Child care providers play an important role in supporting kids through early learning and growth across four developmental domains: physical, linguistic, cognitive and social-emotional. Early learning has traditionally been fostered through carefully planned learning experiences and targeted classroom activities, but in 2021, more daycare providers are using digital resources and educational apps to support the learning resources.
For this blog post, we’ve compiled a list of our favorite educational apps that child care providers can use to support the early learning process. These fun and child-friendly apps help kids learn to use modern technology like tablets and mobile phones while building on skills areas like math, reading, art and music. They allow kids to learn interactively, move at their own pace, repeat lessons and develop independent learning skills – they’re awesome!
Keep reading to learn more about how these educational apps for child care providers can support the learning process at your child care center.
10 Apps for Child Care Providers
Khan Academy Kids
Overview: Khan Academy was launched in 2008 at a not-for-profit educational organization with the goal of making high-quality learning material more accessible to everyone, everywhere. The Khan Academy Kids app is one of our favorite educational apps for kids – it was developed with help from early childhood experts at the Stanford Graduate School of Education and in alignment with the Head Start Early Learning Outcomes Framework.
Favorite Features: This educational app offers hundreds of interactive lessons that support kids’ development in math, language, reading and logical problem-solving. While many other apps focus exclusively on math and reading, Khan Academy Kids also offers activities that help kids develop social-emotional skills like teamwork and empathy, and learn about health and nutrition.
It’s also 100% free and contains no ads!
How to Get Started: Download from the Google Play Store or Apple App Store.
ABCmouse Early Learning Academy
Overview: ABCmouse is one of the very best educational resources for daycare providers. The app offers more than 10,000 learning activities targeted at kids from ages 2-8, covering subject areas like math, reading, music, art, Spanish language and social studies.
Favorite Features: With ABCmouse, each child embarks on an individualized learning path. Progress is monitored automatically, so child care providers can see how kids are doing and provide extra support where needed. Within the app, kids can customize an avatar, design their own virtual bedroom and even care for a pet hamster. These features help make the learning experience fun, exciting, and personalized for each child.
How to Get Started: Download from the Google Play Store or Apple App Store, or visit ABCmouse.com to get started.
Reading Eggs
Overview: Reading Eggs is an awarding-winning app that has helped millions of kids from 2-13 years of age develop their reading, spelling, vocabulary, comprehension and other language-related skills. The app has been used by over 10 million kids in 16,000 schools.
Favorite Features: Reading Eggs uses fun and engaging in-game rewards to keep kids motivated on their learning path, even when they may be having trouble with the activities. In addition to interactive reading games, the app includes more than 2,500 digital story books that kids can explore with help from their daycare provider.
How to Get Started: Download from the Google Play Store or Apple App Store, or visit readingeggspress.com to get started.
Tongo Music
Overview: Studies have shown that making music from a young age makes kids smarter, helping them develop pattern recognition, rhythm, motor skills and overall cognitive capacity. Tongo Music is a colorful and fun app that introduces kids to music through animated storytelling.
Favorite Features: Tongo Music helps children discover music through a combination of animated storytelling and rich audio experiences. Kids can experiment with 12 animated musical instruments, learn to play the piano with Tongo’s virtual interactive keyboard, explore rhythms with virtual percussion instruments, and listen to music samples from history’s most notable composers like Beethoven and Mozart.
How to Get Started: Download Tongo Music from the Google Play Store or the Apple App Store.
PBS Kids Play and Learn Science
Overview: For more than 50 years, the non-profit Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) has produced compelling and educational content for kids, including classic shows like Sesame Street and The Magic School Bus. Today, PBS also produces education apps for daycare providers. The Play and Learn Science app includes 15 educational games with a focus on early science learning for kids aged 4 and up.
Favorite Features: Each of the 15 games provided in the app is cleverly designed to introduce children to a new topic or concept related to science and technology. Kids can learn about the weather, explore concepts like buoyancy and temperature, experiment with light effects and more. As kids play through the games, they’re rewarded with fun virtual stickers that encourage them to keep learning and develop a genuine love for science.
How to Get Started: Daycare providers can download PBS Kids Play and Learn Science from the Google Play Store or from the App Store.
Moose Math
Overview: Targeted at kids from ages 3 to 8, Moose Math offers an engaging way for young learners to start developing their math skills, including counting, shapes, addition and subtraction, measurement and basic numeracy.
Favorite Features: Moose Math offers five different games that kids can play to work on their math skills. They’ll visit virtual locations like the Moose Juice Store, the Lost & Found and Puck’s Pet Shop on their way to mastering a math curriculum that’s aligned with Common Core State Standards for Kindergarten and Grade 1. A report card feature allows parents and child care providers to monitor each child’s progress and provide extra support where needed.
How to Get Started: Moose Math is available in the Google Play Store and in the App Store. It’s also completely free!
ChatterPix Kids
Overview: For kids from ages 5 to 12, ChatterPix is a goofy and creative app that encourages kids to get silly while expressing themselves with technology.
Favorite Features: The idea behind ChatterPix is to let kids play with photos, audio recording and animation by making their favorite photos talk. Kids can choose a photo from the app or snap their own, draw a line to create a mouth anywhere on the photo, then record a hilarious phrase using their device microphone. ChatterPix displays the picture, animates the mouth, plays back the recording and everyone laughs. Once the laughing stops, it’s time to do it all over again! ChatterPix provides hours of entertainment and encourages kids to express themselves, get creative and have fun with tech.
How to Get Started: ChatterPix is available in the Apple Store and on Google Play.
Typing Instructor for Kids
Overview: Typing is a great skill that kids can start to develop from an early age. Typing Instructor for Kids is a web-based application that helps kids learn the best typing techniques for high speed and accuracy – skills that will serve them for a lifetime.
Favorite Features: Typing Instructor for Kids offers direct instruction in typing and sevenengaging multi-level games that make it fun and exhilarating for kids to develop their skills at the keyboard. Kids earn points as they progress and can challenge themselves and their peers to go for the highest score. They also get plenty of spelling practice!
How to Get Started: This web-based application is accessible at typinginstructorkids.com. To get the most out of their experience, kids will need access to a desktop or laptop computer with a full keyboard. An annual subscription costs just under 30 bucks, or you can test it out for a week for just $3.95.
TeachMe: Preschool/Toddler
Overview: TeachMe for preschool/toddlers is another one of our favorite apps for daycare providers. It combines interactive games and a comprehensive preschool curriculum with exciting rewards that keep kids motivated to learn.
Favorite Features: TeachMe: Preschool/Toddler covers topics that include letters, ABC phonics, shapes, numbers, counting and colors – all of the most important basics for early learners. As kids progress, they earn virtual stickers that can be used to decorate five virtual scenes: a beach, a coral reef, a cityscape, a farm and a playground. Parents can also choose to set up an alternative reward system where kids earn coins in the game and receive rewards in real life, such as extra treats or a trip to the park.
The combination of engaging gameplay, rewards and performance tracking make this app a surefire way to effectively supplement any child’s early education.
How to Get Started: TeachMe: Preschool/Toddler is only available for Apple devices and can be downloaded through the App Store.
Monkey Preschool Lunchbox
Overview: Monkey Preschool Lunchbox is one of our favorite apps for daycare providers introducing young children (ages 2 to 5) to educational technology. The app features a lovable and emotive monkey who needs help filling his lunchbox with healthy foods. To help him out, kids will play seven games that introduce them to colors, letters, counting, shapes, sizes, matching and differences.
Favorite Features: Monkey Preschool Lunchbox is a great way to get kids engaged with educational tech from a young age. The games are easy to learn and kids love seeing the monkey smile and get excited when they get the right answer. The app also includes a rich audio experience, so kids will hear the names of colors and letters, and even learn the names of monkey’s favorite fruits.
How to Get Started: Download from the App Store or from the Google Play Store.
Bonus: Learning Beyond
Overview: Learning Beyond is a 100% online curriculum for infants, toddlers, preschoolers and pre-kindergarten. The curriculum was developed by early learning educators, preschool directors and owners to offer an affordable, high-quality, equity-focused, environmentally-friendly curriculum to all providers.
Favorite Features: Learning Beyond offers lesson plans and daily activities with integrated standards and a STEAM focus. Plus, it comes with assessments, training built into daily instruction, professional development, family connection tools, educational advisors, materials lists and more.
How to Get Started: For $199 a month, you have access to the curriculum and supporting features, which you can access from a tablet or computer. Learning Beyond is offering a free one-month trial. Visit www.learningbeyondpaper.com for more details.
Simplify Child Care Management with Procare Solutions
From recommending the best apps for daycare providers, to developing our own, our years of experience and large expert community give Procare the wisdom to know what works best for your child care business.
Our expertise has helped us create a modern, trustworthy and easy-to-use child care management app with simple solutions for billing, staff management and attendance tracking. And with our reliable live support, you’ve got everything you need to successfully run your center every day. With Procare, you’ll spend less time on daily management tasks and more time helping your kids learn and grow with your favorite educational apps.
Ready to get started? Request a Demo
Request a Demo
Request a demo and talk with one of our friendly Procare experts to get a tailored child care solution for the unique needs of your business.