educational apps

Before my family headed out of the country on vacation, I spent weeks learning Italian using the free and very popular Duolingo app . And now Duolingo lets you practice not only your foreign language skills, but your knowledge in any are…

Mis Amigos! One of our favorite early-reading apps, Endless Reader , has gone espagñol with the Endless Spanish app , an adorably playful and educational preschool app for both iOS and Android users. Similar to the awesome Endless Reader…

Summer nights are perfect for staying up late, lying on the lawn (or roof deck if you're a city dweller) and looking up at the stars. But, often, streetlights and other ambient light can make it hard to see everything that is up there cl…

I'm convinced the reason my kids keep going back to play Osmo , one of our favorite educational tools for kids, is its brilliant mashup of digital elements and tangible controls they can actually touch and move around on the table. If yo…

With the school year ending soon, I know that my kids aren't going to stand for games or apps that feel too much like a school lesson. Nor do I want them to spend their summer days doing nothing but memorizing math facts. But after playi…

If you're hoping to get your future mathlete ready for preschool in the fall, or just want to find a new ways to help practice counting, adding, and subtracting with your first grader, download the free version of King of Math Junior . T…

One of my favorite memories of childhood was my Highlights magazine showing up in the mailbox. I'd always turn straight to page 14 to do the Hidden Pictures before my sister could. (Sorry, sis.) My kids still love getting the magazine to…

In this week's Spawned podcast, our editor Liz's Cool Pick of the Week is Brain Pop, a website I have turned to for years with my homeschooled kids to find smart, kid-friendly videos about topics as diverse as William Shakespeare, the Ci…

The first word that pops into my head after I hear "spring" is "cleaning," probably because three kids plus one dog equals a lot of cleaning at any time of the year. And with today being the first day of spring (yay!), my free app of the…

We are such fans of Tinybop's beautiful, minimalist apps around here, because they inspire our children to want to learn more about science in a creative, artistic way. Following in the footsteps of winning apps like The Earth by Tinybop…

I realized my kids didn't have a great concept of where their food comes from when my son once asked me where chicken nuggets were from. Well, kiddo. That would be...chicken. (We hope.) Other than our small backyard garden, my kids don't…

This is a sponsored message from binj XS tablet With all the features you'd want in a tablet plus a few more you might be wishing for, you'll want to check out the brand new binj XS Android tablet , which remarkably starts under $250. Wi…

When it comes to my range of talents, I'm sadly lacking in the music department. Yep, I'm pretty much tone deaf, unlike Kristen, the former music therapist, who puts us all to shame there. However I still really want my kids to get the b…

My kids get really excited about President's Day because it means a day off from school. But I'd like to make sure that they spend a little bit of time reflecting on our former presidents too, so I love an app that helps with just that. …

Welcome to our new weekly series on Cool Mom Tech that introduces you to some of our favorite free apps to download to your devices. Because as much as we love all the useful, fun, and entertaining apps we recommend here, admittedly we l…

We're definitely fans of the way Avokiddo tackles educational apps for young kids. And its latest release, the DNA Play app keeps our praise parade going. This time kids get to delve into genetics, but it's not heady or complicated. Quit…

When I heard that View-Master had updated and gone full Virtual Reality, I was intrigued. Had the toy I'd grown up peering through to see tiny photos of animals in the wild really gone high-tech? All for under $30 -- or even under $25 on…

Sometimes I need just a little quiet at home over the holidays, you know? And since my kids are app-crazy anyway, they always think it's a treat to find cool new Christmas apps for kids that they haven't tried yet. While we have a few fr…

My entire household is pretty thrilled that Toca Blocks , the 30th(!) app from favorite app developer, Toca Boca , just launched today. I got an early peek at it, and I'm happy to report, it's just as fabulous as the others. And while To…

As we approach the final week of Christmas shopping, I plan spend a few minutes to make sure that I'm buying toys and games that will feed my kids' brains as much as their need for play. And while "math toys" has never appeared on any of…

This is a sponsored message from Flare Kids Parents love good educational children's apps, even more so when they're free. And now there's Flare Kids which isn't just great for the kids who use it, but for the children of the Atlanta Ron…

Kids' brains grow so fast during the preschool years, which is why they need lots of stimulation to help them develop smarter, sharper brains. Also, possibly why kids at this age are so um, challenging. Not just me, right? But often, par…

I'm pretty measured about letting my kids use my iPad, especially when they could be playing outside, practicing their instruments or learning their fifth language. Ha. In truth, I'm all about balance in our household, and I'm definitely…

This is a sponsored message from Wonder Workshop With so many parents looking for STEM toys for their kids this holiday, it's worth checking out Wonder Workshop, makers of the awesome Dot and Dash robots that teach kids some fantastic sk…