Is your little one obsessed with building towers and bridges? Is she always wanting to spend more time outside, exploring and learning about nature? Support your child’s passion for science with supervised and intentional screentime. These seven science-focused apps are some of the best for kindergarten-aged children who can’t wait to run their next science experiment.
Play and Learn Science
PBS offers a variety of free and age-appropriate apps for your child to explore. This app “encourage[s] kids to see the science in their world” through games focused on Earth, Physical, and Life Sciences. Parents will enjoy the parent-child engagement tips and, as are many of the PBS offerings, the app is available in both English and Spanish.
The Cat in the Hat Builds That!
Calling all future engineers — this app could be their new favorite. Alongside the Cat in the Hat characters, your child can build bridges and slides, measure and select materials, and create the most fun backyard treehouse they can imagine. As are most PBS apps, this one is free and offers a Spanish language option.
Nature Cats Great Outdoors
Based on the PBS TV show of the same name, this app prompts children to explore the great outdoors, whatever the weather! Choose your weather filter to customize the 100 daily adventures prompted by the app; the app tracks each day’s explorations as a fun record for your little one. Stuck inside for the day? No worries — they have topics to explore on an “inside day” too.
Sid’s Science Fair
Explore classification and sorting with the games offered on this app, including “Collection Inspection,” in which your child identifies and sorts through butterflies. This Children’s Technology Review award-winning app offers three games that are best for children aged 4-6 and is available for $2.99.
Thinkrolls 2
Does your child love puzzles, games, and mazes? This app offers a huge variety — 270 levels — of physics puzzles and logic games. Each level is focused on a different skill, such as honing fine motor skills, testing hypotheses through trial and error, experimenting with science concepts like gravity or density, and more. Your child can start with the 135 easy puzzles geared towards 3-5-year-olds and then level up to the 135 harder puzzles for children ages 5-9. Siblings can share the app, as each download includes the option for up to six player profiles. The $3.99 app gains rave reviews from users, with 4.5 stars from 1,300 reviews on iTunes.
Toca Nature
Explore nature while traveling on a plane, sitting inside on a rainy day, or waiting in the car with this app. Users create a natural world with their fingertips and then explore it, observing the trees and creatures that live there. A favorite feature is caring for and feeding the animals. The award-winning app is available in multiple languages and can be downloaded for $3.99.
Weather by Tinybop
Perfect for future meteorologists, this app “explores the science of storms.” Your child can learn the ins and outs of why and how weather is formed, entering clouds, learning how wind and the sun interact, and more. Little scientists can explore the concept of cause and effect by observing the impact that changing temperature levels have on plants and pets. The $2.99 app is available in multiple languages and is best suited for children ages 4 and up.
Keep in mind that the American Academy of Pediatrics recommends a one-hour maximum of screen time for children ages 2-5, which is a helpful guide for setting an intentional technology use rule for your household. Whichever app you choose, technology is a great tool to help your child explore their interest in science, whether they are passionate about building, exploring, or experimenting.
