23 Fun And Learning IPad Apps For Toddlers

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In today’s digitized world, each generation appears to be becoming more tech-savvy, with even toddlers using phones with ease. So, here are some iPad apps for toddlers to help you choose the right one. Even if you try to keep toddlers away from electronic devices, they will find a method to play their favorite games or apps by scrolling down the screen. Thus, the best thing you can do is provide them with apps that are educational, engaging, entertaining, and child-friendly. According to new research, iPads offer three unique features that can improve children’s early education (1). With many applications available, you won’t have any trouble coming up with new approaches to teach your toddler. You can install effective learning apps and turn your device into a cutting-edge teaching tool for toddlers. If you’re not sure what fun apps to get for your toddler, you can go through our list of high-quality apps to choose a suitable one.

Top 23 iPad Apps For Toddlers

1. PBS Kids Games

Features:

The app plays over 50 free learning games anytime and anywhere with PBS Kids characters. The app is full of games that encourage your toddler to learn math, science, etc.

Some features include Daniel Wild Kratts, Tiger’s Neighborhood, Sesame Street, The Cat in the Hat Knows a Lot About That!, Super Why, and Dinosaur Train.

Parent resources include learning more about a TV series, finding local PBS KIDS station schedules, downloading other PBS KIDS apps, managing storage amount, etc.

Seller: PBS Kids
Rating: 4
Genre: Games
Compatibility: Requires iOS 8.0 or later. Compatible with iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch.
Price: Free
Language: English
Download Link: Here

2. Elmo Loves ABCs

Elmo is full of videos, activities, and games. It is an educational app that teaches toddlers about sounds, letters, and words. The app is suitable for ages two to five years.

Features:

The engaging, multi-faceted app teaches alphabets.

One mode allows toddlers to choose a letter and trace it as if they are writing. The app plays three video clips of the items starting with the letter.

They can color the pictures of those items and the game also has options for playing hide and seek.

In another mode, a letter from a group can be identified. This letter not only plays its sound but also a related video.

A music note link plays one of the four video renditions of the alphabet song. In one version, Elmo invites the toddler to sing along.

Developed by: Sesame Workshop Apps
Rating: 5
Genre: Games
Compatibility: Requires iOS 6.0 or later. Compatible with iPad.
Price: $4.99
Language: English
Download Link: Here

Dr Jazmine, a child psychologist, recommends Elmo Loves 123s as a great Ipad app for toddlers. She says, “It’s a nice introduction, especially for the young toddlers on math and counting (i).”

3. Cut The Rope

The famous app has 750 million downloads worldwide. The app has a physics-based award-winning game. Your toddler would love to win gold stars and discover hidden prizes. Unlocking exciting new levels is fun. The little monster in the game has only one request… CANDY!

Features:

The app features a cute green monster called ‘Om Nom’.

Players cut dangling ropes holding candy. The goal is to make the candy fall into the monster’s mouth while collecting as many gold stars as possible.

Seller: ZeptoLab UK Limited
Rating: 5
Genre: Games
Compatibility: Requires iOS 6.0 or later. Compatible with iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch
Price: $1.99
Language: English, French, German, Dutch, Italian, Japanese, Portuguese, Russian, Korean, Simplified Chinese, Spanish
Download Link: Here

4.Wood Puzzle

The game is fun, relaxing, and challenging. The app is designed to spend free time in a healthy manner. This colorful game can make your toddler more intelligent and sensitive to colors and blocks. Also, it can help develop their hand-eye coordination. The Luck Dip of London-certified app is a ten category seller in over 40 countries.

Features:

Featured as an in-store demo in Apple stores, it is ‘kid tested and mother approved’.

Rotation Off makes it easier for beginners to solve puzzles.

Rotation On makes the pieces rotate, making puzzles natural and realistic.

Baby mode is animated puzzles that help the little one with problem-solving skills.

Seller: Tropisounds Corporation
Rating: 4.5
Genre: Education
Compatibility: Requires iOS 5.0 or later. Compatible with iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch.
Price: $0.99
Language: English
Download Link: Here

5. AniMatch

AniMatch is a great fun app that comes with a button big enough for easy navigation. It is very simple and engaging. Nature-themed, the little jiggle by the animals when a successful match is made peaks tots’ interests. The puzzles in the app, featuring animal graphics and funny animal sounds, are easy to learn. The New York Times travel section has mentioned AniMatch as a great game to have on trips for restless toddlers. They can develop cognitive skills, memory, and concentration. Ensure you keep giving them feedback so they are improving.

Features:

The app has four selections. Toddlers can match pictures to shadow images.

Toddlers can play the animal bingo game, where they must pick the animal based on the voice made by the app.

Match shows a written word. The game features a classic concentration card game.

Several buttons on the first page of the app feature other apps from the publisher.

The app comes with retina display graphics and native iPad support.

Toddlers get to know 31 different animals (10 in each game).

Developed by: Lima Sky
Rating: 4
Genre: Games
Compatibility: Requires iOS 4.3 or later. Compatible with iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch.
Price: $0.8
Language: English
Download Link: Here

[ Read: Free Apps For Toddlers ]

6. Endless Alphabet

It is an interactive educational app, teaching the alphabet and building vocabulary with adorable monsters. Each word features an interactive puzzle game.

Features:

The game features short animation illustrating talking letters and the definition of the word.

In total, the app features 100 words, letters, and words reacting to the 3D touch.

The specialty of this app is that it does not show scores or failures, making sure the little one can interact at his pace.

Note: You must be online while using the app and need enough disk space to see the words beyond G.

Developed by: Originator
Rating: 4
Genre: Education
Compatibility: Requires iOS 7.0 or later. Compatible with iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch.
Price: $8
Language: English
Download Link: Here

7. The Wheels On The Bus

The app is an ‘all in one activity center’ for toddlers. Through the classic song, the little tots are exposed to different languages and instruments.

Features:

The app features 12 games with sing along, adorable graphics and sounds.

It has 11 beautiful verses of the classic rhyme “The Wheels On The Bus”.

New version features ‘play road trip’.

Toddlers can collect puzzle pieces to build vehicles.

Touch the screen to make the bus roll along the road, open the doors, and move the wipers.

Lyrics can be heard in English, German, Italian, Spanish, and French.

Note: This app is free to play, but it has in-app purchases for a few items. However, you can disable it.

Developed by: Kids Games Club by TabTale
Rating: 5
Genre: Education
Compatibility: Requires iOS 7.0 or later. Compatible with iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch.
Price: Free
Language: English
Download Link: Here

8. Super Why

The Super Why App allows toddlers to play four different mini-games based on spelling, reading, letters, phonics, and rhymes. It allows reading stories.

Features:

Each game features a different character from the Super Why! TV series.

Toddlers can handle the games’ controls with ease.

Virtual stickers earned as rewards from each successful game can be used in a design-a-scene bonus game.

This app was featured by Apple at the launch of the iPad2 and the Parents’ Choice Silver Award winner.

Developed by: PBS Kids
Rating: 3
Genre: Educational
Compatibility: iPhone, iPod Touch, iPad, Android, Kindle Fire
Price: $3.67
Language: English
Download Link: Here

9. Press Here: The App

The app includes an interactive picture book with 15 delightfully simple games and activities. It reinforces basic concepts in math and art.

A few of them are:

Photo: Draw a picture and then take a picture of it.
Rain: Make it rain colors.
Many Roads: Draw roads with your finger.
Are You Coming?: Drag the dots to each other and try to combine them.
Tap Tap: Tap to create dots everywhere.
Get Inside: Try to get the little dot into the big circle and more.
Seller: Chronicle Books
Rating: 5
Genre: Education
Compatibility: Requires iOS 3.2 or later. Compatible with iPad.
Price: $1.99
Language: English
Download Link: Here

10. YouTube Kids

The delightful, free app for toddlers is designed for the curious minds. It is a portal to YouTube. Toddlers can enjoy videos even on the big screen with Apple TV, Chromecast, smart TVs, or game consoles.

Features:

For easy exploration, the videos in the app are divided into Music, Shows, Learning, and Explore.

Videos also include intro to sports, games, animals, crafts, and more.

The app comes with big buttons, instant full-screen, and easy scrolling.

Toddlers can also enjoy their favorites such as Thomas & Friends and Talking Tom, Sesame Street, on-line hits such as Mother Goose Club, TuTiTu, and Stampylonghead.

They can watch them offline to avoid ads.

For your child’s safety, parental control features such as timer, blocking channels, and disabling search features are available, making it age-appropriate.

Note: The channels and videos are subject to change due to regular updates.

Seller: Google, Inc.
Rating: 4 plus
Genre: Entertainment
Compatibility: Requires iOS 8.0 or later. Compatible with iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch.
Price: Free
Download Link: Here

Language: English, Arabic, Armenian, Albanian, Bulgarian, Catalan, Chinese, Cambodian, Croatian, Czech, Dutch, Danish, French, Finnish, German, Greek, Georgian, Hindi, Hungarian, Hebrew, Indonesian, Italian, Kazakh, Korean, Japanese, Laotian, Latvian, Malay, Mongolian, Lithuanian, Norwegian, Persian, Polish, Norwegian Bokmål, Romanian, Russian, Portuguese, Serbian, Simplified Chinese, Spanish, Swedish, Slovak, Thai, Turkish, Traditional Chinese, Ukrainian, Vietnamese.

Note: The YouTube Kids App is only available in the US, UK, Australia, New Zealand, Ireland, Mexico, Brazil, Colombia, Argentina, Spain, and Canada (excluding Quebec). YouTube Kids is available with YouTube Red in the US, New Zealand, and Australia.

Quick tip

Some other interesting apps for your toddler are Fish school, First Words Sampler, LEGO DUPLO Train, Breathe Think Do, and Scribbaloo Paint.

11. Five Little Monkeys

The interactive book app is designed for toddlers to explore pictures, personalize the story, and learn vocabulary. While the toddler explores the story, the parent can encourage literacy skills, teach vocabulary, and also own record narration.

Features:

As the toddler taps the monkey, it falls off the bed. The monkey then starts twirling around the head. It is then that a song commences. And the mommy monkey calls the doctor.
Easy-to-use navigation is toddler-friendly.

Seller: Oceanhouse Media, Inc.
Rating: 4 plus
Genre: Books
Compatibility: Requires iOS 5.0 or later. Compatible with iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch
Price: $0.99
Language: English
Download Link: Here

12. Drawing Pad

The drawing app for kids allows your toddler to play with colors and shapes and also create their own designs. The little one’s artistic piece could be shared via Facebook, Twitter, SMS, or email.

Features

The other features of the app include the accessibility and importing photos from camera or library, saving photos, selecting color pencil, customizing color, opacity, and brush size.

There are no instructions so let your tot use all his creativity!

Tap on your tool to start drawing, stamping, painting, or erasing.

Seller: Tiep Nguyen
Rating: 4 plus
Genre: Entertainment
Compatibility: Requires iOS 6.0 or later. Compatible with iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch
Price: Free
Language: English
Download Link: Here

13. Petting Zoo

The engaging app is full of surprises, witty, and quirky animations! With over one million downloads, the app is rated as “Absolutely adorable”, “A wonderful app for all ages!” by USA Today.

Features

The app is an interactive picture book featuring 21 hand-drawn animals with great animations, and playful, musical sounds for each animal.

It combines animations and humor with state-of-the-art technology.

Developer: Fox & Sheep
Rating: 4 plus
Genre: Educational
Compatibility: Requires iOS 6.0 or later. Compatible with iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch
Price: $2.79
Language: English, Dutch, German, Italian, French, Korean, Portuguese, Japanese, Simplified Chinese, Russian, Spanish, Traditional Chinese
Download Link: Here

14. Nighty Night!

The popular app is perfect for daily go-to-sleep ritual with cute animals, stunning narration, and lullaby music. The toddler watches all the animals going to bed, which lulls him into sleep.

Features:

“Nighty Night!” is brought to you by Oscar-nominee Heidi Wittlinger.

The interactive book combines little sets made of paper, 2D illustration, and animation. It is not a reading app, though.

The little one finds 13 different animals, including duck, dog, pig, cow, sheep, fish, pony, chicken, spider, cat, goat, rabbit, etc.

They can tap the rooms of the house and turn lights off to put the animals to sleep.

It features cause-and-effect lessons for toddlers, accompanying the soothing going-to-sleep music.

Seller: Fox and Sheep GmbH
Rating: 4 plus
Genre: Books
Compatibility: Requires iOS 7.0 or later. Compatible with iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch.
Price: $2.99
Language: English, French, German, Dutch, Italian, Portuguese, Russian, Japanese, Simplified Chinese, Swedish, Turkish, Spanish.
Download link: Here

15. Little Red Hen – Interactive Reader

The app comes with the classic fable that tells the story of the industrious hen. Your toddler would learn about the value of hard work and teamwork by interacting with the scenes and characters in the story.

Features:

The app takes your little explorer on an adventure while making them learn about the animals on the farm.

The kid-friendly narration makes the story more accessible than ever.

Your darling would love to read it again and again. There is an option to read the story in two ways, Read Aloud (listen to the narration) and Read It Myself (reads the story by self).

Seller: McGraw-Hill School
Rating: 4 plus
Genre: Education
Compatibility: Requires iOS 4.2 or later. Compatible with iPad.
Price: $1.99
Language: English
Download link: Here

16. Bubbles

The app is a fun distraction for toddlers. It also improves their hand-eye coordination.

Features:

Bubbles pop up, making sounds

Gravity pulls the bubbles downward. Toddlers can draw bubble letters, shapes, and numbers.

As toddlers run their fingers over the screen, the bubbles fly through on the screen.

Seller: Jesse Grosjean
Rating: 4 plus
Genre: Entertainment
Compatibility: Requires iOS 7.0 or later. Compatible with iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch.
Price: $0.99
Language: English
Download link: Here

17. Pat the Bunny

Pat the Bunny is the first interactive book of its kind and the best iPad app for preschoolers. Based on a book by Dorothy Kunhardt, the app is perfect for little fingers and little one’s imaginations. It is particularly designed for preschoolers and toddlers with playful sound effects and impressive music.

Features:

The app has a play mode for toddlers to feed and interact with the bunny.

They can tap, swipe, and explore 14 interactive scenes.

The bunny becomes the toddler’s interactive pet. You can hear your darling’s delightful giggles as he plays hide and seek with the bunny, catches butterflies, makes music in the kitchen and pops bubbles in the bathtub.

Seller: Random House
Rating: 4 plus
Genre: Books
Compatibility: Requires iOS 7.0 or later. Compatible with iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch.
Price: $0.99
Language: English
Download link: Here

18. Talking Carl

Sing, talk, and play with Carl. As your baby tickles, punches, and irritates Carl, he can hear the funny growls, laughter, and more! This game can help improve your baby’s communication and social skills.

Features:

Strike Carl by lightning

Feed him bones

Talk to hear him repeat your words.

Poke his eyes to hear him yell and shout.

If you forget him, he will grumble to remind you of him.

Carl is very polite as well. He says goodbye every time you are about to shut the app.

Note: The app might encourage misbehavior.

Developer: Tayasui
Rating: 4 plus
Genre: Entertainment
Compatibility: Requires iOS 9.0 or later. Compatible with iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch.
Price: $0.99
Language: English, German, French, Italian, Japanese, Simplified Chinese, Korean, Spanish
Download link: Here

19. Sound Touch

This is one of the best educational apps for toddlers and irresistible too. It plays many different sounds to inspire little minds.

Features:

The toddler can choose from the extensive list of sounds such as trumpets, boats, trains, sheep, cats, horses, etc.

They can just tap a picture in one of the six categories: vehicles, domestic or farm animals, birds, wild animals, household items, and musical instruments.

The sound-touch features an intuitive interface, engaging learning, simple controls, quality sound recordings, photographs, and graphics.

It is optimized with the latest mobiles, flawless use, and new bonus.

Note: A picture like a cobra (ready to strike) or growling voices of some animals might disturb your toddler.

Developer: Eran Talmor
Rating: 4 plus
Genre: Education
Compatibility: Requires iOS 6.0 or later. Compatible with iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch.
Price: $4.41
Download link: Here

Language: English, Arabic, Catalan, Afrikaans, Croatian, Czech, Dutch, Filipino, Danish, Finnish, French, Greek, Hebrew, German, Hindi, Hungarian, Japanese, Korean, Italian, Norwegian Bokmål, Polish, Portuguese, Persian, Russian, Slovenian, Spanish, Simplified Chinese, Swedish, Turkish, Traditional Chinese.

20. Toddler Flashcards

The app acts as a great tool for the toddlers to learn basic words. The toddler gets engaged and learns through the app.

It comes with 20 cards, spoken pronunciations in multiple languages such as English, French, Chinese, Spanish, German, Farsi, Greek, Russian, Hindi, Portuguese, Arabic, and Japanese, besides animal sound effects.

Flashcards help teach the names of animals, things, foods, and colors. Toddlers are also introduced to numbers, alphabet, and animal sounds.

Seller: iTot Apps
Rating: 4 plus
Genre: Education
Compatibility: Requires iOS 4.3 or later. Compatible with iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch.
Price: Free
Language: English, French, Chinese, Spanish, Simplified Chinese
Download link: Here

21. Moo, Baa, La La La! – Sandra Boynton

The Moo, Baa, La La La! Digital book app will amuse toddlers. It is an interactive version of the classic board book by Sandra Boynton. The app is rated by Kirkus Star, Children’s Technology Review Editor’s Choice, and Common Sense Media – 5 Stars.

Features:

It has the appeal of a traditional pop-up book.

Each animal makes its own unique sound. Touching the moon turns day to night.

Your little one can slingshot the running cats away from barking dogs.

Your darling touches a duck to hear its quack and brings another duck and the chain continues. So, touch the animals to hear them moo or oink or quack.

You can read it loud or the app reads out.

Seller: Loud Crow Interactive
Rating: 4 plus
Genre: Books
Compatibility: Requires iOS 4.3 or later. Compatible with iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch.
Price: $3.99
Language: English
Download link: Here

22. The Going to Bed Book – Sandra Boynton

The app offers lively interactivity and thoroughly mesmerizing and delightful discovery. Characters in the app respond to touch with movement and sound. Toddlers can enjoy turning the tap water on and off as well as adjust the steam levels that fog the screen. They can, interestingly, write their name on the steam. They can also brush their teeth, besides doing a session of group exercises with ten pajama-clad animals (each animal exercises in its own way).

More features include:

Help the piggy turn off the lights and rock yourself to sleep to the soothing sound coming from the music box, containing twinkling stars.

The gentle narration by British Invasion legend, Billy J. Kramer is simply amazing.

Tilt the device to watch things slide.

Make the animals move by touching, pulling, and turning them.

Realistic page turning interactions are highlighted.

Hear individual words pronounced with the tap of a finger or read them yourself.

Developer: Loud Crow Interactive
Rating: 4 plus
Genre: Books
Compatibility: Requires iOS 4.3 or later. Compatible with iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch.
Price: $3.67
Language: English
Download link: Here

23. Monkey Preschool Lunchbox

This is one of the best learning apps for kids aged between two and five years.

Features:

Kids may learn about colors, the alphabet, counting, shapes, sizes, matching, and distinctions through seven games.

A charming, animated monkey assists children while they play the game.

Dozens of voice recordings and noises representing letters, colors, fruit names, and other concepts.

Stickers with animations! Children receive stickers as incentives for their accomplishments.

Designed with children in mind—no complicated navigation or menus.

Infinite play! Every game seamlessly leads onto the next.

Seller: THUP Games LLC
Genre: Education
Rating: 4+
Age: Made for Ages 0–5
Compatibility: Requires iPadOS 10.0 or later.
Price: $1.99
Languages: English
Download Link: Here

Pros And Cons Of iPad Apps For Toddlers

These points will help you decide whether the pros of iPad apps outweigh the cons for your toddler.

Pros

• iPad apps and games are interactive, entertaining, and engaging.
• These apps help develop kids’ language, vocabulary, and socializing skills.
• iPad apps can also improve toddlers’ math and problem-solving abilities.

Cons

• Using iPad apps can deteriorate toddlers’ attention spans.
• Prolonged exposure to apps can stop toddlers from using their thoughts and imagination.
• Apps offer limited sensory engagement and no physical activity, which can affect a child’s development.

How To Choose The Right iPad Apps For Your Toddler

Not all apps are suitable for your toddler. Here are a few tips to help you decide which ones to use.

1. Know which skill the app should target, whether it is vocabulary, reading, or spelling.
2. Check for the age-appropriateness of the app; an app targeted for four-year-olds may not work for your two-year-old.
3. Look for apps that offer a wide range of activities to hold your child’s attention.
4. Make sure the apps offer features that make them functional for toddlers to use—good content alone is not enough.
5. Research the app and check for reviews from other parents; better yet, download and use the apps yourself to see if they are suitable for your toddler.

Infographic: iPad Apps For Toddlers That’ll Help In their Early Learning

Are you trying to engage, educate and entertain your toddler simultaneously? If yes, the below infographic presents some exciting iPad apps suitable for toddlers. These apps will turn learning into a fun activity for your little one. So, go ahead and explore!

Illustration: Momjunction Design Team

Illustration: Fun And Learning iPad Apps For Toddlers

Image: Stable Diffusion/MomJunction Design Team

Discover the best toddler apps in this video! These engaging, educational, and fun apps are perfect for your little ones.

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