There are thousands of apps available for children, ranging from free to pricey, educational to silly. How do you choose which ones are suitable for your children? We look at some of the best for 2018.

Educational

Dino Tim (available on iOS and Android): This free app is ideal for three to six year olds and teaches them colours, shapes and their first words. Kids help Dino Tim rescue his family, who’ve been abducted by witches, by solving educational puzzles.

Pure Math (available on iOS): Aimed at older children, the app hones mathematics skills in its purest form. You start with 1 000 points, losing some for every incorrect answer, the aim, of course, being to finish as close to 1 000 as possible. The sums get harder each level.

Teach Your Monster to Read (available on iOS and Android): The award-winning phonics and reading app covers the first two years of learning to read. Kids create a little monster and play games that require them to match letters and sounds and eventually enjoy little books.

Epic! (available on iOS and Android): With more than 20 000 titles, this app is a little reader’s dream come true.

RoosterMoney (available on iOS and Android): It’s never too early to teach your child how to manage their money. This app was specifically designed to help children manage their pocket money.

Keeping little fingers busy

My Very Hungry Caterpillar (available on iOS and Android): If you remember the days of looking after a Tamagotchi in the 90s, you’ll know how this app works. Inspired by The Very Hungry Caterpillar book, this app lets your child hatch a caterpillar from an egg, feed it fruit and tuck it into bed.

James’ Amazing Adventures (available on Android): This fun game will capture your little one’s imagination. They will have to explore the ocean and collect an undersea orchestra’s instruments that were scattered across the world by a whale’s sneeze.

Lake (available on iOS): Lake is a colouring app with a difference. It features a collection of colouring books with images from Instagram’s top illustrators.

Creative

SquiggleFish (available on iOS): This app encourages creativity both on and off screen. Your child starts with an empty fish tank and fills it with creatures they draw with good old paper and pen. They then photograph the drawing to give it life digitally.

Foldify (available on iOS): Use the app to create a 3D masterpiece then have it printed and you can fold it into a real-life 3D model.

Learning new skills

Kodable (available on iOS for iPads): Today, in addition to reading and writing, being able to code is a valuable skill. Your little one can start learning to code from an early age thanks to apps like Kodable, which teach the fundamentals at a very basic level.

Piano Maestro (available on iOS): With the aim of motivating kids to play the piano, this app gauge’s their accuracy and gives visual and auditory feedback.

Duolingo (available for iOS and Android): Used by schools around the globe, Duolingo uses gamification for all ages to learn a foreign language – there are 23 different language options.

Useful for parents

Kaspersky (available on iOS and Android): Manage your child’s online activity including limiting their screen time and which apps they use. Kaspersky also lets you monitor their calls and texts, shares expert advice and tips from child psychologists and allows you to block access to adult websites and content.

Find My Kids (available on iOS and Android): Track the location of your child’s phone (and hopefully your child) in real-time. It also lets you monitor the battery and has an in-app family chat feature.

Stay connected

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Photo by Alyssa Stevenson on Unsplash