Top early literacy apps 2020
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Most young children are already using apps on phones or tablets, at least occasionally. Whatever you think of kids’ screen time, we want it to be quality time. There’s some evidence that interactive apps support early academic development, but finding quality early literacy apps can be difficult and time-consuming. Lots of early literacy apps are (IMHO) simply rubbish.
It’s helpful to read adult reviews of apps for children, but to really road-test an app, I like to watch a young child using it. My colleague Caitlin Stephenson and I have thus filmed Harrison (aged 4, nearly 5) trying out some of my favourite early phonemic awareness and phonics iPad apps for young children.
The resulting video is below. We hope it gives you a taste of how each app works, to help you decide whether it would suit the small person/people in your life. The video is 16 minutes long, and the apps tried are listed below (numbers in brackets are start times on the video clock):
- Graphogame (0:06)
- Phonics Hero (1:50)
- Hairy Letters from Nessy (3:26)
- Bob Books Reading Magic 1 (5:00)
- Reading Raven (6:25)
- Reading Doctor Letter Sounds 1 Pro (8:32)
- Cake Shop Letters (or if you prefer, Spooky Letters or Dinosaur Letters) (10:10)
- Initial Code from Sounds-Write (full version is here) (11:37)
- Wordchain 1 (13:04) which in 2024 is a web-based program not an iPad app.
- Phonics Read CVC 100 Words by Joe Scrivens (14:36) which in 2024 seems to be unavailable, but CVC Phonics Spelling Practice by the same person is good, and still available.
The only tablet I have is an iPad, but some of these apps are available for other platforms. Many also work on iPhones. Please note that my app store links are to the Australian store, so if you’re elsewhere, you’ll have to search your local apps store for these apps.
I’m not quoting prices here because they often change, plus some apps have hundreds of activities, while some have only one/a few, so it’s a bit like comparing apples and banquets. I’ll leave the value-for-money question up to you.
Other early literacy iPad apps IMHO worth considering for young children include:
- Alphablocks Letter Fun and Meet the Alphablocks
- Atlas Mission
- Blobble Write, also available for Android
- CVC Words Short Vowel Phonics
- EBLI Reading Adventures, or see the EBLI website (US).
- Jolly Phonics Sounds Adventure, or Jolly Phonics Lessons, or for Android here.
- Let’s Read 1: Sounds, Let’s Read 1: Spelling and Let’s Read 1: Words.
- Making Words Kindergarten and First Grade
- Maria – Learn To Read
- Oz Phonics Reading Intro, Oz Phonics 1 & Oz Phonics 2.
- Phonics Bingo, Magnetic Letters & Train Phonics by Joe Scrivens.
- Phonics Flashcards & I Can Spell With Phonics
- PLD Reading Race 1a & Spellstar 1a for both Apple and Android.
- Pocket Phonics
- Reading Magic 1 & Spelling Magic 1 (and other Preschool University apps)
- Ready, Set, Read
- Read With Phonics games, also for Android, or see their website.
- Starfall Learn To Read, also for Android
- Teach Your Monster To Read
- What’s Changed?
- Word Sounds/Phonemes
- Word Wizard for Kids, also for Android
Beginners’ decodable books allow children to practice phonics skills by reading stories containing simplified spelling patterns, and some of these are also available as apps, often for both Apple & Android:
- Decodable Readers Australia
- In 2024 the Fitzroy readers are only available for Android
- Little Learners Love Literacy or for Android
- Pocket Phonics Stories
- Quackenworth Vowel Stories
- Twinkl Rhino Readers or for Android
Apologies to all the people who make good apps of which I’m not aware. I’d love to hear about them, and wish I had more time to search for and try them.
I hope this blog post helps you find apps that the small people in your life enjoy, and which help them develop great early literacy skills.
Last update: 18 June 2024
37 responses to “Top early literacy apps 2020”
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The Spelfabet shop has affordable, downloadable spelling teaching resources.
Are you planning a similar review of android apps?
Hi Karey, sorry, I don’t have an android device so I can’t review their apps. I use my ipad apps with my clients, so I have to buy them anyway, and since I have them and I also have a blog it makes sense to share what I’ve learnt about them. Most families and schools here seem to have ipads rather than android tablets, and they seem to have the best range of educational apps.
Any suggestion for apps for middle school students with poor phonological skills? Understandably, most apps are for young children.
Thanks!
Hi Rebecca, when you say apps for kids with poor phonological skills, there are a whole lot of apps that speech pathologists use as part of articulation therapy, for kids who lisp or say “w” for “r” or whatever, but I suppose the speech pathologists you work with can tell you about them (yes, I googled you!). If working on phonemic awareness is what you mean, there are not a lot of great apps for middle school kids, this work mostly has to be done using non-tech systems e.g. David Kilpatrick’s One Minute Activities, Rosner stuff, and activities using letter tiles, or Lindamood-style blocks for kids who are fixated on letters and hard to get to think about sounds. Usually middle school kids are struggling with vowel sounds and their spellings/the extended code, and apps that I know of which target these are Oz Phonics 4, 5 and 6, Tricky Spelling, Phonics Finder, Reading Magic 4 and 5 and Spelling Magic 4, Forest Phonics, Howie Find Vowel, Build-a-word phonics, Word Works, Hairy Phonics and then Chimp Fu, Reading Doctor Letter Sounds 2, Sound Literacy (a framework program so it requires support from a knowledgeable adult), Word Up from Spell Links, Blast Off To Reading, Sounds Have Letter Teams 1-7, plus apps like Graphogame and Phonics hero include activities for older kids as well as littlies, but of course the themes might not suit older kids, there are teddies in Phonics Hero at the start but I haven’t done a lot of the harder activities, and likewise I haven’t played right through Graphogame, but it looks like it isn’t particularly childish. Hope that’s helpful, and all the best, Alison
This is brilliant and so useful. Many thanks for compiling as it can sometimes be a minefield as well as time consuming to navigate the 100s of apps out there.
A great app is Ready Set Read by Lupine Learning. Simple and no frills but very effective.
Diane, thanks so much for bringing this great little app to my attention. I’ll add it to the list. Much appreciated. Alison
Sharing it right away…
“An app a day makes the students come our way”…
I use some of the apps that are mentioned here.
PLD apps are really preferred by my younger students.
READING DOCTOR is by far the most used one, both the software and the apps.
Each serves a pedagigical goal for me, and is really fun as students actually learn and practice quite intensively.These apps make literacy accessible and fun right on the tip/tap of the… tongue/ finger.
Thanks a lot again!
Thought Magic Spell would have had a mention on here, it’s a spelling game created by a really cool British and Australian startup called Brainbox Games. I know a lot of kids that play it here in Sydney.
Hi Joe, thanks for pointing out Magic Spell, I bought it and had a quick look at it, and the long, written instructions at the start make it far too hard for young beginners with short attention spans, so it definitely doesn’t belong on this list. In the first activity I tried it presented me with a lot of misspelt words, which is not something I would ever recommend. The kids I work with have enough misspelt words of their own, without me presenting them with a whole lot more! So, sorry, but from what I’ve seen, I’m not much of a fan. It would be really great if game designers would talk to cognitive scientists who know how children’s brains learn to read and spell before designing literacy-related games, so that the games could be more inclusive and suitable for kids with weaker skills as well as the mainstream kids who are obviously the target market. All the best, Alison.
Are there any apps you would recommend specifically for Adults wanting to improve spelling?
Hi Ben, I wish I did know of good spelling apps for adults, there aren’t many, it really depends on what level of skills the person already has. Are you talking about very basic skills, someone who gets vowel spellings wrong, or someone who just struggles with homophones and multisyllable words? Alison
Homophones and multisyllable words would be the main problems.
There is an app called Tricky Spelling Homophones that might help. Phonics Finder has some long words, as does Spelling Magic 3 and Reading Magic 3. For advanced work there’s hardly anything available but you could try apps called Vocabulary: Greek Latin roots and Latin Vocabulary Quiz. Also The Prefix and Suffix game, though I haven’t had a close look at it. I sometimes get kids to use Syllable Word Search as it makes them focus on syllables, though it’s not my favourite. A friend of mine says her kids found the Simplex Spelling apps good, but I can’t see one that works on word-building and multisyllable words. Sorry that’s not a lot of help, it’s slim pickings, I wish someone with good linguistics knowledge would team up with an app developer to create some apps for this, but I myself don’t have time. All the best, Alison
Thank you so much Alison!! This is great. It will save me so much time and money. It is so hard to distinguish a good spelling ap from a bad one. Or more accurately a dyslexic friendly ap from a non dyslexic friendly ap.
My son (2 years old) has a severe expressive speech delay and I was wondering what apps you recommend for speech?
Hi Amanda, for a two-year-old I would not use apps to improve expressive speech, I’d use pretend play and other oral language activities. Your speech pathologist should be able to recommend activities and show you how to interact in a way that will help your child learn expressive language.
My daughter happily played with Nessy Reading and Spelling, not sure what you think about it but it is designed for primary school aged kids with dyslexia. Unfortunately you have to use a computer, but then maybe she did it willingly because she got to use my previously off limits laptop?!
Hi Alison – Thanks for taking the time to review so many of these apps. Just thought I’d let you know that I discovered the Atlas Mission through your site. My 5-year old loves playing with it! It’s improved his reading pretty remarkably as well.
Hi Rhonda, that’s great to hear, I must have a closer look at it, I just looked at the start and they seemed to be thinking along the right lines, so I added it to my list. Alison
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I’m from a small school with not a lot of funding unfortunately. Can you recommend any FREE apps that might be useful for my Foundation/Prep class. I’m from Victoria, currently doing a Sounds Write course.
Hi Heather, unfortunately apps are often free for a while and then they start charging something for them, and once I’ve bought them I can’t see what their price is in the apps store any more, so I suggest you go to my apps page and then click on the links for the kind of apps you’re looking for (targeting PA, letter formation, decodable books etc) and see if any of them are $0. Here’s the link: https://www.spelfabet.com.au/phonics-resources/computer/apps
The Preschool University apps usually have a free version that you can use to try them out, and if they are working well, the paid ones aren’t expensive, see http://www.preschoolu.com. They have other good things on their website too. The Joe Scrivens apps are also like this, I think, but in apps as in life, you mostly get what you pay for. Hope that’s helpful, all the best, Alison
Hi Alison,
How about the Sounds-Write apps?
Hi Emma, I do list “Initial Code” which is the only Sounds Write app I know about, are there others? Alison
Hi there,
Forgive me for not testing myself with my students, but I just wondered if any of these would work on standard laptops (PC). Currently, my school uses reading eggs and I want to go to them with something solid that will work. Could you recommend one or even two to replace? Preferably free. No worries if you can’t get back to me. Thought it was worth a shot! 🙂
Yes, Phonics Hero (https://phonicshero.com), Graphogame (www.graphogame.com/index.html) and Nessy (www.nessy.com/uk) all have versions that run on laptops. None of them are free, sorry.
Great list! Do you have any suggestions for kids who have visual processing delay as well as spelling and reading challenges?
I’m sorry, I’m not an optometrist or opthamologist so I’m no expert in visual processing. However, my understanding is that visual differences in children who are struggling to read are typically a product of that struggle, not a cause, so please be wary of people offering you visual therapies as a means of improving reading/spelling. See for example this statement from RANZCO https://ranzco.edu/news/ophthalmologists-condemn-channel-7-report-on-behavioural-optometry/
[…] you’d like my recommendations for early literacy iPad apps for little kids, see this blog post. Several of them have versions on other platforms, including Graphogame, Phonics Hero, Nessy and […]
This is an interesting list of early literacy apps that can help children develop their reading and writing skills. It’s great to see the variety of options available for parents and educators looking to support young learners in their literacy journey.
Love this post! As a parent of a toddler, I’m always looking for new and engaging ways to support their literacy skills. These apps look like a great resource, thank you for sharing!
Hi there, I love the list and am dipping into it. Do you also have any suggestions of apps for older children (11) year olds that still struggle at cvc level and find a lot of apps somewhat childish? Thank you so much for all the hard work. We’re just starting this journey and are finding the website incredibly useful. Thenks
hi Inge, the preschool university apps have an unfortunate brand/company name but they are fine for any age I think. Oz Phonics apps are also not too teddybearish. Graphogame is probably OK too, I think. I don’t have my ipad in front of me and can’t think of any other standout ones for CVC level, but if you start off with those, let me know if you are still stuck and I’ll think again when I have my ipad. Alison
Hi Alison
This post is fantastic – so my many resources for literacy…I was wondering if you have any suggestions for oral language? I’m most curious about apps for kids in middle primary who may have missed the boat a bit, due to dyslexia. Often parents report that either the child finds the low tech activities baby-ish, and they get sick of parent drills!
Thanks
April
Hi Alison
This post is fantastic – so my many resources for literacy…I was wondering if you have any suggestions for oral language? I’m most curious about apps for kids in middle primary who may have missed the boat a bit, due to dyslexia. Often parents report that either the child finds the low tech activities baby-ish, or they get sick of parent drills!
Thanks
April