Our Favorite Toddler Apps (and why)

1. ABC WOW! By Bologna Games

At $2.99, this app is fun and educational for toddlers. You can choose to have the Alphabet Song sung to you as the letters appear on the screen or you can choose the more interactive version. In the interactive version, you touch the letters and they become animals or other objects that correspond to the letter on the screen. My son’s favorite is the letter C because it becomes a cookie. As you continue pressing the cookie, it gets eaten by an invisible person while sound effects play. He laughs the whole time! 

2. Wheels on the Bus by Duck Duck Moose

At $1.99, this interactive book app is a better buy than most available on the App Store.  I really can’t stand this app. I’ve always hated the wheels on the bus song, but my son loves it!  Each page of the book has a few different interactive elements. On the page where the wheels go “round and round,” you can drive the bus down the road while watching the giant wheels.  This app is also available in several different languages. My son loves listening to the French version for some reason.

3. Play Phone by Baby First

This app is totally free and that’s not the best part! We tried giving our son plastic cell phone toys with lights and buttons, but he wasn’t falling for it.  Terrified that he would delete something important from our phones or make a phone call to China, we began searching for an app like this one.  It transforms your phone. When you open the app, you are greeted with a screen that looks just like a phone with numbers for dialing.  You can make calls and it rings. Then, someone (a cartoon character) answers and talks to your little one for a few minutes. There is also a screen where you can choose characters to call by clicking on their pictures.  The third screen available looks like your phone’s instant messenger app and allows kids to send emojis and receive them from imaginary characters.  Also, kids cannot easily exit the app which protects your files.

4. Peekaboo Barn by Night & Day Studios

At $1.99, this app is a MUST. For months, this was the only app my son cared anything about! The app opens with a red barn. You can hear the sound of knocking on the barn doors and an animal noise.  For instance, you might hear “Moo!”  When you click on the doors, they open to reveal a cow. In an adorable child-like voice, a little girl says “Cow!” and then the doors close again.  There are many different animals.  At the end, the doors open to reveal all of the animals sleeping and the voice says “Shh! They’re sleeping.” Then the moon comes up.  I credit this app with teaching my son all sorts of animals.  It didn’t take long before he was yelling out “Llama! Llama! It’s a Llama!” before the animal had even been identified.

5. Ocean Swimmer by SAGO Mini

This app is free and it’s one of my favorites too! I have caught myself peeking over my son’s shoulder while he explores the ocean in this app.  As you move your finger on the screen, you are guiding a fish through the ocean.  Everything the fish interacts with in the ocean causes a surprise interaction.  One of my son’s favorite is the seahorse. When the fish swims past the seahorse, the seahorse poops in the water. Little boys are fascinated by these sorts of things. Another interaction involves the fish swimming up to an octopus who then reveals 8 ice cream cones, one in each hand. The fish swims around eating all the ice creams and then licks his lips. It’s really adorable and will provide lots of fun quiet time for your little one.

Most of these apps, if not free, have free limited versions where your kids can play with some of the features of the full version for free.  In the end, I chose to just buy the apps he liked so well, but I liked having the opportunity to try them before I spent money on them.  Try some of these fun free apps with your kids and let me know which ones are their favorites! I’m always looking for new ones!

Written by: Sara Parise