By Stuart Dredge
Traditionally, most children’s apps developers have focused on Apple’s iPad and iPhone, as that’s where they believed most app-buying parents would be found. In 2013, though, there’s been a clear shift in those attitudes, with the result being more and better Android apps for kids.
It’s something I’ve noticed in my day-to-day job tracking new apps for The Guardian, and also something that’s come through when falling into conversation with fellow parents at social events. Android is dominating the smartphone market, so a lot of parents are downloading apps for their children to use on their phones.
But there’s something afoot in the world of tablets too: a lot of parents buy iPads for themselves then let children use them, but a growing number of parents are buying a separate tablet for their kids — and often that’s a more-affordable Android device.
This feature is for them: a collection of the most creative, educational and fun children’s apps for Android released this year: hopefully a good starting point for parents with a new device and an expectant child or children waiting for it to be filled with apps.
One caveat: it’s based on the Google Play store, rather than Amazon’s Appstore — the latter is what’s used for that company’s Kindle Fire tablet, so if you own that, you’ll need to search to check which apps are available.
Another caveat: the prices quoted below are for the initial download only: (Free) may sometimes mean (Freemium): in-app purchases used to buy additional content or virtual currency.
Bearing that in mind, read on for some of the best new kids apps for Android from 2013 – and remember that date range: apps released before this year (the excellent Minecraft: Pocket Edition being the obvious one) aren’t included for that reason.
EDUCATION
10monkeys Multiplication (Free)
Monkeys and mathematics: together at last! This app stars, yes, 10 monkeys who are trapped, and need children to help them by working through times tables from two to 10. It’s the first in a planned series of educational apps from the company behind it.
Carnival of Animals (Free)
This could easily have been in the Storytelling or Creative categories of this round-up, in truth. Aimed at 2-6 year-olds, it wants to teach children about music through a carnival of, yes, animals, exploring concepts like pitch, volume, timbre and rhythm.
Gummies Playground (Free)
This collection of mini-games is aimed at 2-5 year-olds, teaching basic numbers, letters, shapes, colours and animals, among other lessons. Each of the 25 tasks is voice-narrated to ensure non-readers know what to do, and there’s a single in-app purchase for parents to unlock the whole app.
Invasion of the Moon Monkeys (£0.69)
More multiplication and times tables here, with this action game that gets children defending the world with their maths skills. Influenced by classic arcade games, it gets kids to practise their 1-12 times tables before having a crack at the full game.
Kids ABC Trains Game (£1.93)
Aimed at preschool children, this uses trains and railways as a way to teach kids about letters and phonic sounds. They build a railway by learning each letter, before “driving the train” – tracing letter shapes – loading letter-sound boxes onto it, and matching upper and lower case letters to stop it running away.
The Letter Monster (£2.79)
This fun and accessible app comes from Swedish developer Wombi, and stars a ravenous sea monster looking for letters to eat. Children drag the letters from the bottom of the screen to feed him, and learn the difference between upper and lower-case letters as they go.
Little Learners Play and Learn (Free)
Designed for toddlers and even babies, this app focuses on early development skills, getting them to interact with a collection of colourful animals and toys. Cows moo, rocking horses rock and – if parents make an in-app purchase to unlock the full app – crocodiles drive buses to boot.
Madagascar My ABCs (£1.92)
An alphabetical app based on the Madagascar movies, getting kids to practise letter names and sounds, as well as writing their upper and lower-case versions. As they go, they collect more than 400 digital stickers, with music and poems thrown in for good measure.
Numbers & Addition! Maths Games! (Free)
Back to maths with this, one of a range of “i Learn With” educational apps that were released earlier this year for Android. Aimed at 3-6 year-olds, this is based around an adventure in the savannah, with colourful animals on hand to help with counting, ordering and addition/subtraction skills.
Squeebles Times Tables 2 (£1.49)
The Squeebles are the cartoon stars of a series of educational apps from developer KeyStageFun, with this the latest. It’s a collection of six multiplication mini-games running from one to 15 times tables, with kids earning stars to use in a bonus bubble-ball game as a reward system.
Wombi Math (£1.85)
A second educational app from Wombi, this time focused on sums. It’s structured around a wall full of equations and answers, covering addition, subtraction, multiplication and division. Your child’s job is to solve them.
STORYTELLING
Cars 2 Read and Race (£0.64)
Disney recently launched its first eight storybook apps for Android, featuring some of its biggest film brands. This Cars 2 app is part story with Lightning McQueen and friends, and part racing game, where kids get to customise a car and then drive it.
Chuggington Chug Patrol Book (£3.99)
Children’s TV show Chuggington has been reinvented as a pop-up storybook-app by developer StoryToys. It features the trains from the TV show – Wilson, Brewster, Koko and co – and a series of mini-games including clearing logs, catching runaway wagons and laying track.
Fraggle Friends Forever (£1.96)
Something to make parents feel (even more) old: Fraggle Rock is now 30 years old. But the famous Jim Henson Company TV show was reborn this year as an app for children, with characters including Red, Wembley and The Doozers all featuring in it. Digital colouring and mini-games are included too.
To be continued
The Guardian
