When I first got my iPhone the thought of letting one of my kids even touch it was like “NOT HAPPENING!” Then slowly, I allowed them to play games here and there as a way to keep them occupied. It was such a hit, my kids asked if they could use the tickets they earned from doing chores to play on my iPhone!
Now, as a homeschooler, I’m always trying to think of new ways to make learning fun. I’ll admit, I’m an iPhone newbie, and honestly I didn’t realize was that there were literally TONS of educational games out there! This epiphany lead to what’s now affectionately referred to as “There’s an iPhone in my Workbox!”.
I think it would be even more fun with an iPad, but for now everyone’s happy with the iPhone idea. I purposely leave a workbox empty when I’m filling them, and instead put a sticky note with the game I want them to play on it. (I’m not foolish enough to leave my phone unattended in a workbox overnight, plus my fish would die if I didn’t tend to them.) Then the next day when we start school, someone will remind me that they have the “special note” in their box and I’ll add in my iPhone.
Please note that I pick the game they are to play, it’s not a free for all. However, they do get to play what they want after playing my selected game for 10-15 minutes and really the games are pretty fun, so I haven’t had any complaining what-so-ever.
So what games do we like? We have games on logic, reading, spelling, math, space, and then some that are just plain fun! Below are some of our favorites (Most are free, a few are paid):
Math Bingo, Montessori Crosswords, Words With Friends, Move It, Fish School, Rocket Math, Solitaire City, Stack the States, Starfall ABC’s, Preschool Connect the Dots, iJewels, Jewel Bling Free, Sudoku, Zaner-Bloser Handwriting, Shape Builder, Hangman Classic, SkyView, SpinArt, Tic-Tac-Toe, Word Wagon, Bob Books, Cookie Doodle, Living Earth, Sky Burger.
Oh, and, if the kind hearted Apple people are reading this post, and wish to send an iPad to help in our homeschooling journey, that would be awesome! ;o)
To see more educational iPhone games, just open up your iTunes and search for “Educational Apps”! There are tons!
Have an educational iPhone app you’d like to share? Comment below!
We are loving Cash Cow right now!
I'm a new iphone user, with 3 little ones, I really appreciate this! Thank you. 🙂
Hi there! My daughter won an iPad recently for winning a writing contest and by far, my favorite iPad app for the kids is the free Brain Pop app. They also love Stack the countries, Rocket Math, and the Story Builder app. Thanks for sharing!
We bought an iPad with our funding this year and it has been such fun. My son (in K) loves his super Why app, my older ones have apps appropriate for their grades (4 & 6). I agree, it is a wonderful tool and such fun for the kids
I can't wait to check some of these out. My 4 yr. old really loves the app iWriteWords.
LOL I won't let my kids near my iPhone. But they did inherit my iTouch when I got the phone. So yes, my young children have an iTouch. It's a great motivator. It's been wonderful for entertaining my rowdy tot when I'm out and need her to behave. Especially since I figured out that I have all these digital copies of kids movies that I can load onto the phone and ipods. You might want to check your movie collection and see if you have any in your movie collection. You enter the code from the dvd insert into iTunes and then the movies are available for all of your apple products. Pretty cool.And check out the tickle tap games for your little one. That is my tot's favorite.
I had absolutely no idea! I've only had my iphone for 3 weeks. I have to check this out. Hubby's had an iPhone for a couple of years, but hasn't ever even downloaded a single app. The kids love to look at the maps on his and take pictures, it would be much better if they could learn a little something!
There are tons of great games! My 2-year old loves Giraffe's Matching Zoo game. It has animal sounds every time you turn each card over (which was free!) She also likes Nick Jr.'s A-Z which is wonderful! It's $1.99 which I think is worth it. She's a big Nick Jr. fan and the graphics are wonderful. My girls can play on my iphone as a treat or supplement if you will 🙂
I just got an iPhone last week so this post came just in time! I've been looking for some great free games for my girls to play. They are mainly obsessed with the Talking Tom like apps, where the character repeats what you say. And the make a donut, make a cake, make a pizza type ones.
Erica, For your tiny tot try Monkey Preschool lunchbox. My barely 3 year old loves it!