Here at the library, we’ve tried out many apps on our iPads for kids. We strive to find apps that are both educational and fun! Animal apps are always a favorite with our young patrons. Whether they include numbers, patterns, fun noises or stories, animal apps are a great way to involve children with digital content.
Here are my favorite animal iPad apps:
“Barnyard Dance” by Sandra Boynton
Click Here to Find it in the App Store: $2.99
Intended age range: 4+
This fun app comes with a lovely fiddle accompaniment as John Stey reads Sandra Boynton’s “Barnyard Dance.” The app opens on a table with a board book that the user can open and flip the pages. The pictures are interactive, so young hands can “slide” with the sheep or cluck with the chickens. Definitely fun for engaging children with the material they’re reading.
“Moo, Baa, La La La!” by Sandra Boynton
Click Here to Find it in the App Store: $2.99
Intended age range: 4+
Similar to “Barnyard Dance”, this app is an interactive reading adventure. Users can open up the board book and either follow along with the narrator, Keith Boynton, as he reads to them or read at their own pace with Boynton’s help on the occasional word or two. The pages come to life with pull tabs and noises that the user can initiate by tapping the screen of their device.
“Park Math HD” by Duck Duck Moose
Click Here to Find it in the App Store: Free!
Intended age range: 4+
“Park Math HD” uses math games to teach basic concepts like addition, subtraction, patterns, and more. Follow our friend, Blue Bear, as he skates from one activity to the next. If the user doesn’t want to follow Blue Bear, they can also click the orange kite in the top left hand corner and skip to an activity. There are three levels of difficulty and seven different activity types per level.
“Peek-A-Zoo” by Duck Duck Moose
Click Here to Find it in the App Store: Free!
Intended age range: 4+
“Peek-A-Zoo” follows eight animal friends. It covers topics like emotions, counting, different animals, and memorization. Users are introduced to all eight animals at the beginning and follows them through a question-style interactive game. A soothing song plays underneath the game, making it a fun winding-down game.
“Peppa Pig: Seasons” by Entertainment One
Click Here to Find it in the App Store: $2.99
Intended age range: 4+
Join Peppa Pig on her seasonal adventures! This app covers topics like temperature, fruit picking, harvesting vegetables, cooking seasonal treats, and so many more! The further into the app the user goes, the more stickers they collect for finishing levels. I enjoyed the cute videos that engage the user, asking to shake the iPad to help the fruit fall from the trees or when the user throws snowballs and must clean off the screen.
“PopOut! The Tale of Petter Rabbit – Potter” by Loud Crow Interactive Inc.
Click Here to Find it in the App Store: $3.99
Intended Age Range: 4+
This version of Beatrix Potter’s “Peter Rabbit” is beautiful, looking like a real storybook inside of an app. The user listens to the story of Peter Rabbit as they flip through the pages, the words lighting up as they are read by the narrator. It is not interactive like other story apps, but the images and storytelling are well-paced to keep the listener’s attention.
(Peppa Pig: Seasons is my all-time favorite, for anyone who wanted to know.)
Photo credit: All app photos were found on iTunes.
