Tynker (Free + in-app purchases) All primary-school children should now be learning computer programming skills (or at least “algorithmic th...
Tynker (Free + in-app purchases)
All primary-school children should now be learning computer programming skills (or at least “algorithmic thinking”) as part of the curriculum. Tynker is one of the apps that aims to help them practise at home: a collection of “coding puzzles” teaching kids about programming, with a sandbox mode to make their own games. In-app purchases buy additional puzzle packs.
Endless Reader (Free + in-app purchases)
Endless Reader is full of character: an app where a troop of colourful monsters teach your children how to spell a series of words, as well as acting them out. The app focuses on tricky words (“sight” words in some schools) that children need to recognise as they learn to read. Six words come for free, with more available for parents to buy using in-app purchases.
Skylanders Trap Team (Free, tablet pack needed)
It needs a pretty powerful Android tablet and lots of space – 2.5GB – but Skylanders Trap Team is impressive: a proper, full-blown Skylanders game to match the console version, complete with its own joypad and portal stand so that kids can use their physical Skylanders toys. The game is free, but you’ll need to buy the physical “tablet starter pack” to play the full thing.
Night Zookeeper (Free, optional subscription)
Night Zookeeper isn’t an app you download from the Google Play store: instead, it’s a website that works on tablets. It’s a wonderful thing too: part game and part creative studio where your children draw animals to fill a magical zoo, illustrating their own stories as they go. It’s free, but parents can choose to pay for a subscription that includes a physical zookeeper welcome pack.
Toca Boo
Toca Boo may have been released for Halloween, but its appeal will last all year round. It gets children to play as a girl named Bonnie, who dresses up in a sheet and floats around the house scaring her family members by jumping out at them and shouting “BOO!”. Genuinely funny, and beautifully designed.
