Today’s “Best Educational Apps for Kids” list is Science apps for kindergarden and early elementary kids. I did not include those animal related apps, as there will be a separate list of “Best Educational Apps for Kids” on ”Nature and Animals”. If you know any good science apps for kids age 6 to 10, please leave the app name in a comment. I will update the list periodically.
KidScience (Free): an app showing you how to do some science experiments at home. You can search for science experiments by “Experiment Name”, “What is in My Pantry”, “Age Group”, “Science Type” (biology, physics, etc.), and “Amount of Time” the experiment takes. All experiments are easy to do, and with science explanations.
Solar Walk ($2.99): travel through the solar system with your finger on your iPAD or iPhone. You can tap on any planet you are interested in. The app allows you take close look of each planet in the solar system, and you can spin the planet to get a view from any angle. Kids will have fun flying throught the space and holding the planets in their hands.
SkyView (Free): shows the stars and constellations on your device screen while you hold your iPhone or iPAD up, like you are going to take a picture of the sky. When you move your device, the view will change with your move. You can get facts on each star or constellation by simply tapping on the object of your interest. There is a paid version also.
Star Walk ($2.99): Similar to SkyView, but with much more facts and better pictures. Some additional facts include calendar of celestial events like planetary alignments, full moons, solar eclipses, and meteor showers. There is a quick live sky one page that details when planets will rise and set. I suggest go with Star Walk if kids are beyond SkyView Free.
NOVA Elements (Free): teach kids periodic table with multi-media materials, 3D models, and fun experiments. Kids play games to build the molecules that make up a number of objects – coffee, bananas, clothes. The content is scientific enough to learn the true science, and easy enough for early elementary kids to follow. It is a great app to get kids started on elements.
Monster Physics ($1.99): Kids design, build, and operate their own machines, or moving devices with wheels, joins, ropes, propellers. After they build the machines, they can test out and see if they work or not. It is like a prototype facility on screen. Kids get the opportunity to learn physics with their own inventions and parents don’t have to worry about them breaking anything.
Where’s My Water ($0.99): one of the first games I played with my son. We still love it. Kids learn fluid physics from playing the games. I have seen quite a few physics games by now, many of them don’t have realistic movements. The subjects either move too slow or not responsive to touches. While playing this game, you feel you are playing with the real liquid of different kinds.
Where’s My Perry ($0.99): very similar to Where’s My Water, with added challenges, such as hot water meets ice, water turns into steam, … When kids move up the levels, the game scenario become more challenging, kids have to do some strategic planning to have a step-by-step action plan to win the game. This is another benefit besides learning physics.
Cut the Rope ($0.99): Cut the rope to feed the candy on the rope to a cute monster. Kids learn basic physics concepts, such as gravity, motion, force, and vector. To solve the puzzle, they have to strategically plan out the sequence and timing of the rope cuttings and execute the plan perfectly. It is another great physics game.
Angry Bird ($0.99): It is such a popular game that people use “Angry Bird” when they really mean “all the games on iDevice”. For this reason, some parents automatically put it into “non-educational” category. While in fact, there are a lot science and strategy in the game, if used correctly, kids can learn lot from the game.
What science games does your child like to play? Please leave a note! I will update the list periodically. Keep in mind, all animal and natural related apps will be in a separate list, which will be posted in the next week or so.
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Great list! Thanks for sharing this.
you are welcome! Do you have some favorite apps for kids?
Nice list Matt. My kinder son also likes Max and the Magic Marker and Bobo Explores Light. Don’t know what happened to Casey’s Contraptions, but that was also a lot of fun.
Thanks for the app names. I will take a look and update the list.
Will be checking these out…
Let me know how you like them!
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