We can all agree that technology has made our lives simpler than it ever was and has given us the opportunity to engage ourselves in something entertaining to relieve ourselves off the stress that comes with the responsibilities as we grow. Technology has now become an integral part of our lives and it is impossible to stay away from it. In such circumstances, we usually tend to make the most of it while having restrictions so that it doesn’t consume our social lives.
Technology for Kids – Good or Bad?
Similar to adults, kids are also excited to engage with technology. Moreover, technology has the potential to engage kids in learning with the help of fun and interesting animations. Unlike books, technology is can be interactive. Some of the best educational apps for preschoolers provide realtime audio and visual feedback for each action performed by the kid.
Spending too much time with tech is not healthy for kids just like it is unhealthy for adults, which is why adults need to make sure that the amount of time spent with gadgets is monitored and restricted to 60 – 90 mins per day.
How to pick the best apps for kids in preschool?
With millions of apps on the various stores, it becomes extremely difficult to pick the one that is best suitable for our children. Which is why we list down a bunch of important parameters one should be looking at when choosing the best educational app for kids.
Topic-Based Learning
At the young age of 3 – 7 years, kids are extremely excited to learn new things. They love engage in learning even without any guidance from adults. However, some traditional educational practices don’t keep them engaged for longer durations of time.
When we teach kids the English language and start with A, B, C. Kids are not interested in learning something because we asked them to, they want to learn something that they can use in their daily lives. A for Apple and B for Ball doesn’t mean anything to them and becomes a burden after a while. What does matter to them is how they can communicate to others.
So, a child would learn better if she is taught in a way where she can relate the knowledge with the real world. For higher engagement and better results you must opt for educational apps that follow this practice.
For ex. We are teaching kids about Wild Animals. We should not only teach them about wild animals, but we should also teach them the language used to communicate names. We should also let them count the number of wild animations if we want to teach them Math.
Unfortunately, some of the best educational apps for preschoolers still follow the traditional practices and are not able to make the most of this blessing called technology.
Mapped to Curriculum
School curriculums are well researched, but most of the apps on the stores are not. You should be looking for the App that is directly or indirectly mapped with the curriculum followed by the school. Of course, it is not going to be easy to find the best educational app for kids, but you should take the effort and find the one most suitable.
Encouraging Creativity
At the tender age, preschoolers must be given the opportunity to explore the world around us, not just in the way we as adults have explored, but in a way that we could have never imagined. Which App allows your child to build something great instead of getting her to follow certain steps and get a result.
Is it fun?
Educational apps for preschoolers MUST be able interact with them. Say NO to apps that just keep kids engaged by showing them videos. Video Streaming Apps make kids lazy by giving them a way to stay connected with tech without doing anything. A kid’s active participation in the activities is extremely important at this age. Kids like to be and must be challenged at every moment so that they stay alert and focus at what is being covered. That brings me to the next point.
How to reject educational apps not suitable for your child?
Pick apps that don’t serve advertisements, stream non interactive content and have strict content and privacy policies so that your children are not exposed to content that is not suitable at their age.
We at Dweek Studios are building an entirely new educational ecosystem using technology. Our aim is to make sure the children of tomorrow are learned, smart and have the will to think out of the box and be better human beings that we ever were. Do take a look at our interactive educational content by downloading BubbleBud Kids Universe from the App Store / Play Store.