Best apps for 4 year old boy

There are a lot of great apps out there for kids, but we’re going to focus on the ones that are most appropriate for a 4-year-old boy.

The first app we recommend is [app name]. This is a puzzle game that’s all about matching animals with their sounds. It’s an excellent way to help your child build vocabulary and learn how to recognize animals in other settings.

The next app is [app name 2]. This is another puzzle game, but instead of matching animals with their sounds, you match them with their names! You can also use it to practice spelling words or learning new vocabulary words.

For our final recommendation, we suggest [app name 3]. This app allows you to create your own storybook by filling in different pictures and words that go together. You can even record your voice reading each line so your child can listen along as he reads!

Quyasoft affords you unrestricted access to a litany of valuable information on the aforementioned and related topics. Take out time to surf through our catalog for more information on similar topics.

Best Apps For 4 Year Olds

When it comes to choosing the best apps for 4 year olds, it is important to choose highly entertaining images and characters. The ability to switch quickly to different activities or videos is a must for keeping your little one’s attention. All of these apps, including two of the best learning apps for 4 year olds, are sure to both teach and occupy your preschooler.

Sago Mini Road Trip – $2.99 (iTunes) (Android)

Currently one of the most popular apps for 4 year olds, Sago Mini Road Trip allows your little one to go on a car adventure of his or her choice – maybe to the mountains, maybe to the city. Choose your car and bring Jinja the cat along for the ride. A great option for parents going on road trips with their little ones.

PBS Kids Video – FREE (iTunes) (Android)

The PBS Kids Video app is one of the most popular and best apps for 4 year olds, allowing them to watch the educational and entertaining PBS programming anytime and any place. You can both access your local PBS station and stream PBS shows. This is the best app for 4 year old little ones to watch TV safely.

Best Educational Apps for 4 Year Olds

ABC Mouse – FREE + Subscription (iTunes) (Android)

ABC Mouse hasn’t only created apps for 4 year olds (and 5 year olds), they have an entire learning center based off their website ABCmouse.com. As one of the best learning apps for 4 year olds, the app itself is free, but they have a subscription service for $7.99 a month. The great program teaches many subjects in a fun way including:

• Math
• Reading
• Science
• Art
• Music

Feed The Animals – FREE + In-App Purchases (iTunes)

Many apps for 4 year olds have limited games and lessons, but Feed The Animals has a pet salon, doctor, jigsaw puzzles, spelling, alphabet flashcards, join the dots, tracing, and many more great activities. They will be so entertained by the sweet animal animations; they may not even realize they are learning too! This is the best app for 4 year old animal lovers.

All-in-One Change Management Tools

Top Rated Toolkit for Change Managers.

Get Your Change Management Tool Today…

Best Apps For 5 Year Olds

When downloading the best apps for 5 year olds, we know it is important to make sure the apps do not seem too “babyish,” while still appealing to their young sensibilities. These apps for 5 year olds will definitely feel better for your kindergarten “big kid.”

Dr. Panda’s Swimming Pool – $0.99 (iTunes) $1.99 (Android)

The wonderful and popular Dr. Panda’s brand will also make an appearance in apps for 6 year olds and apps for 7 year olds. But the Swimming Pool app is perfect for the younger kids. With this app, your child can go for a swim and even help baby animals. There is also secret treasure to be found! A great option for sheer entertainment.

YouTube Kids – FREE (iTunes) (Android)

Apps for 5 year olds, and for all little ones in general, need plenty of content monitoring, and YouTube delivers with their YouTube Kids app. Parents can also go in and set viewing restrictions or guidelines as well. YouTube splits their video content into four sections kids will love:

• Shows
• Music
• Learning
• Explore

YouTube Kids is not only one of the best apps for 5 year olds, but for some kids under age 5 as well.

Best Educational Apps for 5 Year Olds

Endless Reader – Free + In-App Purchases (iTunes) (Android)

Endless Reader is one of the best apps for 5 year olds to prep for reading by learning sight words. The free app offers six free sight words children will need to know for school. If you want to purchase more sight words packs, you can purchase them individually for $5.99, get bundles of three for $11.99, or purchase them all for $29.99.

Letter School – $4.99 (iTunes), $3.96 (Android)

As one of the best educational apps for 5 year olds, Letter School teaches kids how to write all the letters, A-Z, and numbers, 1-10. The app offers four interactive games for each letter and each number. There is a free version that offers five letters for free to see if your little one likes it.

Best Apps For 6 Year Olds

As six year olds are entering regular primary school courses, their interests have matured a bit from their pre-k and kindergarten years. These are some of the best apps for the 6 year olds in your life to get creative and maybe learn a new, exciting lesson or two.

Hoopa City – $0.99 (iTunes) $2.99 (Android)

Once again, we are recommending one of Dr. Panda’s apps. This time, they take kids on an adventure to build their own cities. They get to experiment with building materials like electricity and brick and can even save older cities they have already built. As one of the best apps for 6 year olds, Hoopa City combines fun with innovation.

Toca Kitchen 2 – $2.99 (iTunes) FREE (Android)

Toca Boca is an app brand expert at creating apps for 6 year olds and 7 year olds. Toca Kitchen 2 is a popular option that allows your kids to cook with various ingredients and kitchen tools to practice their creativity. While you’re at it, try the rest of the Toca apps, including Toca Hair Salon and Toca Life: Vacation.

Best Educational Apps for 6 Year Olds

Math Bingo – $2.99 (iTunes)

Math Bingo is a fun way for kids to practice their math skills. As one of the best educational apps for 6 year olds, Math Bingo uses the long-loved bingo game to help your kids with:

• Addition
• Subtraction
• Multiplication
• Division

Epic! Unlimited Books For Kids – FREE + Subscription (iTunes) (Android)

Epic! is not only one of the best apps for 6 year olds, but also a great resource for all kids under 12. The app itself is free, but it comes with a monthly $4.99 subscription. Once you’ve paid each month, your child has access to unlimited books for their reading level, all from the major children’s book publishers. The audio book option also allows kids to enjoy books too advanced for their reading level.

Best Apps For 7 Year Olds

When it comes to the best apps for 7 year olds, it is important to meet them where they are developmentally. Not really a little kid, but still not a tween. These four apps for 7 year olds are great “middle of the road options” – playful, but not too childish.

Image Source: Pixabay.com

GoldieBlox: Adventures In Coding – $2.99 (iTunes)

GoldieBlox not only lets your kids deliver cupcakes to everyone in town, it also lets them learn basic coding to provide a pathway to deliver those cupcakes. With all the same features as any of the fun apps for 7 year olds, plus lessons in coding, GoldieBlox is a wonderful choice.

Dr. Panda Restaurant Asia – FREE (iTunes)(Android)

Once again, Dr. Panda has created wonderful apps for 7 year olds. This time, Dr. Panda takes the kids to an Asian restaurant so they can learn about cooking and Asian cuisine. Kids can use the app to chop and blend up over 20 ingredients to make sushi, stir-fry, or more.

Best Educational Apps for 7 Year Olds

The Human Body by Tinybop – $3.99 (iTunes)

Kids can explore an interactive human body with one of the best apps for 7 year olds: The Human Body by Tinybop. By learning the seven basic systems and digging deeper into organs like the eye and brain, kids can learn all about the body in a safe and creative way. If the parents like, they can also do an in-app purchase to download the urogenital area as well.

Second Grade Learning – $2.99 (iTunes) FREE (Android)

One of the perfectly designed apps for 7 year olds, Second Grade Learning specifically is designed to go along with what your kids are learning in school. The free Android version has three free games, but the paid version has ten. Your kids can work on topics like:

• Positive and negative numbers
• Verbs, nouns, and adjectives
• Place values
• Alphabetical order
• Counting money
• Synonyms and antonyms

Costs: The Best Apps for 4 Year Olds & 5 Year Olds

When it comes to app costs, a few bucks here and there can add up. Here is a list from the cheapest to the most expensive. Since many of the best apps for 4 year olds and 5 year olds can be fine for each age, we have combined them.

Like above, some of the best apps for 7 year olds are just fine for 6 year olds and vice versa. Below is a price list from cheapest to most expensive for the ones we highlighted above.

Costs: The Best Apps for 6 Year Olds & 7 Year Olds

Whether you are buying these apps on iTunes or Android and whether your kids are playing on a phone or tablet, one thing remains the same: you can download them with confidence.

• Learning to Read Apps
• Learning to read apps should include phonics, sight words, as well as reading words and sentences.
• 1. Starfall Learn to ReadThe popular Starfall curriculum starts with the alphabet in Learn to Read and continues with vowel sounds and comprehension in two other Starfall apps: It’s Fun to Read and I’m Reading. iOS  and Android 
• 2. HomerThis top-rated, research-backed app motivates kids ages 2 to 8 to love reading by building on what they already know and tapping into the topics that most interest them. iOS and Web
• 3. Bob Books Reading MagicTwo apps, Reading Magic  and Reading Magic 2, help children learn to read with phonics-based books and games. iOS and  Android
• 4. Hooked on PhonicsBased on the sequential Hooked on Phonics Learn to Read program, these apps offer a library of books rated for difficulty as well as lessons for beginning readers learning to read. iOS and Android
• 5. Reading EggsReading Eggs has 120 game-like lessons for children learning to read. iOS and Android
• 6. Reading RavenThe interactive reading games in Reading Raven cover a phonics-based reading curriculum starting with recognizing letters and moving to identifying words, reading words, and reading sentences. iOS only

• Practice Reading Apps
• There are a lot of individual story apps, but economically it’s to your advantage to use an app with storybooks within it. Generally these subscriptions are in the $10-a-month range. Also, unlike single story apps, most of these reading apps show the reading levels so you know your child is reading a just-right book.
• 1. MeeGeniusMeeGenius offers children over 700 interactive eBooks including some familiar books with “Sesame Street” characters. iOS and Android
• 2. Epic! Books for KidsThe thousands of eBooks available with Epic! are popular titles from top publishers such as Scaredy Squirrel, Batman vs. Catwoman, and The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe. Reading logs, personalization, and rewards are offered to support developing readers. iOS and Android
• 3. FarFariaDownload one free story daily or subscribe for unlimited stories in the FarFaria app. All books are leveled. Kids can read to themselves or choose the read-to-me option. iOS and Android
• 4. SNAP LearningAligned with Common Core, SNAP Learning has a library of 500 leveled reading K-12 books in English and Spanish including paired fiction and nonfiction thematic books and guided reading lessons. Contact SNAP Learning for download information.
• 5. Reading RainbowA subscription-based eBook library of books with topics such as animals, family, friends, science, music, and space.  iOS and Android

BEST OVERALLKhan Academy Kids

Key Specs

• Age: 2- to 7-year-olds
• Cost: Free
• Mobile App/Ebook: Mobile app

Why We Chose It

This junior version of the educational app par excellence (Khan Academy) targets young learners from two to seven years old. It’s a mobile device app that covers math, English language arts, logic, and socio-emotional learning by using books, games, songs, and videos.

Pros & Cons

Pros

• Activities include multiple-choice questions, logic games, storytime, and free drawing
• Aligned with the Head Start Early Learning Outcomes and Common Core State standards
• Completely free to use

Cons

• Best displayed on an iPad, which not all children have access to

Overview

Not only does this app go way beyond the average preschooler app, but the fact that it’s free means that even competitors like ABCmouse (which also presents a comprehensive curriculum) can’t really measure up in terms of access to families of different income ranges. For this reason, Khan Academy Kids has won awards from Common Sense Media and Children’s Technology Review.

Looking for apps for your youngest kids? Check out these best educational apps for toddlers.

BEST FOR FINE MOTOR SKILL DEVELOPMENTBusy Shapes

Key Specs

• Age: 2- to 3-year-olds
• Cost: $2.99
• Mobile App/Ebook: Mobile app

Why We Chose It

Busy Shapes is an app aligned with the Montessori method of self-directed, hands-on learning. As such, it’s perfect for the youngest kids just starting to interact with technology because it’s not rote learning.

Pros & Cons

Pros

• Impacts young children’s motor skill development
• Kids learn about how objects relate to each other
• Develops their logic and reasoning skills

Cons

• Only for children who need to work on these types of skills

Overview

Busy Shapes is simple to play. Kids simply drag an object into a hole. They are challenged to match the shape of the object with the corresponding hole, and eventually, another object and hole will appear in a new setting. The challenge increases over time, with multiple objects and holes of different shapes. Most importantly, there are no instructions—it’s all child-directed. Busy Shapes costs $2.99.

BEST FOR MATHMoose Math

Key Specs

• Age: Preschoolers preparing to enter elementary school
• Cost: Free
• Mobile App/Ebook: Mobile app

Why We Chose It

Made by Duck Duck Moose, which became part of educational technology juggernaut Khan Academy in 2016, this math app is designed to introduce basic math concepts to young kids.

Pros & Cons

Pros

• Teaches concepts related to counting, shapes, addition, and subtraction
• Games are aligned to Common Core Standards for kindergarten math
• Parents can follow kids’ progress

Cons

• Limited game options

Overview

In Moose Math, kids help a moose and his friends do various tasks, such as counting, making “moose juice” smoothies, and finding hidden animals. There are five games at different levels, and kids have to progress through the levels to advance. Best of all, Moose Math is free with no hidden, in-app purchases.

BEST FOR CREATIVE EXPLORATIONToca Nature

Key Specs

• Age: Older preschoolers
• Cost: $3.99
• Mobile App/Ebook: Mobile app

Why We Chose It

Toca Nature is one of the best apps on the market for older preschoolers to engage in open-ended creative exploration. It’s like Minecraft for young kids.

Pros & Cons

Pros

• Kids get to build natural elements like trees, lakes, and mountains
• Then kids see what happens when animals populate those areas
• Great for creative kids

Cons

• Younger kids might struggle with the hand-eye coordination

Overview

Kids construct their scenery by tapping and dragging, which means that the app is best for older preschoolers who have better hand-eye coordination. Toca Nature has a calm aura about it, with soothing background music to accompany the scenery. Unlike what happens in real life, this version of nature is appropriate for young children—there are no bears devouring small animals. Kids can feed some animals, though not all of them. Toca Nature costs $3.99.

BEST FOR READINGHomer Reading Learn to Read

Key Specs

• Age: All preschoolers
• Cost: $10/month (or $60/year)
• Mobile App/Ebook: Mobile app

Why We Chose It

Homer Reading: Learn to Read is a research-based, comprehensive literacy curriculum that creates a personalized program for every child based on what they’re interested in. For example, there’s content about animals, music, poetry, folk tales, and many other subjects.

Pros & Cons

Pros

• Personalized programs for every child based on their interests
• There’s a strong phonics component
• Kids can practice tracing letters

Cons

• Monthly service fee

Overview

Homer Reading was designed with the Common Core in mind, and thus it provides context. For example, one reviewer explains, “Kids are not only learning what the letter ‘A’ sounds like and that ‘alligator’ starts with ‘A,’ but also taking virtual ‘field trips’ to the zoo, where they learn about alligators.” Homer Reading isn’t cheap: it’s $10/month, but you get a 30-day free trial and the yearly plan is $60 if you can commit to that.

MOST FUN APPThe Monster At the End of This Book

Key Specs

• Age: All preschoolers
• Cost: $3.99
• Mobile App/Ebook: Ebook

Why We Chose It

This is an interactive version of the classic Sesame Street book from the 1970s in which Grover urges children not to turn the pages so they can stay away from the end of the book, where there is supposedly a monster.

Pros & Cons

Pros

• Grover reads the pages of the book and kids tap the screen to turn the pages
• Interactive elements keep kids engaged
• Great to get kids laughing

Cons

• Slight fee

Overview

Of course, the monster at the end of the book is Grover himself! Besides being a hoot for little kids, The Monster at the End of this Book can present an opportunity for parents to talk to kids about when they feel afraid of something. The ebook costs $3.99.

BEST FOR TEACHING PRESCHOOLERS ABOUT ROUTINESDaniel Tiger’s Day and Night

Key Specs

• Age: Younger preschoolers
• Cost: $2.99
• Mobile App/Ebook: Mobile app

Why We Chose It

One of many great apps offered by PBS Kids, Daniel Tiger’s Day and Night teaches kids about morning and evening routines. Kids are asked to do tasks like getting dressed, eating breakfast, brushing their teeth, and in the evening, taking a bath.

Pros & Cons

Pros

• Includes eight games total
• Also includes sing-along songs and musical timers to make tasks more fun
• All games revolve around routines

Cons

• Slight fee

Overview

Daniel Tiger Day and Night is especially good for young kids who are particularly disorganized or seem to need more structure in their days. However, it’s great for all kids in terms of learning the importance of hygiene and self-care. The app costs $2.99. 

BEST FOR IMAGINARY PLAYMy PlayHome

Key Specs

• Age: All preschoolers
• Cost: $3.99 iTunes/$2.99 Amazon
• Mobile App/Ebook: Mobile app

Why We Chose It

My PlayHome is a completely open-ended virtual dollhouse that encourages young kids to use their imagination to build a family. Kids can choose up to 15 characters with different outfits and hairstyles.

Pros & Cons

Pros

• Highly interactive
• Realistic sound effects
• Diverse family options

Cons

• Slight fee

Overview

One of the best things about My PlayHome is that kids can choose from diverse skin tones to create their family, and decide whether their family is multi-racial or has two moms or dads. While the app is designed to appeal to young kids, even elementary school children seem to love playing it. My PlayHome is $3.99 on iTunes and $2.99 on Amazon.