Free vs Paid Kids Reading Games: Pre-K through 5th Grade

I began by searching for the most popular apps that were designed to help young children with their reading. I was looking for apps that could not only help them learn, but I also wanted to find apps that used games to make the learning more fun. 

Once I found the top 7, I downloaded them onto my phone and tested them over the next 10 days with my kids. I wanted to know which apps could support their education, but also if there was a huge difference between the free and paid apps. 

I took note of how my kids interacted with the apps and how much they liked them. Some of the apps we tested had more of an emphasis on the games than the actual learning, whereas others had good information but weren’t engaging enough to keep the kid’s attention. 

I didn’t set a time limit for this; I just let my kids explore the apps because I wanted their experience to be an organic one, but we generally tested for approximately 30 minutes a day. Although, they wanted to test for longer on the weekends. 

I sat with them as they played, and I made sure the learning was set to the right level with the right amount of challenge. I also focused on how much learning was taking place, how much fun they were having, and if they were being taught in the same way they are at school. 

On top of this, I also wanted to know how they could progress and, in the case of the paid apps, whether or not the paid versions were worth the investment over the free apps. 

With such a comprehensive testing system in place, I was able to get a good understanding of all the apps and compile my list of the top 3.

Khan Academy Kids is a fantastic app that covers every base to help your child learn. Everything has been designed with kids in mind, and your child will love the characters, animations, colors available, as well as the overall design and structure of the app. 

It’s a very child-friendly app, and there are lots of interactive features that will engage your child and create a fun learning environment. You can create and customize characters and do different tasks with them, which your child will love. 

When you get into the actual games, content, and activities available, you’ll be shocked at just how good this is for a free app. There are a wide variety of subjects available, in addition to reading and spelling, but as we only looked at the reading and spelling section, we will start there. 

This app covers ability levels from pre-school to 2nd grade, and there are literally hundreds of different tasks, games, and activities available to use, and that’s just for reading and spelling. You can select the ability level of your child, and once you do, whether you need help identifying letter sounds, practicing sight words, or reading fiction or non-fiction books, Khan Academy Kids has you covered in every way. 

The games and activities are all fun and engaging, and with so many choices available, your child will never get bored of what’s on offer. 

There are different games available to suit every learner, and it’s clear that they’ve put a lot of detail into every single one. This app gives you a truly comprehensive way to learn and has more than enough options to help your child consolidate their learning on any topic that they’re struggling with. 

However, the best part about this app is that it’s free. We tested some games that were clearly designed to make a profit, whereas, from the moment you first open Khan Academy Kids, you’ll see that their only intention is to help your child learn.

It’s difficult to find fault with anything in this app; however, if there was one thing we’d like to see improved, it would be a more consistent teaching style. 

With such a huge worldwide reach, it makes sense that different parts of the world may do things slightly differently, and we did notice one or two things that were a little different from how our kids are taught at school. 

We must stress, this isn’t a deal-breaker by any, and the few times that this happened, it wasn’t hard to correct, but it’s just worth noting that some topics may be taught slightly differently from how your child is. They will still learn and get vital information, but they may take a different route to get there.

What grabs you immediately about this app is the child-friendly design. It uses big bright colors that are sure to capture your child’s attention, and they’ll instantly fall in love with the cartoon design and animations. 

Once you start the game, it’s just as engaging, and your child is sure to have fun as they help ‘Tommy the Turtle’ to build different things. You can build bikes, pogo sticks, skateboards, or even more advanced items like cars and motorbikes, with these bigger items requiring more pieces, and therefore more learning to complete.

To get a piece of whatever you’re trying to build, you must complete a range of activities, and each one is slightly different, which we loved because it ensures your child is practicing all of the essential components and not just the areas they are strongest in. 

For example, to get one piece, you may have to read aloud, whereas to get another piece you may have to identify letter sounds, and get another, you may have to practice blending words. This is such a good feature because it really does cover everything, and it also helps to consolidate learning. 

You can’t complete the design until you have all the pieces, and you need to practice these skills no matter what you’re trying to build. So while on some games, you may be able to move on before you’re truly ready, it’s much harder to do that in this app. 

We also found that it uses the same methods that are children are taught in school, which is another great feature. The blending games, for example, used the exact same methods, which makes it easier to learn when the methods are consistent. 

Overall, this is a great app that could be a fantastic resource to help your child read.

Teach your Monster to Read is a great app that kids will love. It engages them immediately, as you’re asked to design your own monster to use in the game, and everything about the app is kid-friendly and fun. 

From the colors and design to the exciting user interface, this app will grab your kid’s attention immediately, and from that moment on, you can expect lots of fun as your monster goes on an adventure to get back to its ship. 

The app is straightforward and has just the right amount of challenge that your child can play and learn independently without having to guess, which means you can be more confident that they’re actually learning. 

We did a lot of work around the different letter sounds, but you can find a variety of topics to help your child learn, whether they’re brand new to reading and need help identifying their letters, or they’re further along and are just beginning to work on blending their words so they can read more effectively. 

You’ll find lots of mini-games and activities that help to reinforce learning as your child both practice their letter sounds and their reading skills, and there are lots of fun features that will keep them motivated and excited to play, such as being able to collect coins which you can use to buy accessories for your monster. You can also collect different sounds and words in the game, which is a fun feature. 

If there were one area we’d like to see improved, it would be the pace of the game, as sometimes we noticed it was possible to move up even if you weren’t fully secure in an area, but as parents, that’s when you would step in to give your child some extra support.

This app was well designed with good colors and a user-friendly interface; however, we feel there are better options available. We felt that the instructions of what to do weren’t very clear, and we also felt that the learning games were limited as the app didn’t offer enough options to keep you engaged.

We found this app quite basic to use and not very user-friendly. The loud clicks whenever you tap on the screen were annoying, and we also found the app slow to respond when we played the games, which resulted in us quickly getting bored and losing interest. 

We didn’t enjoy this app. Much of the letters are hidden behind a paywall, and unfortunately, you’ve got to spend the money before you really know what you’re getting. We also found that there wasn’t enough variety in the game. We feel there are better free apps available.

We found this app a little slow at times and not the smoothest to work with. Changing between screens was often very slow, and we found the same in the games. It’s a shame because the app overall was pretty good. But it’s easy to see how some kids could get bored if the pace doesn’t increase.