Apps for Early Learning

Submitted by Linda Mamer on Oct 20, 2014

Many apps (applications) are available to promote early learning for young children who are blind or visually impaired, including those who are deafblind or who have multiple disabilities. This is a partial list (part one of two) to help you get started. The apps here help young children to develop basic cognitive skills, such as cause & effect and matching. They also help to reinforce eye-hand coordination, vocalization, and response to sensory input. These apps have been used specifically with young children especially those with additional needs, or have been chosen because the visual component is very clear and/or the auditory/sound aspects are of high quality and clear. Many of these apps are particulary appropriate for children with CVI (Cortical Visual Impairment).

Assessment

As you use the iPad more, the assessment of the child's visual and/or auditory abilities become easier. We recommend that you begin with an assessment of the child, using these tools:

For more information, see: iPad, iPod, iPhone – iTechnology and apps that have been used successfully with individuals with deafblindness or with visual impairments and additional disabilities

Early Learning Apps

The apps have been organized into the following categories. Use this list to jump to each section, or scroll through the whole list.

Cause & Effect
Matching
Sounds
Glow Art
Bubbles
Spelling and Printing
Talking
Music for Children

Cause & Effect

Shapes Toddler Preschool	Colorful quizzes, flashcards, puzzles and games with positive reinforcement and fun rewards.
Touch Trainer	Great "first app" that teachers single finger fine motor skills as well as cause and effect while teaching about touch screen technology.
Peekaboo HD	Toddler app containing both visual, verbal, and auditory cue cards to learn animal names in multiple languages.
Tap-n-See Now	First app for iPad and iPhone created specifically for children with CVI. Animals float around, tap them and it will make the animals come towards the screen.
PeekaBoo Barn HD	Tap the barn doors to see what animals are waiting inside. Childred learn the names of animals and hear the sounds they make.
Toddler Flashcards	Virtual flashcards for children 1-4 years of age in 9 different languages.
A Bee Sees	Happy, balloon popping bee helps children learn letters, numbers, and colors.
AlphaBaby Free	Kids can touch the screen to show and hear letters and shapes, flick them to send them flying across the screen, and press them and the letters shrink and grow.
Balloonimals	Balloonimals spring to life when you blow into the microphone on iPhone to inflate, shake device to construct a shape.
Random Touch	Designed for babies and people with some forms of autism and special needs. Press the screen using as many fingers as you like to create a random object and hear a random sound.
Animal Fun	Children learn about animals by seeing and hearing the sounds an animal makes.

Matching

What Goes Together?	Clear, colorful images of everyday objects promote an understanding of functions and the relationships between items that children encounter on a daily basis.
Zoola Card Match	Just touch the squares and find the matching pairs of images to improve concentration and memory.
Music Color Lite	Children learn about colors and listen to classical music at the same time.
Little Matchups	A fun matching game for children to learn about animals, fruits, vegetables and more.
Preschool Memory Match	Classic game of concentration specifically designed to be fun and educational.
Color SlapPs	Designed to help children learn to identify the names twelve different colors.
TopIQ Kids Learning Games for Preschool and Kindergarten by Agnitus	Fun learning games for 2 years and up.
Memory!	Memory matches game with many different colorful and vivid pair cards.

Sounds

I Hear Ewe	When user taps on an animal or vehicle icon, the game will verbally announce what type of animal or vehicle it is and play a recording of its real sound.
Sound Touch Lite	Tap a picture (animals, wild animals, wild birds, vehicles, musical-instruments and household items) and a real life photo of the item pops open, accompanied by the sound it makes.
baby rattle bab bab lite	Conventional rattle as an iOS app, producing soothing sounds when tilted, inverted and rattled.
Sound Effects!	Sound effects to play on iOS app.
Tap Tap Baby	Child taps the screen to play one of three games in this app.

Glow Art

These apps may be particularly popular with kids with CVI.

Glow Draw!	Draw on a blank black canvas or on customized background with glowing lines.
Art of Glow	Glow / light paintings, twinkle stars, fireworks and animated text art in one app.
iLoveFireworks	Tap the screen and "fireworks" with sound display.
Tic Tac Toe Glow FREE	The original tic-tac-toe game played on a black screen with glowing lights and displays.
Uzo - A Generative Design Playgound	Light spirographs on the iOS device in reaction to the screen being tapped.
Fun Fireworks - Free!	Tap the iOS screen and watch as fireworks burst into an explosion of color.
fluidity HD	Fluid dynamics simulation, control fluid flow and stunning colours at fingertips.
Forge of Neon 3D	Bring glow painting to a whole new level with three-dimensional symmetries.
Cosmic Top	An iOS app toy, a 3D audiovisual physics simulation of a spinning, wobbling, and sometimes morphing top.
Real Fireworks Artwork Visualizer	The most realistic fireworks app and an interactive visualizer that responds smoothly and beautifully to swipe gesture.
Cause and Effect Sensory Light Box	Designed for teenagers with autism, complex learning needs and a variety of sensory disabilities. It provides 21 engaging, abstract scenes which encourage exploration of cause and effect.
Heat Pad Lite	This app simulates various heat-sensitive surfaces reacting to the heat of fingertips.
Glow Paint	Painting app using glowing colors.
Sensory iMeba	Visual stimulating app for people with special/complex needs of ALL ages.

Bubbles

Bubble Shooter Free	Shoot the bubble where you want it to go by tapping on the game board.
Bubble Blast 2 !	Burst bubbles to trigger a chain reaction in order to eliminate them in this puzzle game.
Pop Pop Bubble	Pop as many bubbles as possible in 40 seconds.
Fun Bubbles	Develop fine motor skills with full multi-touch support and custom backgrounds.

Spelling and Printing

Little Speller	Help students learn to read, write, and spell words all with just the touch of their finger.
Alphabet Zoo	Teach letter-sound association with this iOS app.
Sight Words: Kids Learn	This app combines fluency, vocabulary, spelling, and comprehension practice with entertaining, engaging graphics in a disguised-learning format.
Spin Spell	3D mobile game that motivates children to learn to spell while having fun and improving their hand/eye coordination.
ABC's Writer	Trace the alphabet with fingers on screen.
Touch and Learn - ABC Alphabet 123 Numbers	Powerful gaming platform that introduces new concepts in a fun and exciting new way.
ABC 123 Reading Writing Practice	Show students how to properly write all of the letters and numbers.
ABC - Magnetic Alphabet HD	Teach students uppercase and lowercase letters, numbers, symbols, shapes, special letters.
The ABC Song	This application provides a place to learn basic concepts such and numbers, colors and more in an enjoyable and rich environment.
First Words Sampler	Teach children about letters, how letters relate to sounds, and even how to spell words with this simple interactive app.

Talking

Talking Tom Cat	Talk to Tom and he will repeat anything that is said in his funny voice.
Talking Tom Cat 2	Original updated to be even more engaging and hilarious for users.
Talking Tom & Ben News	Talk to Tom & Ben and they repeat as news anchors on a TV screen.
Bla \| Bla \| Bla	Speech therapy app on iOS.
Talking Pierre	He repeats after the user and makes up new sentences and he plays the guitar!

Music for Children

Easy Xylophone	Play music on this realistic-sounding xylophone app.
Baby's Musical Hands	An app safe for children to use on their own while they play with musical buttons and sounds.
Music Sparkles	This app brings a world of music to the fingertips, from piano, xylophone to electric guitar.
PianoBall	This app encourages children to explore music and color in a creative way. Once the instrument is chosen, the stars will guide the user to play a tune.
SoundHound	This app listens to a song and identifies the name, artist, lyrics and album.
Piano Free with Songs	Key piano with multitouch, adjustable reverb, metronome, dual row, completely resizable keys, real piano sound, chord support, glissando, sizable sharps, navigation bar, note labels, theme colors, sustain pedal, adjustable metronome, learn to play songs, and it's all FREE!
Bagpipes Royale	This app includes four authentic sounding sets of Scottish and Swedish bagpipes.
Harmonizer	Play Shepard tones to an infant to teach them pitch identities and help them develop perfect pitch. Study chord relationships.
Shazam	Identify music with this app.

Please note that you may need to check whether the app has been updated or whether it only works with certain operating systems. This page was last checked on 3/4/2022.

To see more of Linda Mamer's lists of recommended apps for students who are blind, visually impaired, deafblind or who have multiple disabilities click here.