The best new apps for kids

These top five children’s apps are educational and fun 

Hopster: Bubble Beat
Pre-school learning and entertainment app Hopster is now enabling little ones to express themselves through music with the launch of its new game, Bubble Beat. The underwater music game helps children learn to play simple tunes on a ‘coral’ keyboard, listen and play back a series of nursery rhymes, and get to grips with pitches. In the ‘play’ mode, kids can explore different sounds and rhythms and create their first compositions. Like everything on the app, Bubble Beat ties into a special Discovery Learning Map – a framework Hopster has developed to bring together a number of Early Years curriculums from around the world. Bubble Beat will be unlocked and available to play free for a limited period. £3.99 per month from the App Store and Google Play. 

James’ Amazing Adventures
This app from Chaudron Magique for children aged up to six years old features 10 games and activities that have been designed with educational specialists. The interactive cartoon follows James and his friend, Octave the Octopus, to find lost musical instruments across land and sea with obstacles and games to enjoy along the way. These games all focus on logic, colour, fine motor skills and speed, with four difficulty levels, allowing little ones to challenge themselves. Kids will have the time of their lives guiding boats through mazes, enjoying sound memory games and even conducting their very own underwater orchestra! £2.99 from the App Store, Google Play and Amazon. 

Little Fire Station: Fire Engine & Firefighters 
This new app from Fox & Sheep helps little firefighters go on a mission to extinguish a fire, save an animal from a tree and learn the daily routines of real firefighters. They can also ‘explore’ the station and interact with various objects, animals and firefighters in each room. Perfect for mini fire engine fans, this app is super easy to navigate – optimised for children aged three to five – and has plenty of fun characters, hilarious animations and mini games and missions to keep them entertained for hours. £1.99 from the App Store.

Maths Rockx
If your child struggles with their times tables or arithmetic, this fun app could help. Maths Rockx allows children to practise their maths through music, beats, melody and sounds, with 11 songs from artists that kids love, such as One Direction, Pink and Will.i.am. The app was created by teacher Jo Otto, who wanted to help children to learn their times tables using the powerful tool of melody. As songs become imprinted in the brain – and we find ourselves singing them word for word – the idea is that recalling the times tables will become second nature, too. 99p from the App Store and Google Play. 

Mammals
This is the latest addition to Tinybop‘s portfolio of educational apps, and aims to immerse children into the world of these fascinating animals. Kids can discover how mammals play, grow, see, eat and move by exploring the dynamic working models of different mammals and their skeletal, muscular, nervous, circulatory and digestive systems. The app’s illustrations react directly to your little one’s touch – with physics-based animations and sounds to encourage curiosity. Every mammal is interactive, enabling children to look through the eyes of each – learn how an elephant uses its trunk, how kangaroos care for their young or how a tiger senses what’s nearby with its whiskers. £2.99 from the App Store.