The use of apps both in and out of the classroom has expanded learning opportunities for children, making them more interactive and more engaging. When kids are more engaged in learning, they are more motivated and perform better. To maximize the educational value of an app, it should have the following features:
* sustain engagement without distracting “bells and whistles”
* help children make meaningful connections between new information and what they already know
* encourage social interaction through discussion, competition or conversation
* aid children in discovering new information on their own
Although there are many terrific apps, it is important to note that apps do not teach children the crucial skills that come from active play and from physically engaging the world in three dimensions. And there may be little value, even to great apps, if the child is left to play unattended. But apps and screen time used in moderation and with common sense can have a positive impact on a child’s growth and achievement.
We are happy to suggest some useful therapy apps below that can easily be used at home!
KID CLAN Suggestions for Speech and OT Apps- Top 10
1. Talking Ginger – this cute cat repeats whatever you say to it. Apps like these, (Talking Tom,
Talking Pierre) are fantastic at encouraging quiet children to talk. They’re also useful for practicing social language, and an adult can then help the child reflect on how
the language sounds when repeated back. (FREE)
2. Sort it Out – a great app for helping children develop a concept of sorting into
categories. Categorization is an important language skill linked to cognition, because
it allows children to define and make sense of the world by understanding how things are the same and different and where they belong. (FREE)
3. Little Finder – Little Finder works on vocabulary development and visual perception skills. The child is timed, in a one or two player game, to find the pictures which match the corresponding spoken words.(FREE)
4. Toca Kitchen Monsters – this is a fantastic app for stimulating imaginative play and a range of communicative skills including creating narratives, working on following directions, sequencing the food preparation steps, and retelling the sequence of events. (FREE)
5. Story Creator – with Story Creator you can easily create beautiful story books containing photos, videos, text, and audio all in one collection. Children can be encouraged to narrate the story or retell memorable moments. Children who are less verbal can start off using single words and build up to sentences and then narrative level. (FREE)
6. Dexterity Jr. – terrific for developing fine motor skills in children 2-6 years.
For best results, the exercises, which are engaging and repeatable, should be done
regularly in short sessions. ($2.99)
7. Doodle Find – Doodle Find is a really fun figure-ground challenge game for kids. A prompt
at the top of the screen indicates which object to look for in an ever-increasing
array of other objects. (FREE)
8. Shape Builder (LITE) – encourages fine motor skills as children slide easy pieces
to move shapes that snap into place on top of silhouette puzzles. When the puzzle
is completed, a recording announces the name of the image, providing exposure
to new vocabulary about the alphabet, musical instruments, fruits/vegetables, animals and other objects. (FREE)
9. Emma Zoo – this cute app targets visual discrimination skills as the child looks
for and spots differences while Emma explores the zoo with her dad. (FREE)
10. LetterSchool – an engaging app for learning letter/number recognition and letter/number writing using correct formation. As the child writes a letter, it animates: turning into a rocket blasting through space, for example. The app
includes four exciting games for each letter. ($4.99) A light version is available
free, for a subset of letters and numbers.
- SoundLiteracy
- What is Dyslexia
- Read 2 Me
- Phonics with Phonograms
- Sight Words
- Verbal Me
- Speech with Milo
- Autism iHelp
- The Writing Machine
- iWrite Words
- Letter School
- ABC Pocket Phonics
- Word Magic