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The best school holiday apps for kids [2023]

Apps for kids: School holidays are always a time that children look forward to. Summer holidays are undoubtedly the favourite season for children. Easter holidays and Christmas breaks are extremely popular as well.

There are also a few even more special holidays, such as the Summer Break (half term), applied to the United Kingdom’s schools. This year, schools are closed from May 29th to July 2nd for Summer Break, while Summer Holidays in UK schools start on July 24th. Accordingly, in each country, there are specific dates when schools close, and students enjoy their vacations both for summer and other public holidays.

Holiday apps can help you keep your kids busy in a productive way. This is an excellent opportunity for a child to spend quality time acquiring new skills and knowledge in fun and engaging ways. Especially if you plan to travel and want to keep your kids busy on the train, plane, or car. You need apps that are entertaining and educational – thus exercising children’s minds and teaching them new things. Here is a list of the best holiday travel apps you should download to your kids’ tablet or smartphone.

The best apps for kids

#1 – Duolingo

If you are looking for a fun, free and effective way to help your kids learn a new language, you need Duolingo. With quick, bite-sized lessons, your kids will earn points and unlock new levels while gaining real-world communication skills. They can learn from various languages such as German, Italian, Portuguese, Dutch, or even Japanese. The learning process is fully personalized; your kids can choose when and how to obtain new knowledge. You can learn a new language anytime and anywhere with a travel app like this. There is also a Duolingo for Schools edition, and, likely, your children are already familiar with its interface.

#2 – Khan Academy Kids

Khan Academy Kids is another ideal holiday app you can try this year. It is a fun educational program for children ages two to eight. There are hundreds of lessons covering math, English, geography, and many more. Children also have access to YouTube videos with interactive stories and lessons. This app aims at boosting pre-literacy skills, and the whole learning process is joyful. The Khan Academy Kids engages kids in core subjects like early literacy, reading, writing, language, and math while encouraging creativity and building social-emotional skills.

#3 – Prodigy

With Prodigy, kids practice standards-aligned math and English skills as they play various fun and adaptive learning games. This app focuses on supporting children’s learning in class and at home, and kids can use it during their holidays to refresh their knowledge and obtain new skills. Prodigy offers a parent portal tool that you can use to motivate learning, track your child’s progress, and inspire them to practice new skills. Regarding math, this app offers plenty of fun and entertaining games filled with quests, battles, spells, and rewards. Every battle brings more skill-building math questions for students to solve.

#4 – PBS KIDS Games

PBS KIDS Games is also one of the best educational apps for kids, with an amazing collection of learning games. This app aims to support your kids in their journey to learn letters, numbers, shapes, colours, matching, and many more. You can find a collection of games designed for older preschool and elementary-age kids. The app also provides free videos, including full episodes and clips from the top PBS Kids series.

#5 – Mazaam – The Musical Genius

Mazaam uses classical music to engage kids with fun and educational games. The app offers plenty of educational activities and is ideal for kids ages four to six. Mazaam’s pedagogical approach is based on several years of scientific research led by the Canada Research Chair in Music and Learning. This app aims to support early childhood development through play and classical music and facilitate music discovery by educating the new generations. Mazaam is an engaging and animated app for children to develop their understanding of music.

George Mavridis is a journalist currently conducting his doctoral research at the Department of Journalism and Mass Media at Aristotle University of Thessaloniki (AUTH). He holds a degree from the same department, as well as a Master’s degree in Media and Communication Studies from Malmö University, Sweden, and a second Master’s degree in Digital Humanities from Linnaeus University, Sweden. In 2024, he completed his third Master’s degree in Information and Communication Technologies: Law and Policy at AUTH. Since 2010, he has been professionally involved in journalism and communication, and in recent years, he has also turned to book writing.