It’s been quite a while since I’ve shared our favorite educational apps, and there’s a reason that I haven’t had any new app recommendations to share . . . we had a long streak of struggling to find great new ones! My kids (especially Forrest) love playing on tablets, and I am happy to indulge that love, especially if the games and apps they use have some sort of educational benefit.
But it can be really difficult to find great learning apps that you, as a parent, will feel really comfortable letting your kids use.
Today, I want to share our experience with a new educational app called Curious World.
The short story: Forrest absolutely loves this app and actually has not wanted to play with any other apps on our iPad since downloading this one. I’m so happy with it and am thrilled that he wants to play with it so much, since I think it is fantastic.
The longer story: Curious World has a huge library of early learning activities specifically tailored to kids ages 3-7. The content is tailored to your child’s age, so you know everything they see will be age-appropriate for them. It can be used on iPads and iPhones, and offers a wonderful variety of games, videos, and books.
No big surprise what my favorite feature is, right? THE BOOKS. The app lets him choose from an
awesome library of books (some older favorites, such as Curious George classics, and plenty of great
newer releases, too!), and it reads aloud to him as he flips through the pages. Honestly, I would get the app for this feature alone!
I love that it reads aloud to him, but we also have the option to turn off the audio and read books together. There are recent books on here that I’ve been trying to track down at our local libraries and haven’t been able to find, so I’m really excited that it has such an amazing selection.
There are also all kinds of wonderful games that teach letters and spelling, language skills, math, animals, science, and more. Many of the games feature Curious George, which is a major bonus for my kids, since they are both obsessed with George.
One of Forrest’s favorite features, and the one I see him exploring most, is the video section. Curious World has all sorts of awesome kid-friendly videos about everything under the sun: stories, crafts and experiments kids can do at home, National Geographic features on cool animals like stingrays and tigers, simple explanations of scientific ideas like weather, animal habitats, and evaporation, plus exercises kids can do at home . . . there are so many videos on such a huge variety of topics, and Forrest loves watching them.
One video Forrest particularly loved was all about making DIY shadow puppets at home.
I saw him watch it a few times in a row, then he came to me and listed out everything he’d need to make them himself, and explained to me how to do it. He was so excited to make his own shadow puppets and put on a puppet show. We made these puppets together based on the video.
Awkward smile, because he was so excited to play with them and didn’t want to stop for a picture!
I never would have thought of making shadow puppets together, but he was really eager to make them
after watching the video. As I’m typing this up, he and Darcy have been putting on shadow puppet shows for over an hour. OVER. AN. HOUR. This is awesome. Not only does the app entertain him and teach him new ideas and skills, but it prompted him to do a creative activity we wouldn’t have done on our own, and he’s having an awesome time imagining stories to act out with his shadow puppets.
For those of you with kids in the 3-7 age range who are interested in a really extensive educational app for your kids, I totally recommend Curious World. It is a subscription service, but you can sign up for a 30-day free trial if you want to check it out before you commit! There are no advertisements at all, so you don’t have to worry about kids clicking something that will charge you extra, or take them to another site or app. Download in the App Store today! The collection of videos, games, and books is curated by global learning company Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, and new content is added weekly, so there’s always something new to check out. And there’s even a dashboard for parents so you can see what your content your child is accessing the most (like if they’re avoiding math activities and focusing on reading, or if they prefer books over games, etc).
I have been so, so happy with the app, and Forrest has, too. Gotta love an app that he is crazy about, and doesn’t even realize that he’s learning.
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