list of 11 of the best preschool apps out there in 2023.

1. Noggin

When it comes to the best apps for preschoolers, it’s hard to top Noggin.

Noggin lets preschool kids play fun games, enjoy personalized lessons, and do engaging activities that feature their favorite Nick Jr. characters from shows like Paw Patrol, Dora the Explorer, Blues Clues, and more.

Noggin is designed for kids ages 2 to 7 and offers games and activities to help build foundational skills in math, reading, creative thinking, and more.

The Noggin app also has an immense library of eBooks and ad-free Nick Jr. TV episodes to promote learning.

Key Features & Benefits

• Interactive games make learning fun for preschool kids
• Personalized approach to learning
• Exclusive learning videos you can’t find anywhere else
• Features kids’ favorite Nick Jr. characters
• Age-appropriate content keeps little kids engaged

Pricing

Noggin offers a 30-day free trial to all new customers and is $7.99 a month thereafter. See our Noggin pricing guide or our Noggin review for more details.

 

2. Homer

Ranked as the best educational learning app for various subjects by parents, Homer is one of the most trusted educational apps by parents and teachers as well.

Made for young kids aged 2-8, this app offers a playful way of learning skills and lessons.

Homer offers a variety of fundamental subjects like Math, Reading, Creativity, Critical Thinking Skills, and Social and emotional learning- almost everything required for a quality preschool education.

Parents can even personalize their kids’ learning experience according to their interests so that children not only learn but also enjoys as well. This also in turn motivates them to keep coming back for playing their favorite “game”. A win for parents and teachers who struggle to gain a child’s attention while teaching them important lessons.

Moreover, your child will never run out of “new” activities as Homer offers more than 1,000 different activities for them to explore.

And what is even better is that Homer has been proven to improve early reading scores by a whopping 74%.

All in all, it’s one of the best apps for all-around preschool learning and development.

Key Features 

• Kid-safe
• Fun app that’s also educational
• Interactive game-like interface
• Easy to use for kids
• Great way to teach kids creative thinking and problem-solving skills
• Safe as it has no popup advertisements in-app
• Compatible with all kinds of smartphones, laptops, and computers

Pricing

HOMER pricing is as follows:

• Annual Plan: $79.99 per year
• Monthly Plan: $12.99 a month

HOMER offers a 30 days full access free trial.

 

3. Khan Academy Kids

Another staple in the list of educational apps for preschoolers is Khan Academy for Kids. This free preschool app is a junior version of Khan Academy and is made for toddlers to second graders.

Khan Academy Kids covers a range of fundamental subjects like math, English, reading, social skills, etc that are extremely important for preschoolers. It uses a range of interactive methods like games, animations, sing-along songs, and cute characters to keep young kids engaged and also to help teach kids important lessons.

Khan Academy Kids offers a curriculum that is expertly designed and complies with Common Core Standards and Early Learning Outcomes Framework, so you can rest assured that your kid gets the best quality preschool education.

Furthermore, it offers two great learning paths to make learning customized for your kid. Adaptive Learning Path and Independent learning. Parents can choose either one of them which best suits their kid’s learning requirements.

In addition to this, Khan Academy for kids is a research-backed app with proven results. Research by a psychologist at the University of Massachusetts Amherst shows that children of lower-income families who used this educational app for 3 months made significant increases in their pre-literacy skills, bringing them close to the national norm.

Key Features 

• Intuitive and easy-to-use interface
• Kid-friendly app for preschoolers
• Colorful and eye-catching visuals
• Off-screen videos and printables
• 100 % ad-free app
• Curated by experts
• Available for all smartphones, laptops, and computers

Pricing

Khan Academy Kids is a completely free preschool app.

Click here to learn more.

 

4. Moose Math

This math app, created by Duck Duck Moose (which was acquired by educational technology giant Khan Academy in 2016) is designed to expose young children to basic math principles. So If you want to give your child a strong mathematical base, then this preschool app can be a great choice for you.

Moose Math teaches and builds on 5 basic early math skills for young learners: Numbers, Geometry, Counting, Addition and subtraction, and measurement. The curriculum offered by this preschool app is in line with Common Core State Standards so if you are preparing to send your kid to elementary school then this app can help you to do so hassle-free!

It teaches these areas of math by using fun interactive activities and math games like joining the dots, Pet Bingo, Paint pet, Moose Juice, and lost and found. There are five distinct levels of games, and students must move through them in order to advance. It even generates reports so that parents and teachers can keep track of their preschoolers progress.

Key Features 

• The curriculum complies with Common Core State Standards
• A great app for preschoolers with an interactive elements and a game-like interface
• Available on Amazon AppStore, Google Play, Apple Store
• Reward system to motivate kids and keep your child entertained
• Generates reports

Pricing

Moose Math just like Khan Academy Kids is a completely free preschool app with no hidden in-app purchases.

Click here to learn more.

 

5. Alphatots Alphabets

Teaching kids the alphabet and phonics at an early age can prove to be very beneficial in helping them develop sound literacy abilities.

AlphaTots Alphabets helps toddlers learn their ABCs in a fun and game-like way. With 26 different puzzles and games for the 26 letters of the alphabet, this preschool app teaches kids the alphabet by using an action word for each letter, basically, the kid performs that action for each letter. For example, for the letter “B” they will “build a robot” and for the letter “z” they will “Zap’ aliens.

This innovative, unique and diverse way of teaching alphabets is what makes this preschooling app stand out amongst the others. It introduces a letter, its name, and the letter sounds it produces using vivid, vibrant images and outstanding pronunciation so that your child clearly absorbs these literary skills all while playing!

Key Features 

• Colorful and interactive interface
• Large and colorful letter images in games and songs that children can read in both upper and lower case
• Great way to start building early reading skills
• Equipped with Parent Gate to keep the app kid safe
• No third-party advertisements
• Available for Android, iPhone, and Ipad.

Pricing

AlphaTots Alphabet is available for $2.99 for iOS and Android users.

 

6. Busy Shapes

For parents whose youngsters are just getting a hang of technology, this app is a great way to help them get equipped with it while also making sure their screen time has positive effects.

Busy Shapes is an award-winning self-directed, hands-on learning app inspired by the Montessori approach, to help develop a child’s fine motor skills.

Busy Shapes does so by allowing children to learn about how items connect to one other and how they may be manipulated by forcing kids to put their logic and reasoning abilities to use. It has great features like practice mode to help parents allow their toddlers to replay a hard concept. It also has a cute penguin animation to keep children motivated to go further.

What’s more, is that as a toddler progresses through levels, they face new problems to keep them interested and engaged. There are no instructions available so that the child can direct its way on their own- teaching them independence while they are young!

Key Features 

• Available in 15 languages
• 150 levels of continuous progressive play
• Multitouch play
• Colorful and fun interface
• Available on AppStore, Google Play, Apple Store

Pricing

Busy Shapes can be bought for $2.99.

Click here to learn more.

 

7. Monkey Preschool Lunchbox

This preschool app has everything that you may need to introduce your toddler to the world of education. From shapes, letters, numbers, and counting to the identification of patterns your toddler will learn all the fundamentals of preschool in a fun and engaging manner.

It offers a set of seven fun educational activities for your preschooler. The ultimate goal in each of these fun activities is to fill the monkey’s box with fruit. To do so, the child will learn to count fruits with the monkey, learn which letter they start with, match them with pictures, and solve puzzles

Monkey Preschool Lunchbox allows children to select a cartoon sticker and set it on a personalized virtual canvas board once a series of activities are completed successfully. This helps them gain a sense of accomplishment and also keeps them motivated.

Key features 

• Available in 8 languages: German, English, Chinese, Portuguese, Spanish, French, Korean, and Japanese(only on Google Play)
• Intended for use by children so no complicated menus or navigation.
• Unlimited playing with a continuous flow of games
• Adorable characters and friendly interface
• No.1 in the app store for educational preschool apps
• Available on Google Play and App store

Pricing

Monkey Preschool Lunchbox offers a free version as well as a premium paid subscription that costs $4.99 a month or $42.99 a year for the annual plan.

Click here to learn more.

 

8. Toca Nature

Toca Nature was created to bring Nature to your child’s fingertips. Suitable for older preschoolers this app helps them to explore creativity in a clear and open-ended way.

Almost like Minecraft, this app allows youngsters to grow plants to create a forest, pick berries, mushrooms, or nuts to feed various animals, elevate a mountain and take in the scenery, Travel around various locations and make friends with a fox or even capture a shot of a bird building a nest. It basically allows them to enjoy nature digitally without the hazards of a natural environment.

Preschoolers learn a lot of non-academic skills with this app. By dragging and dropping to create their personalized scenery, kids learn hand-eye coordination while also helping them to broaden their imaginations.

Children can also make new friends which help them build their social skills early on. It also has a few challenges to spark their cognitive abilities. What’s more is that by playing this game, children may learn to appreciate nature and their environment even more!

Key features

• Extremely creative
• Calm Aura
• Imaginative and creative interface
• Child-friendly app for preschoolers
• Available on Google Play and app store

Pricing

This app costs $3.99 on Google Play as well as on the Apple App Store. There are several in-app purchases available, ranging in price from $.99 to $13.99.

Click here to learn more.

 

9. Fairy Tales

Fairy Tales is a reading app specially made for Preschoolers and toddlers to help them learn to read. It combines whimsical stories with games to make reading a fun activity for them.

Children can choose from their vast variety of popular tales like Puss in boots, The Princess and the Pea, Ugly Duckling, Sleeping Beauty, Goldilocks and the three bears, The Three Spinners, The Three Little Pigs, and The Realm of Sweet Dreams by Asa Guves to name a few.

It has two modes “read to me” and “Read it Myself” so that preschoolers who are just learning to read can use the former mode and the older preschoolers who have a hang of reading can practice their literary skills by using the latter mode.

What’s more, is that this app can act as a great bedtime activity alternative as it has a professional speaker that reads stories aloud for kids.

Reading is a key skill that helps way beyond the classroom. Starting your kids young can ensure that your kid not only picks up this skill easily but also retains it as core memory. Fairy Tales is a great way to get them acquainted to reading.

Key Features 

• Offline reading
• Safe and kid-friendly
• A large variety of storybooks to choose from
• Interface created specifically for preschoolers
• Compatible with iPhone, iPad, and Android devices
• Great app for preschoolers
• A plethora of games for children under the age of 5.

Pricing

This app is completely free to download but has in-app purchases ranging from $2.99 – $15.99 per item. Click here for iOS and here for Android.

 

10. The Monster at the End of This Book

If your child loves Sesame Street, then this app will be a great treat for them.

This is an interactive edition of the popular Sesame Street book from the 1970s, in which Grover advises children not to flip the pages so they can avoid the monster at the conclusion of the book. It offers different activities for kids on every page of the book.

All of these features are hands-on,  with youngsters being asked to untie ropes, touch a knot to make it unravel, knock down brick barriers, and tickle Grover by touching on his image.

Along with building hand-eye coordination, this app also helps build a child’s literary skills. Grover the main Character and various other characters in the book read out the words aloud for kids as they appear on screen, keeping them well interacted. They also give hints helping children to use their thinking abilities.

Aside from being fun for tiny kids, The Monster at the End of this Book may provide a chance for parents to discuss with their children when they are terrified of anything- letting kids know that their parents are a safe space to open up to!

Key Features 

• Interactive interface
• Fun activities
• Popular Character
• Compatible with iPhone, iPad, and Android devices

Pricing

The Monster at the End of This Book app costs $4.99 for iPhone and Ipad users and the same for Android devices.

 

11. Spelling and Phonics: Kids Games

For all those parents on a budget looking for a great preschooling app to teach their kids spelling and phonics, then this app is the one for you.

This completely free app is made to help toddlers and preschoolers learn spelling in a playful manner. Even parents can play with their kids. This not only helps children to grasp spellings more quickly but also is a great useful bonding time.

With this preschool learning app, children will learn the alphabet, their shape, phonics, word pronunciation and will also learn to connect pictures with their names. To teach them this, this app offers a different variety of game modes such as fill in the blanks, blank spelling, and Consonant vowel-consonant mode.

Even more, it also produces report cards to help parents and children know their accomplishments and areas that require more attention.

Key features 

• Certificates and stickers to motivate kids
• Clear sounds to aid with learning phonics
• Colorful visuals
• No third-party advertisements
• Kid-friendly app for preschoolers
• Free of cost

Pricing

Spelling and Phonics: Kids Games is a completely free-of-cost app. It also does not offer any in-app purchases as well

Click here to learn more.

 

Tips for Choosing the Best Preschool Learning App

Downloading the right app for your preschooler is extremely crucial.

Some apps are more engaging and interactive than others, and some are better suited for specific learning objectives.

When selecting an app for a preschooler, there are some key things you should look for:

When selecting a preschool learning app for your child, there are several crucial factors to keep in mind to ensure it’s both educational and age-appropriate. Here are some things to consider:

• Age-Appropriateness: You want to make sure the app is actually designed for preschool-age children, typically between the ages of 3 to 5. It should offer activities and content suitable for their developmental stage.
• Educational Content: Look for apps that offer a variety of educational content, including early literacy (letters, phonics), numeracy (numbers, counting), shapes, colors, and basic problem-solving activities. The app should align with early learning objectives so that your kid is having productive screen time.
• Interactive Elements: Preschoolers learn best through hands-on, interactive experiences. Choose apps with engaging activities that involve tapping, dragging, and swiping, as these help develop fine motor skills and keep children engaged.
• Engaging and Fun: Young kids learn best when they’re having fun. The app needs to be enjoyable and fun for your child. Look for apps that incorporate game-like elements, animations, and colorful graphics to make learning exciting.
• Clear Learning Objectives: A good preschool app should have clear learning goals for each activity. It should provide feedback or reinforcement when a child completes a task successfully.
• No or Minimal Ads: Be cautious of apps with excessive ads, as they can disrupt the learning experience and may not be suitable for young children. You want to go with apps that offer ad-free or premium versions.
• Parental Controls: It’s a good idea to opt for an app offers robust parental control features. Ideally, you should be able to set screen time limits, password-protect settings, and control access to additional content or purchases.
• Offline Play: While internet connectivity can be beneficial, having the option for offline play can be super helpful, especially when traveling or in areas with limited internet access.
• Safety and Privacy: Verify that the app prioritizes the safety and privacy of children. It should have a clear privacy policy and not collect sensitive information without parental consent.
• Cost: Consider your budget when choosing a preschool learning app. Some apps offer a one-time purchase fee, while others have subscription models. And some are even free. Evaluate the cost in relation to the app’s content and quality.
• Feedback and Progress Tracking: Apps that provide feedback on your child’s learning progress and achievements can help you understand their learning journey.

By weighing these elements, you’re not just picking a preschool learning app; you’re curating an educational journey for your child. Choose wisely, and you’ll align it with their developmental needs, create a safe and enriching learning space, and make sure it’s a whole lot of fun along the way. It’s not just an app — it’s an opportunity to shape their early learning experience.

 

What are the Benefits of Preschooling Apps?

Preschooling apps offer a wide variety of features that can help your child excel in their early education. Some of these benefits include:

• Tailored Learning: In a way, many of these apps are like having a personal tutor for your little one. They adapt to your child’s pace, making sure they get the right dose of challenge and success.
• Brain Development: Preschool learning apps are designed to exercise those developing brains. They sneak in essential skills like letters, numbers, and shapes through fun and engaging activities.
• Fine Motor Skills: The swiping, tapping, and dragging in these apps are more than just fun and games; they’re developing fine motor skills that will serve your child well in everyday tasks.
• Independence Boost: As your child progresses through the app, they’re sure to gain confidence and independence. They’re learning how to explore and solve problems on their own.
• Interactive Fun: Let’s face it, preschoolers are inquisitive by nature. Educational preschool apps provide interactive experiences that keep them engaged while fostering curiosity.
• No More “I’m Bored”: Long car rides, doctor’s office waiting rooms, rainy days – these apps are a lifesaver when it comes to keeping your little one entertained and engaged.
• Educational Playtime: Learning and play don’t have to be separate activities. Preschool learning apps seamlessly blend education and fun, creating a harmonious balance.
• Progress Tracking: Many of the best apps for preschoolers provide feedback on your child’s progress. It’s like having your own personal learning progress report to see how far they’ve come.
• Preparation for School: These apps are a fantastic prelude to formal education. They help your child build foundational skills that will serve them well in kindergarten and beyond.
• Positive Screen Time: In a world filled with screens, these apps offer a way to ensure that screen time is productive and beneficial.
• Digital Literacy: Early exposure to digital tools can set your child on the path to becoming tech-savvy.

All in all, preschool learning apps are a great way to teach your child basic fundamentals of education and also to keep them engaged in an interactive and playful manner!

 

Other Useful Resources

• The Best Educational Apps for Kids
• The Best Homeschool Apps
• The Best Educational Game Apps
• The Best Coding Apps for Kids

 

A Final Word on Preschool Learning Apps

Whether you’re looking to supplement your homeschooling, give your little ones a head start on their educational journey, or just want to make their screen time more productive, the best preschool learning apps offer a host of benefits for kids and parents alike.

Educational apps for preschoolers can help children to develop a variety of skills, including language, math, and social-emotional skills.

And the best part about many preschool learning apps is that they can be tailored to each child’s individual needs. For example, if a child is struggling with a particular concept, the app can provide extra support and practice.

In addition, learning apps can be used to supplement traditional teaching methods. So if a child is having difficulty understanding a concept in their schooling, the app can provide another way of presenting the information.

Simply put, the importance of mobile apps in education can’t be overstated.

Finding the right preschool app for your kid doesn’t have to be difficult. Remember, most of the apps on our list above offer free trials or a free version. So you can try out a few different ones to see which ones work best for your child.

Do you have any other suggestions for the best preschool learning apps? Let us know in the comments below!