smartphonesshop.com.au - Are you currently reading this blog whilst hiding in the pantry, chowing down biscuits? You can bet that many parents around the country are doing the same! The old routine has gone out the window and the new reality is that most of us are stuck at home, trying to keep sane, pretending to be a school teacher and eating all our stocked up quarantine snacks in 1 day.
The impossible task of working remotely, home-schooling, house chores AND keeping the kids entertained plus fed whilst not being able to venture out is surely not how we envisioned 2020 to pan out!
So with that in mind, one less thing you should beat yourself up over is whether to allow extra screen time. Now, in normal circumstances, screen time may be limited to a short period during the day, because well, the rest of the day you’re generally out of the house and the kids have school or other activities lined up. But now you might be wondering what they can do during screen time that will actually benefit them rather than clicking mindlessly through YouTube videos.
We’ve come up with a list of tried and tested apps that are great for children and toddlers and will keep them entertained so you can regain your sanity, or eat the rest of that biscuit.
1. Highlights Shapes
Supported by a friendly fox and other animal companions along the way, through creative activity-filled environments, your children can learn and practise matching, sorting, combining and categorizing shapes and colours. You will visit an ancient jungle, the mystical deep sea, and elusive outer space. The puzzle games are turned into entertaining stories, and the games become increasingly challenging as your children play. This app will help your child develop logical thinking and problem-solving skills as they discover new appealing shapes, colors and color mixes. The background music is slightly annoying but you can thankfully turn it off in the settings. Both free and paid features are within the app.
Download here: iOS and Android
2. Puzzingo 
Puzzingo has over 100 puzzles on offer, and 60 mini-games after each puzzle has been completed, so your child will never lose interest! Once a puzzle has been finished, an interactive game will appear that will bring the puzzle to life. From an educational point of view, it will help your children develop spatial recognition, matching, tactile and fine motor skills. It has great visual and audio cues while being easy to navigate. It has a free section and several paid categories.
Download here: iOS and Android
3. Monkey Preschool Lunchbox
Learn and have fun by helping the monkey pack lunch! Monkey Preschool Lunchbox is a collection of seven exciting educational games for your child. This app focuses on helping children with counting and recognizing colors. The games have different levels of difficulty so children get something different out of it as they get older. It is an outstanding app for children that is engaging but also works for completely independent play. The graphics are well produced, as is the soundtrack and gameplay. While only having a paid option, this app is certainly worth the money!
Download here: iOS and Android
4. Toddler Learning Games
A collection of games and puzzles aimed at pre-school aged children and older toddlers. Teach your children colors, shapes, fruits, vegetables, the alphabet, ABC phonics, counting numbers, animals and more. Great app to get those busy pre-schoolers occupied and brain working so they can have a bit of rest from running around the house!
Download here (Android only): Android
5. YouTube Kids
And if you’ve tried all the apps, they’ve eaten all their snacks, ruined your table and floors with play-dough and crayons, and you still have time left in the day that you don’t know how to fill…..there’s always the old faithful YouTube Kids! The good thing about this app, as opposed to the traditional YouTube, is that the app provides curated selections of content, parental control features, and filtering of videos deemed inappropriate viewing by kids 12 and under.
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