I received a Droid Turbo in exchange for my post but all the opinions expressed are 100% my own. #VZWBuzz #MoreVA.
Our teenage daughter finally was upgraded to an iPhone after she improved all her grades. However, now I often don’t see her without it in her hands. We have pretty strict rules for the school year but with summer approaching these rules won’t apply anymore. Even though my daughter thinks she is grown up and doesn’t need to be outside being a kid, staring at her phone all day is not going to do her any favors. As my husband and I struggle to find the right balance of phone time and screen free time this summer, I thought I would at least share some of the best games and educational apps for the summer. When kids get screen time encourage them to stop counting Instagram Photos Likes and falling into the summer slump.
iTunes Store
Kids might complain about going to museums or the zoo, make it more interesting and integrate their favorite thing, their smart phone by downloading some educational apps that might just have them putting down their phone and looking into an exhibit a little deeper.
Museum Friendly Apps:
If you are headed to a museum, be sure to check if they have an app like the Smithsonian App where kids enjoy interactive features, videos, slideshows and more.
Zoo Apps
Places like the San Diego Zoo have apps where you can see live cams of their animals, utilize maps and maybe do a little research before heading that way.
Traveling Troupe
With one tap of a screen, Insta Spanish will have you feeling as if you’re in Barcelona. This app helps introduce your kids to the Spanish language and keeps them entertained. Keep it up, and your kids could be bilingual before you know it!
JFK Challenge by John F. Kennedy Library Foundation is a great fun learning app for kids aged 9 to 11 to learn about two major projects developed by JF kennedy- Moon Initiative and Peace Corp.
Of course you can find th Academy through any Web browser and on YouTube, but be sure you are monitoring their time on YouTube because as much as it can be helpful and educational it is very distracting as well. This is a helpful website for parents to “refresh” their skills too.
Mad Libs:
Mad Libs make for a super fun way to teach children about the different parts of speech, not to mention it nurtures bonding time when sharing the silly stories that result!
Ultimate Word Search Free has 63 word categories filled with fun word search puzzles. Pass the time away on the road with 6 different themes including Newspaper, Christmas and Letter Soup to choose from.
If you have an Apple Product be sure to check out the Apple store where you can search for educational apps by grade level.
As a first time mother of a teenager, I hope to find a good balance with letting her socialize face to face and devaluing social media as it relates to her self worth. It is a new world we live in but try to keep your kids with their eyes looking forward and not down all the time. My two cents!!
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Mad Libs sounds like a fun one. I love using apps with my toddler for story time and counting! He loves it.
These are great app suggestions! My kids have a lot of fun with the Mad Libs apps.
What a great list of apps. Guess I have few things to download
Thanks for sharing these apps. I’m always looking for good apps for my preschooler.
Thanks for these ideas. I’m always looking for new educational apps.
What a great listing of apps. Definitely very useful in our homeschooling!
My daughter is too young for a phone. We do limit ipad use though – her favorite thing to do is watch shows on it! Ugh.
As a teacher, the Kahn academy is amazing. What a great resource to help facilitate learning during the summer.
yeah, we have time limits on the amount of time is allowed to stare into phones, ipods etc! But I love that Khan now has an app! We use Khan at home all the time
I would try to use as many of these apps as possible! Learning about a variety of subjects is so important! (and mad libs are so fun!)
I like that there are apps that teach kids to have fun without blowing things up..
My 11 year old daughter got an iPhone this year and mostly because she has started babysitting younger cousins. She’s pretty responsible with it and we have lots of rules about usage. Some of these apps sound like ones she would enjoy!
It is great that there are so many apps that teach children to do more than just shoot things!
Perfect choices. Sure to make summer fun.
I have a teenager, too, and his face is almost always looking at his phone. Maybe I can nudge him toward at least one educational app this summer.
These are all great APPS … perfect for Summer … I like all that you have listed here
How awesome! I try to limit app use for the kids but for summer I will have to get some new ones! I’ll check them out!
Mad Libs! It makes me so happy that they’re still around.
My kids love mad libs. I will have to check that out.