Looking for ways to encourage summer learning for grade-schoolers? Here are a dozen apps, games, and websites that can help spark new interests and keep skills from getting rusty.
Toontastic 3D
Kids who love stories or cartoons will enjoy Toontastic 3D. This app makes it easy for grade-schoolers to create animated films, record their own dialogue, and set it all to music. Audio instructions guide kids through the process, step by step. Toontastic 3D also teaches about the main elements of a story, getting young filmmakers to create an arc that includes establishing conflict and coming up with a resolution. This is a fun app that helps kids tell stories—and learn how stories are told.
Skills: Writing, social skills including conversation
Price: Free
Available for: iOS, Android, Chromebook
Price and availability may vary but were accurate at the time of publication, on November 15, 2019.
One Globe Kids—Children’s Stories From Around the World
Exploring world cultures is a great way to make summer learning fun. Want to know what it’s like to be a kid growing up in Indonesia? Burundi? This app uses photos to help tell “a day in my life” stories in interesting places around the globe. Each story is read aloud. The app asks questions, then lets kids record their responses and play back the conversation. One Globe Kids is a lively way to engage reluctant readers and think about numbers and words in foreign languages.
Skills: Reading, listening comprehension, speech/oral communication
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Price: First story is free; $1.99 per additional story
Available for: iOS
Price and availability may vary but were accurate at the time of publication, on November 15, 2019.
DragonBox Algebra 5+
Spending the summer solving algebra equations may sound like a tough sell. But this app makes it more fun than frustrating. DragonBox Algebra 5+ starts out like an ordinary puzzle game. By adding and removing matching cards, players must isolate the “dragon box” on one side of the screen. As the games go on, the cards are replaced by symbols until kids are solving algebra equations. DragonBox is best for grade-schoolers in second grade and higher.
Skills: Math
Price: $4.99–$5.99
Available for: iOS, Android, Kindle Fire, Windows
Price and availability may vary but were accurate at the time of publication, on November 15, 2019.
The Land of Venn—Geometric Defense
The Land of Venn is a quirky, cartoonish game that teaches kids the basics of geometry. The app involves magical spells and an evil wizard who lives on top of the Dark Square Root. Kids can save the day by drawing lines and shapes to connect and stop the wizard and his monsters. This app is so cleverly designed that kids may not even realize they’re being taught math concepts step by step along the way!
Skills: Math
Price: $2.99
Available for: iOS
Price and availability may vary but were accurate at the time of publication, on November 15, 2019.
Arcademic Skill Builders
Looking for a way to avoid summer brain drain? This website has dozens of free, no-frills games for practicing academic skills like spelling, math, and word recognition. The games can be sorted by grade and subject. Arcademic Skill Builders also gives kids the option of competing against one another. The games are best for reviewing material. For kids who are struggling to master a concept, video lessons are available for a fee.
Skills: Math, reading
Price: Some free content; $20 per year subscription for access to extras
Available for: iOS, Android, web browsers
Price and availability may vary but were accurate at the time of publication, on November 15, 2019.
Shadow Puppet Edu
Going on a fun summer outing? Use it to encourage your child to do some writing. This app is a great tool for kids to create nifty slideshow presentations. To help jazz things up, Shadow Puppet Edu has some media available such as maps, images from museums, and clip art. Kids can include their own photos or video. They can also add music, text, and even their own voices.
Skills: Writing, organization, planning, and time management
Price: Free
Available for: iOS
Price and availability may vary but were accurate at the time of publication, on November 15, 2019.
Design Squad
Here’s a fun summer activity: Gather a few household objects and build a two-wheeled car that’s powered by a rubber band. Or build a four-wheeler powered by a balloon. These are some of the projects you’ll find on Design Squad. This website was developed by PBS Kids and uses games and videos to introduce kids to science and engineering. Younger kids may need an adult to help them through the activities. Kids in third grade and up may be able to do them on their own.
Skills: Math, organization, planning, and time management
Price: Free
Available for: Any web browser
Price and availability may vary but were accurate at the time of publication, on November 15, 2019.
Brain Chase
Yes, this online program is pricey. But it’s a five-week immersive experience that includes a chance to win a $5,000 prize. Brain Chase revolves around an adventure to find a lost treasure. Kids help locate the treasure by completing reading, writing, and math exercises. They also get clues and treasure-hunting tools in the mail. Brain Chase can include audiobooks. It can also be personalized for different skill levels.
Skills: Reading, writing, math
Price: $89–$249
Available for: Any web browser
Price and availability may vary but were accurate at the time of publication, on November 15, 2019.
Barefoot World Atlas
Children who like geography will love this beautiful, interactive world atlas. Kids can rotate the globe using their fingers. They can zoom into each continent and click on land features, countries, animals, and people. (They can explore bodies of water this way too.) Each entry in Barefoot World Atlas comes with a description, which the app can read aloud. There’s music, too, that changes depending on which part of the world kids are exploring.
Skills: Reading
Price: $4.99
Available for: iOS
Price and availability may vary but were accurate at the time of publication, on November 15, 2019.
BrainPop
Take a dip this summer in the Harlem Renaissance, DNA, and a gazillion other topics that come with animated lessons on BrainPop. Each video is narrated by a robot named Moby and his friends, Tim and Annie. Videos come with a quiz, writing activity and graphic organizer kids can fill out. The lessons mainly cover academics. But there are some real-world topics, too, like bullying. BrainPop is for kids in fourth grade and up, and BrainPop Jr. is for kids in kindergarten through third grade.
Skills: Reading, math
Price: Some free content and games; $10.95 per month subscription
Available for: iOS, Android, web browsers
Price and availability may vary but were accurate at the time of publication, on November 15, 2019.
Project Noah
Project Noah is an online platform for submitting nature photos to help global wildlife research. To use the platform, kids must create an account, so it’s important to have adult supervision. Kids can take photos of anything in nature, like insects, flowers, or animals. Then they can upload the photos. There’s an option for kids to join missions to support scientific research—for example, finding a certain species of ladybug. Project Noah is best for kids in fourth grade and up.
Skills: Organization, planning, and time management
Price: Free
Available for: iOS, Android, web browsers
Price and availability may vary but were accurate at the time of publication, on November 15, 2019.
PowerMyLearning
What’s on your child’s summer playlist? This free website offers curated lists of educational games from reputable sources. Some lists have a lot of activities while others have very few. But the vast collection of online games can be searched by subject, grade, and Common Core standard. PowerMyLearning also makes it easy for parents to track kids’ progress.
Skills: Reading, math
Price: Free
Available for: Any web browser
Price and availability may vary but were accurate at the time of publication, on November 15, 2019.
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