Kids these days are online now more than ever before. Whether it’s on the computer, a phone, or a tablet, and we all want to make sure that our kids are being safe and (preferably) learning while they play. I gathered together a list of my favorite online learning sites and apps that either we’ve tried or intend or trying. I’m not sponsored by any of these sites, either btw. We just genuinely enjoy them in our family.
ABC Mouse
I feel like I have to include this one even though every parent probably knows about it by now. It’s pretty much the gold standard for an online learning app for kids. With the yearly membership starting at $45 a year, it can be a tad daunting for some to start paying that without knowing whether or not your kids will actually play with it. Fortunately, they do have a 30 day free trial, and (thanks to the pandemic) they’ve been having more discounts every now and then for new subscribers. If you look around, I’m sure you can find a code somewhere.
StarFall.com
In my opinion, this is the best kids educational app to start kids on. They have a free mode to start your kids on, and then they have a subscription to open up locked sections that is $35 per year. Personally, I think that it’s not worth paying that much since it’s so close in price to ABC Mouse without all of the features. However, there’s enough in the free mode that my 5 and almost 4 year old still enjoy it as much as they did when they were toddlers. There isn’t a set curriculum like some of the others in this list, but kids can pick and choose which topics they want to learn about.
Khan Academy Kids
Khan Academy is a great educational site for all ages, and they’ve created an app specifically for young kids with a curriculum similar to ABC Mouse. If they go to the library, there’s options in various categories for kids and parents to pick and choose what they wish to learn. They’ve created cute characters for the kids to have fun playing games with as they learn.
RV AppStudios
This line of educational apps (known to our kids as the Lucas and Ruby games) has been very popular in our house. There’s very little if any ads on these apps, and the games are very fun, easy to use, and rewarding. They cover a variety of topics preschoolers and lower elementary need to learn from ABCs and 123s to Colors and Shapes to addition and multiplication. They also have a cute coloring app that lets them color in a variety ways.
Outschool
We actually have yet to use this particular site just yet, but I’ve heard so many amazing things from other parents that I’m excited for us to try this out. The only reason we haven’t yet is because you need a webcam to participate, and I don’t have one for our desktop.
Outschool is an education platform that links teachers from around the world with small-group classes online. Unlike traditional public school zoom classes, this gives kids the opportunity to explore their interests in-depth in these internet co-op classes. There are lessons in many different topics that are commonly held using kids’ favorite interests (like Roblox, Minecraft, Paw Patrol, Harry Potter, etc).
If you follow this link, you can get $20 off of any of the classes.
