Parents everywhere grapple with the question of how much “screen time” to allow for their children—and part of the challenge to this question stems from how many apps and games are mindless diversions. So to help you out, we’ve pulled together a group of higher-quality choices that are both educational and fun. Any guilt you have about screen time will be vastly diminished when your kid is learning about the solar system, practicing multiplication, or using logic to solve a puzzle. Check out some of our top choices for making learning something that can happen anytime. The solar system is already a pretty fascinating place, and one that many children immediately gravitate towards.
Castle of Illusion is a great platform game that originally came out on Sega Genesis and has since been updated and released on new devices, including Mac. It's a perfect entry-level game for kids that have mastered simple games and are ready for something a bit more complex. It is a typical platform style game. Given that, the iPod touch is the best iPod for kids who are crazy about music, video, photos, games and apps but are not yet old enough to be given an iPhone. IPod nano Mid-Range Price.
However, it can’t hurt to have a space-traveling feline here to help out. That’s the case with ($4), which offers several interactive models of the solar system and useful facts. Later, it tests your child (or maybe you!) with fun quizzes. The suggested age range is for those from six to eight years old, but even older kids will find a lot to enjoy with all of the facts and games inside of this cool app. When you think sushi, it’s typically wassabi and tasty rolls that come to mind instead of math equations.
But get ready to expand your mind, because this clever game from Scholastic should find a way into your child’s folder if you want them to have some math practice. To play (free), you must serve up numbers that match the product or sum demanded by the sushi monster.
With enough right answers, you can advance to more difficult levels. It’s an excellent mind exercise that disguises itself as a game. For many, was one of those first apps that blew open the possibilities of what the iPad could do—you may have shown friends or family members the magic of holding an iPad over your head to identify stars, constellations, planets, and other celestial bodies.
($3) takes that same magic down to a kid-friendly level, with cartoon-style illustrations and facts that are consumable for tinier humans. But there’s still a lot of value to be found, as the app gives kids a great overview of how the universe looks and is laid out. Algebra is way more fun when it’s accompanied by dragons—hence the game ($5). The target group here is for kids from six to eight, but don’t underestimate the appeal of picking a cute dragon avatar and using it to solve multiplication problems. The game starts out with simple problems, using cards, characters, and simple games to introduce the concept of multiplication—which is essentially adding up groups together. It might take a while to get a hang of it for those closer to five or six, but it’s worth the effort for a visual instructional tool.
There’s a large movement in education to turn kids into “makers,” and future jobs will require today’s kids to think creatively about how to make things and solve problems. ($4) is an excellent game that will foster this type of thinking. Kids can create, test, and play with their own virtual robots that can be customized an endless number of ways.
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It’s a great option for fostering open-ended creativity into an educational game instead of just a linear option where you go straight through from one level to another. If you haven’t already, ($7 for, the iOS version). Compared to some of the other options out there in the gaming world, there’s much to be thankful for if your child has jumped on the Minecraft bandwagon. That’s because Minecraft requires exploration, building your own world, and critically thinking through problems. Yes, there are zombies and other creatures—but it’s practically a bloodless affair, which is something you can’t say about every game that is marketed to teens and even younger kids. Everyone loves cats. OK, maybe not everyone—but feeding some cartoon cats who demand cookies has the promise for a fun adventure.
(free) is a match-three puzzle game that requres you to think about which cookies to select in order to meet the needs of those demanding felines. It requires quick thinking and paying attention, which are surely skills that are good to have.
The game obviously takes a couple of drops from Candy Crush—it’s worth paying attention to those in-app purchases so these cats don’t turn into a money pit.