Top educational apps for kids of all ages in 2021

From phonics and spelling to maths, languages and even recognising stars in the sky … these top educational apps will help kids learn while they're having fun.

With interactive games, fun activities and thousands of digital story books this is a fun way for kids to practise reading. Designed by primary school teachers, it progresses with your child, with tasks suitable for ages 2-13.

Free

Designed by two teachers to help children develop their maths skills while having fun, DoodleMaths meets all UK curriculum criteria for reception, KS1, KS2 and KS3. It also designs a learning program for each child based on their ability.

Free

A well-designed app that helps older kids and adults learn languages. There are more than 30 to choose from including Spanish, French, German, Portuguese, Italian, and English. The game-like design makes it fun to play, too.

Free

From tracing letters to blending sounds, there are more than 500 different reading activities for kids to enjoy in this fun app. Suitable for beginner readers aged 2-8, join Abby the monkey as she journeys through space and travels to magical islands completing learning activities along the way.

Free
App Store only

With everything from Bruno Mars to Mozart, this nifty little magic piano guides you through playing a variety of tunes on its three keyboards, by following beams of light with your fingers. Best for children aged 7+.

Free

Lola the cute panda flies through the air on her train stopping to solve letter matching and reading puzzles. An engaging app designed for 3-7 year olds.

£3.99-£4.99

This fun app features 10 games, including an interactive sing-along, a colouring page, drawing activities plus much more! Toddlers will love to sing along and 'drive' the bus too... All together now...

Free

A great app for younger children, Puzzingo offers lots of fun learning puzzles for ABCs and 123s to help kids get to grips with the basics of letters and numbers.

Free

Children learn how to trace letters (and the numbers 1-10). Once they've traced the letters they can watch them come to life with graphics and animations. The only downside is the American accent.

On Google Play, the app is known as known as Letterschool – ABC Phonics & Handwriting for Kids.

Free

A real favourite with Netmums parents, with many saying their children enjoy this app and it helps them get to grips with addition, subtraction, multiplication and division. Fun and quick moving. Children enjoy trying to move up the levels quickly.

99p-£1.99, Pop Math Lite is free.

Solve the maths problems to crack open the quirky eggs on legs. Different levels of difficulty make this an app that'll last more than a few minutes.

99p
App Store only

Learn to 'play' 14 different musical instruments. What's not to love?!

Free
App Store only

A great app for tracing letters and learning all the sounds and letter formations of the alphabet.

99p
App Store only

A great introduction to stargazing. Point your device to the sky and the app tells you which stars you can see. Stunning graphics.

For younger children, try Star Walk Kids (App Store) or Astronomy for Kids Space Game (Google Play) by the people behind Star Walk 2.

Free-£2.99

This app uses cute monsters and interactive puzzles to help kids learn new words. The only downside is all letters are upper case.

Free-£8.99

A really stunning app that allows children to explore an interactive 3D globe. It features the usual gorgeous illustrations you expect from Barefoot Books.

£4.99

This fun app is based on the Bee-Bot floor robot that's often used in classrooms to teach children about computer science and directions in maths. Designed for ages 4+.

Free

A simple concept for testing children on their addition, subtraction, multiplication and division. Children have to get correct answers on a grid to complete their bingo square. Each right answer earns them a cute monster. A good mix of fun and challenge for kids aged 6 and over.

£2.99
App Store only

An engaging app that teaches children phonics with a step-by step programme, one lesson at a time. Designed for ages 3-7 it's engaging with illustrations to hold a child's interest as they learn.

£1.89-£1.99

SplashLearn is a great app for helping kids from nursery age up to year 5 with maths. It's particularly good for kids who enjoy visual learning. There are also options for parents to keep track of how their kids are doing with their learning, so well worth a look.

Free 7-day trial, subscriptions from £7.49 a month

This award-winning app for ages 4-10, is used in some schools to help teach spelling and phonics. There are loads of different games and activities to try and you can even add your own words, to test kids on spellings they may struggle with.

Free-£3.99

Great fun for preschoolers, this app includes five different learning games with letters and shapes, plus sticker rewards to motivate little learners. They'll exercise creativity by building their very own train.

Free

App Store only

Perfect for primary schoolers, the app combines children’s natural love of word puzzles with the colourful Squeebles environment and a great reward system.

You can also add your own words and include any your kids want to practise.

£1.99-£3.59

One for older children, this 3D app teaches kids about the human skeleton, with the name of each bone read aloud to aid pronunciation. Warning: The basic app is free but has a range of features that cost.

Free
App Store only

Looking for more educational resources? Check out all our homeschooling info here.