Someone asked me recently about the apps that I use with our kids. This week I’ll be sharing some of our favorites by category. You’ll notice that while I love a free app, I’m also not afraid to spend a little money for a good app. What are some of your favorite apps? We’d love to know!

Today’s list is of our favorite ELA apps for elementary and preschool kids.

Toontastic (Free with option for paid upgrade) – This app allows you to create your own cartoon! We have laughed and laughed and laughed over this one. You can use the backgrounds and characters that are provided or you can draw your own. Remember how we used to play with felt boards? This is similar except it records you playing with it so that you see the characters moving and you narrating the story. You can go back and add music as well. I love to hear all the imaginative stories my kids come up with!

Mad Libs (Free) – Exactly what you think it is. Perfect for learning the parts of speech, and usually good for a laugh.

This Week’s Words ($3.99) – I rarely spend more than $2 on a kid’s app, so it has to come highly recommended. This one was great because you could put in your own words and you can set up accounts for each of your children. Then they log in and practice the words. After they pass the first two practice levels, it gives a spelling test.

Endless Alphabet* (Free) – This is the overall favorite app for all of my kids. And, admittedly, I kinda sorta like it as well. You move the letters around into the correct spot and as you move each one it makes it’s own sound. Once you have all of the letters in place, it acts out the word. Not only do you have letter recognition and letter sounds, but also vocabulary. And these aren’t words like CAT or DOG, but words like BELCH (the one I hear most often) and GARGANTUAN. When they hear the music start up, they all flock to the ipad.

Rocket Speller* (Free) – This app is similar to Endless Alphabet, but with a completely different word set. There are levels and as you complete stages, you get to build rockets.

Don’t Let the Pigeon Run This App ($5.99) – This app was on sale when I bought it, but we really love it. The kids laugh and laugh at Pigeon’s silly antics and the Mo Willems shows you how to draw Pigeon. Funny and interactive app.

Coming Up Tomorrow: Apps for Math, Science, and Social Studies
Later This Week: Spacial Thinking Apps, Just for Fun Apps, Apps for Toddlers