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Carissa's App Picks for Kids

High-quality apps you can feel good about using with your child.

Click here to learn more about using apps with kids.

View videos of Carissa's Top Five Picks for Apps in various categories.

Featured App

Reviewed on 7/31/23

With all of the hype about the recent Barbie movie, why not try out a Barbie coloring app?  In the free version of this app, users can color a limited number of Barbie illustrations (including a Barbie with an artificial leg and vitiligo). There's a wide variety of colors, tints and shades as...

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Reviewed on 9/15/21

Letter Rooms is a word scramble game with a few unique twists. Shift letter tiles around to spell the word that answers each clue. As you progress in the game, new challenges (like letters you can turn on and off or toggle through some different letter options) will appear. The letters are in...

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Reviewed on 9/11/21

Videos real people signing common sentences. Watch the short videos, practice the signs yourself, then play a game where you have to identify which signed sentence the person in the video is signing. The videos include a wide variety of ages, races and abilities. In addition to the sentences...

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Reviewed on 7/14/21

Grab a photo from your camera roll and play along with this app created by Harvard University. There are three things you can choose to do with each photo: talk about the photo, decorate the photo (using virtual stickers and markers) or (my favorite) play hide and seek. The first option gives...

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Age group: Preschool, Grades K-2
Reviewed on 6/18/21

Try out improv with cartoon characters! In this app, designed to be a way for parents and kids to practice creative conversational skills, players take turns making two silly animals talk together.  You can choose the scene and have a structured set of conversation prompts or create your OWN...

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Reviewed on 6/18/21

Battle your friends (or enemies or strangers or the app itself) using VOCABULARY! In this wacky app created by The Oatmeal, you spell words to send out battalions of exploding cats to counteract your opponent's cats. You can play solo (against the app) or you can play against strangers or you...

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Age group: Grades 6-8, Grades 9-12

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