By: Natasha Archary
This week on Kaya Drive with Sizwe Dhlomo, kids shared the apps they make use of the most on their and/or their parent’s smart devices. Whether children make use of apps for leisure and gaming or for educational purposes, limited screen time can be beneficial.
The best learning apps for kids between the ages of 5 to 8-years are the ones that offer both educational and entertainment value. This is a vital age where children explore their creativity and social skills and as they become more independent, apps are a good way to teach them on the go.
As far as safety goes, parents should make sure they are able to track their child’s online behaviour, installed apps and if they are watching video tutorials online to have the accounts they follow set up on a parent account.
The internet can be a great tool for education and communication but it can also be a very dangerous place.
These are the most popular apps with Kaya Drive kids:
Here are the best learning apps and games for kids to try:
- Minecraft
It’s like unlimited legos but virtually and kids love that they can build anything they can imagine. There is a price attached to the app but there are free versions that are similar to the blocky worlds kids can create in Minecraft. If you don’t fancy paying for the app try Roblox or Terraria.
- MathTango
Available on iOS kids will have fun solving math problems and completing missions, as they earn monsters along the way and build their own unique worlds.
- Jolly Phonics
This is a comprehensive app that provides daily lessons plans for each of the 42 letters sounds. It provides teachers with easy to follows plans enabling them to deliver lessons, which embed the key skills that children need to master for reading and writing, including:
- Learning the letter sounds
- Learning the letter formation
- Blending the sounds for reading
- Segmenting the sounds for spelling and writing
Also read: Tips to help your kids with their homework


