Best K-5 Learning Apps 2024: fun ways to learn that work

I’ve found that the best K–5 learning apps give students the freedom to access educational content whenever and wherever it works for them. This lets them learn in a way that is best for them. The best thing about these apps is that they can be changed to fit each person’s unique learning style. This not only speeds up the learning process but also makes it easier to understand. I’ve also noticed that educational apps are helpful for reinforcing what kids have learned in school, which makes it easier for them to remember things for a long time.

Kids love screen time, but if you want your child to chase less Pokémon and learn more, there’s good news. Many of today’s apps for kids combine technology and education to make learning more engaging, interactive and dare we say it fun than ever before. Regardless of the skills or topics your child is interested in, there are a wide variety of learning apps to choose from.

Our experts work with our consumer panel to test the best kids’ apps based on ease of use, engagement, price, and technical pitfalls. We’ve reviewed dozens of apps to bring you our favorites. These are the best of the best for engaging, entertaining, and educational content that will help bridge gaps and keep your kids entertained, whether they’re in preschool or high school.

Importance of K-5 Learning Apps for Education

K–5 learning apps are an important part of modern education because they offer many benefits that help young students learn better. Some of the most important reasons why these apps are important are as follows:

???? Engaging and Interactive Learning: K–5 learning apps are made to be visually appealing and interactive, which keeps young learners’ attention and keeps them interested in learning. Games, quizzes, and other interactive activities make learning fun and encourage students to explore and learn on their own.

???? Personalized learning: Many learning apps for grades K–5 use adaptive technology, which means they can change the content and level of difficulty to meet the needs of each student. This personalized approach makes sure that each student gets the right challenges and help, which helps them understand and remember the material better.

???? Accessibility and convenience: Students can use learning apps on a variety of devices, like tablets and smartphones, so they can use them in and out of class. This gives students the chance to keep learning and improve their skills outside of regular school hours.

???? Adding to Traditional Teaching: Learning apps can be a useful addition to traditional ways of teaching. They give students more resources and practice opportunities to help them remember what they have learned in class. Teachers can also keep track of how their students are doing and see where they might need more help.

????️ Visual and Multimodal Learning: K–5 learning apps often use pictures, animations, and other forms of media to help explain ideas. This multimodal approach takes into account the different ways people learn, making it easier for students to understand and remember complex ideas.

Best K-5 Learning Apps Comparison Table

The comparison table shows the best learning apps for kids in grades K–5, including their features, ratings, and whether or not they are good for young learners. It shows what the apps can teach, how easy they are to use, and how parents can control them. Users can quickly find the best app based on their child’s age, what they like to learn about, and which platforms it works on.

Khan Academy Kids

Khan Academy Kids is a comprehensive early learning resource that allows students to practice key learning fundamentals on an individual basis. It’s pretty easy to get started: just have students follow their automatic learning path and check in regularly to see how they’re progressing. Or select activities from the library (available from the start) to assign to specific students.

Progress feedback is simple, but provides insight into student performance and whether or not they have mastered the concept. Use this feedback to identify problem areas for individual students or the entire class. Khan Academy Kids can easily be used as a learning station, homework assignment, or computer lab.

Teachers can even show the videos, songs, or books to the whole class. Then, learning can continue off-screen by singing the songs from the videos, reinforcing some of the topics of interest, or continuing the learning with supplemental activities off-screen. Overall it is one of the best K-5 learning apps available right now.

Hungry Caterpillar Play School

This app is ideal for toddlers because it teaches them the skills they need to start school. With Hungry Caterpillar Play School, kids learn in five main areas, including the alphabet, numbers, shapes and colors, art and puzzles, and reading books. Hungry Caterpillar Play School has lots of 3D details that make learning exciting, and the design is beautiful and realistic.

The design is based on the popular book “The Very Hungry Caterpillar” by Eric Carle, so the little ones who are fans of the book will definitely enjoy it. Most parents who have installed The Hungry Caterpillar Play School for their children mention that the app is well-designed, but also mention that the free version is very difficult to use because of the ads.

ABCmouse.com

This selection is an overwhelming favorite among all of our testers. ABCmouse.com is available as both an app and a website. The app uses fun videos with stories, quizzes, and activities there’s even a virtual map that describes your child’s learning path to keep kids and toddlers engaged. Our parent testers loved ABCmouse.com even before we started testing the best apps for kids. So if you want one of the best K-5 learning apps you can consider.

Quizlet

This makes preparing for exams easier by letting you create as many flashcard sets as you want on your cell phone or computer. Quizlet offers different testing methods, such as multiple-choice and true/false questions, and has millions of sets already created by students.

Self-directed learning is an important skill for high school students, and Quizlet is one of the most effective apps on the market for reviewing exam material. Teachers and students can create learning sets/flashcards on many topics – from the periodic table to US presidents to vocabulary and more.

Montessori Preschool

Montessori Preschool is an app designed for very young children. It has a beautiful design and introduces the little ones to the world of math, music, phonetics and even early coding. This app offers hundreds of colorful exercises, so kids won’t get bored. Montessori Preschool was developed by certified Montessori educators and is updated regularly so that little ones can continue to find it captivating.

The vast majority of reviews for Montessori Preschool are positive, with parents mentioning that the application is very intuitive and suitable for young children. Most of the negative reviews are not about the app itself, but about the expensive subscription model.

Epic!

Epic! is an app for kids with an e-book library that includes over 35,000 children’s books (and a read-aloud feature for little ones who can’t read yet).

One of our parent testers says it’s “a great app when the kids want screen time but you don’t!”. This app lets you take reading with you wherever you go, and it’s great for families with kids of different ages.

HOMER Learn & Grow

HOMER Learn & Grow is great for self-paced phonics learning for children with varying levels of prior knowledge and early reading skills. For students who need to practice phonics, there is the Reading section, which offers a graduated learning path with interactive exercises and voice recordings.

To encourage reading, check out the Stories section, which offers beautifully illustrated stories from numerous genres. The read-aloud stories are suitable for individuals as well as a large group, as the topics cover a wide range from history to science. And since children follow an individual path, differentiation is basically built in.

Google Arts and Culture

Google’s interactive arts and culture program lets students explore art, history, geography, and cultures from around the world by visiting museums, learning about international foods, and more – all with their hands. A free mobile app has been developed to accompany the popular website, which offers a treasure trove of virtual travel and sightseeing. The app lets you search by keyword or category and read relevant editorials about the art collections.

Google Arts and Culture is an invaluable resource for teens involved in research projects, as the app provides in-depth information that goes far beyond the written word and includes images and videos. Although the app is truly suitable for people of all ages, the amount of information available can be overwhelming for younger kids who don’t know how to use search terms efficiently.

Nick Jr.

The Nick Jr. app gives parents the opportunity to let their kids enjoy their favorite shows on the go – without a TV! The app includes videos from all Nick Jr. shows and a collection of games (both educational and non-educational) based on Nick Jr. shows featuring your kids’ favorite characters.

To unlock some parts of the app, you’ll need to enter your cable provider’s data. But even without that data, your child can enjoy the features they look forward to most: full episodes and lots of games!

Busy Shapes

This app is based on the Montessori method of hands-on learning, making it ideal for toddlers who are just beginning to interact with technology.

Busy Shapes helps develop toddlers’ logical thinking by teaching them how to manipulate objects and how they relate to each other. What makes this app special is the fact that it is controlled by the children themselves and no instructions are required.

How K-5 Learning Apps Benefit Students?

K–5 learning apps can help students in their early years of schooling in many ways. These apps are made to be fun, interactive, and fit the needs of kids who are learning. Here are some ways that learning apps for kids in grades K-5 can help them:

???? Interactive Learning: Games, quizzes, and other activities in learning apps keep students interested and help them learn. This kind of interaction keeps the students interested and motivated, which makes learning fun.

???? Personalized Learning: Many learning apps use adaptive technology to look at how well a student is doing and how they learn best. Using this information, the app can give the student content and activities that are tailored to his or her strengths and weaknesses.

???? Instant Feedback: Quizzes and exercises in learning apps often give you feedback right away. Students can see their mistakes right away and fix them, which helps them understand the ideas better.

???? Accessible Anywhere and Anytime: K-5 learning apps can be used on smartphones, tablets, and computers, among other things. Students can keep learning outside of school, which can be especially helpful for reviewing and reinforcing what they have learned.

????️ Different Ways to Learn: Learning apps can be used by people with different ways to learn. Graphics and videos can help people who learn best by seeing, people who learn best by hearing can listen to explanations, and people who learn best by touching and moving can use the app.

FAQs