Best Apps For Toddlers

Is your toddler obsessed with your iPhone or iPad? It's not surprising. Even babies recognize that this little device has diverted your attention away from them, and by taking the device away, they'll get your attention back. But increasingly, you'll find your child is interested in the device itself – the noises and vibrations it makes, the way it lights up, and finally the way it responds to touch in a predictable way.

There are many good reasons to allow your toddler to play with your iPad or iPhone. The most obvious is that electronic devices make great babysitters. Are you trying to have a serious chat with a friend over coffee, but your toddler is fussy? Are you stuck in traffic with a cranky child in the back seat? Bring out the iPhone, choose one of the best apps for toddlers, and hand over your device. Problem solved.

But there are other, more long-range reasons to encourage the use of electronic games in children so young. A groundbreaking 2001 article compared children born into our digital age and exposed to technology on a casual but consistent basis to the native speakers of a language. These children learn to speak and (more importantly) think in a way that is much different from people who come into this culture as adults. This explains why many older adults have a much harder time learning technology, and once learned, continue to use it in a way that resembles the way they used to do things before that technology ever existed. Children, on the other hand, learn technology as their “first language,” so they tend to learn it better than their parents ever will.

The object in choosing the best apps for toddlers, then, should be to choose games that encourage the child to think, and also to pick up basic skills – swiping a finger across a touch screen, tapping the screen to open another window, etc. Of course the child's interests must come into play here as well. There are apps for children who enjoy animals, vehicles, or even food. There are apps that allow the child to match colors, shapes, or letters of the alphabet. Some apps teach the child to read or sound out words. Overall, most toddlers respond best to apps that have bright, attractive colors, pleasant or funny sounds, and require as little adult assistance as possible.

Above all, let your child have fun! Don't insist that he has to play with his iPad now – that's too much like forcing a child to practice scales on the piano, and you wouldn't ask your toddler to do that! Just be alert to the fact that your toddler has a natural interest in technology, pick out the best apps for toddlers to help him satisfy that interest, and relax, knowing that he's building skills he'll use for a lifetime.