Top Apps for Kindergarten: The Best of the Best!

Toca Store

Kindergarteners still need lots of time for cooperative and imaginative play. Toca Store is a fun way to provide another chance for some of that play. It works for a center, because it's designed to play with more than one user. Students can talk about what they buy and take turns shopping or being the cashier. Basic math skills are used, too (counting coins to match the chosen price of each object). Expand the activity to writing by having students write down what they buy or write a story relating to the store. A Toca Boca app is always worth paying for.

iPad/iPhone - $2.99

Teach Me: Kindergarten

If you've followed our site for long, it shouldn't be a surprise that this app makes the list. Teach Me apps have been a favorite around Smart Apps For Kids since Ron started the site. The kindergarten version was rated a Top Pick by Rachel H, who called it a must-have app. It covers so many areas in a great interface, for only $1.99. If you need to see it before committing, we even have a video in the review that will give you a peek into the app.

iPad/iPhone - $1.99

Writing Wizard

There are so many handwriting apps out there, and we even have a list of our Top 10 favorite handwriting apps. But of all of them, my favorite is Writing Wizard. Set up individual profiles for each student, add your own words, and even look at the tracing history to see how the students are actually writing each letter on their own! Start with Writing Wizard, and supplement with other great handwriting apps to change it up when needed.

iPad/iPhone - $2.99

Starfall Learn to Read

Starfall.com is a favorite website for most kindergarten and first grade teachers, and I know I cheered out loud when the app versions were finally released. Of course, if your kindergarteners come to you with no letter knowledge at all, start with the Starfall ABCs app. But for students with a basic understanding of letter sounds, Learn to Read is one of the apps kids seem to love the most.

iPad/iPhone - $2.99

Beginning Sounds Interactive Game

I was surprised to see we've never reviewed Beginning Sounds Interactive Game (though it is on Sarah's list of Top 10 Free/Inexpensive Apps for Articulation). It's a simple game that kids really love. My students will play round after round as a "reinforcing" game, not even realizing that it's a game meant for learning. It provides good practice for letter-sound correspondence. It's also great for vocabulary building, too, with a variety of different pictures to discuss. Like in Toca Store, have students write down the words that they sort, sorting the writing by sounds, too.

iPad/iPhone - $.99

SonicPics

This app isn't designed specifically for young students, but it's a great app to work on using the iPad to create, not just play. It's easy to use independently, once students know their way around the iPad. Add pictures from the camera roll or use the camera directly from the app, drag the photos to the correct order, then tap to record. Kids can narrate as they swipe through the pictures. It's perfect for story retell — take pictures of the book they are reading, and retell the story. Or use it for a project — take photos of artwork and tell a story about the drawings. It's great to use with pictures drawn in other drawing apps, too.

iPad/iPhone - $1.99

Toontastic:

We know an app is good when Ron rates it 5 stars. This app, which lets users create a cartoon, is wonderful for story creation and creativity. It's got built-in directions that make it easy for kids to follow (including teaching about the structure of a story). There are multiple versions of this app now, including Toontastic Jr. Shrek Movie Maker, Toontastic Jr. Kung Fu Panda and Toontastic Jr. Pirates Puppet Theater. These are all free apps with in-app purchases, so try them all out to choose what is best. The best bet for schools is the School Edition, with all in-app purchases unlocked (only available for the classic Toontastic version).

iPad only - Free/School Version $14.99

Collins Big Cat books

The beauty of these apps is that I don't have to pick a favorite to share, since they are all free! I am really picky about app books and it takes a lot to impress me, but these are truly great picks for kindergarteners. Words are highlighted, and even more important to me, read at a slower pace perfect for younger readers. There are animations that connect nicely to the text, but they don't distract from the book. There are small hints for what animation there might be for those who need a little prompting. And there's even a great story creator section, allowing kids to make their own version of the story with scenes, characters and objects from the story and easy-to-add text. They can then record their own version. I can hardly believe these wonderful apps are all free.