The best apps for a child with autism are the ones that make life easier. The apps that can help them learn and grow, and the ones that can help you keep your sanity.
But how do you know which ones are going to work? And how do you know they’re not going to just make things worse? That’s why we put together this list of some of our favorite autism apps. We’ve done the research for you, so all you have to do is choose!
These apps are designed by parents for parents—so they’re easy-to-use, effective, and most importantly: useful!
Here are our top picks:
Best Apps For Child With Autism
best apps for autism
Best Educational Apps for Kids
By Rebecca Bodenheimer
Updated on March 14, 2022
Fact checked by Sean Blackburn
We independently research, test, review, and recommend the best products—learn more about our process. If you buy something through our links, we may earn a commission.
There’s no denying that kids love screen time. But if you want your child to do a little less Pokémon chasing and a little more learning, there’s good news. Many of today’s apps for kids are combining technology and education to make learning more engaging, interactive, and—dare we say—fun than ever before.
Whatever skills or subjects your child is interested in, there are a wide variety of educational apps available. Ahead, we’ve highlighted the eight best learning apps for kids loved by parents and youngsters.
The 8 Best Educational Apps for Kids in 2022
Best Overall: Khan Academy
Best for Toddlers: Busy Shapes
Best for Preschoolers: ABCmouse.com
Best for Elementary School Kids: Prodigy
Best for Tweens: Google Arts and Culture
Best for Teens: Quizlet
Best for Social Emotional Learning and Kids with ADHD: Stop, Breathe and Think
Best for Teaching Kids Coding: Hopscotch
Best Educational Apps for Kids
Khan Academy
Busy Shapes
ABCmouse.Com
Prodigy
Google Arts And Culture
Quizlet
Stop, Breathe And Think
Hopscotch
Final Verdict
Compare Apps
FAQs
Methodology
BEST OVERALL
Khan Academy
Khan Academy
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Key Specs
Price: Free
Ages/Grades: Grades K–14
Apple/Android: Both
Why We Chose It: Suitable for beginner and advanced students, Khan Academy offers learning opportunities for students of all ages across many subjects, including math, economics, and history.
PROS
Totally free
Offers a wide variety of subjects
Suitable for foundational or supplemental learning
Includes introduction math classes for 3rd grade and up
Available in more than 36 languages
CONS
Self-paced design might not be right for everyone
Lacks foreign language courses
Khan Academy is the gold standard for educational apps, particularly considering the wide range of courses it offers for students of all ages, and the fact that it’s free. Khan Academy’s YouTube videos cover most subjects at a range of levels: math, science and engineering, arts and humanities (which includes history and social studies), economics, AP courses, and test prep.
English language arts (ELA) seems to be one notable weakness of Khan Academy courses, though it has some beta (work-in-progress) offerings for second to ninth-grade students. There are also no foreign language courses, though Khan Academy instruction is available in dozens of languages, with varying numbers of course offerings.
Khan Academy is popular among students, parents, and educators because its videos are engaging and targeted at visual learners, using photos, maps, and other illustrations, and because it allows students to work at their own pace.
The courses include quizzes to test students’ comprehension. Khan Academy has also shifted toward developing materials in conjunction with Common Core. A junior version, Khan Academy Kids, targets young learners from two to seven years old. It’s a mobile device app that covers math, ELA, logic, and socio-emotional learning by using books, games, songs, and videos.
The 7 Best Apps for Toddlers of 2022
BEST FOR TODDLERS
Busy Shapes
Busy Shapes
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Key Specs
Price: $3
Ages/Grades: Ages 2–5
Apple/Android: Both
Why We Chose It: Your toddler will love moving the shapes around in this app, and you’ll love that it’s secretly teaching them spatial recognition and object awareness.
PROS
Easy for little hands to use
Gradually becomes more challenging
Encourages problem-solving skills
Available in 21 languages
CONS
Doesn’t display or say the name of the shapes
Some users reported glitchy or “unsolvable” levels
Busy Shapes is an app aligned with the Montessori method of self-directed, hands-on learning. As such, it’s perfect for the youngest kids just starting to interact with technology—it’s not rote learning. The app is designed to develop young children’s logic and reasoning skills by learning about how objects relate to each other and how they can manipulate them.
Busy Shapes is simple to play. Kids drag an object into a hole—they are challenged to match the shape of the object with the corresponding hole—and eventually, another object and hole will appear in a new setting.
Most importantly, there are no instructions, which is something toddlers can’t really handle—it’s all child-directed.
The challenge increases over time, with multiple objects and holes of different shapes. Busy Shapes costs $2.99.
Toddler Development
BEST FOR PRESCHOOLERS
ABCmouse.com
ABCMouse.com
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Key Specs
Price: $13 per month
Ages/Grades: Ages 2–8
Apple/Android: Both
Why We Chose It: ABCmouse.com has more than 10,000 activities available to play on its app or website. There are games for traditional subjects, like math, science, and language arts, as well as art activities, songs, and puzzles.
PROS
Designed by educators and experts in early learning
One account can have up to three profiles
Includes school subjects plus games and puzzles
Highly adaptable to age and skill levels
Advertisement-free website
Free 30-day trial
CONS
More expensive than other options
Only available in English and Spanish
More than simply an app, ABCmouse.com is essentially a well-rounded curriculum for preschoolers. It’s designed for children aged two through eight but is best for younger kids who haven’t started kindergarten.
It includes hundreds of interactive games, activities, and videos related to reading, math, science, and art. It’s also a multi-platform program that can be used on a computer or mobile device.
Skills Your Child Needs Before Starting Kindergarten
Because it’s a full-fledged curriculum, ABCmouse isn’t cheap—it costs $9.95/month. But if your child doesn’t attend preschool, the app is a great substitute to get them ready for elementary school, as parents can track their progress.
The only reservation some reviewers, such as Common Sense Media, have with ABCmouse is that it rewards children’s progress with tickets, which can be used to purchase virtual items. While this feature is sure to be successful in keeping kids using the program, some would argue it encourages consumerism instead of learning for learning’s sake.
BEST FOR ELEMENTARY SCHOOL KIDS
Prodigy
Prodigy Math Tutoring
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Key Specs
Price: Free for basic; premium memberships cost $10 to $15 per month and $75 to $100 per year
Ages/Grades: Grades 1–8
Apple/Android: Both
Why We Chose It: Prodigy helps students learn math while having fun by providing interactive games that align with the curriculum they’re learning at school.
PROS
Features math curriculum standards for grades 1–8
Play online or via app
Can be used for practice or initial learning
CONS
Ads encourage membership and in-app purchases
Fantasy theme might not be for everyone
Prodigy is one of the most popular math games on the market, largely because it’s set up like a video game. It’s a fantasy-based web and app game that covers math topics for kids from first to eighth grade.
Prodigy is more designed to test kids’ knowledge rather than introduce math topics to them for the first time. Kids earn spells by answering questions correctly and get to do monster battles as they move through different fantasy worlds.
The basic app is free, but a paid subscription offers more features. The premium fee is $8.95 per month, which is discounted if you buy an annual subscription. Despite the fact that Prodigy is widely loved by kids, one drawback for parents is that there seems to be significant pressure within the game to make in-app purchases.
The 5 Best Tablets for Kids of 2022
BEST FOR TWEENS
Google Arts and Culture
Arts and Culture
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Key Specs
Price: Free
Ages/Grades: Ages 12 and up
Apple/Android: Both
Why We Chose It: Google’s interactive Arts and Culture lets students explore art, history, geography, and cultures from all over the world by allowing them to tour museums, learn about international foods, and much more in the palm of their hands.
PROS
Designed for project research or just for fun
Transform your own photos into artwork
Virtual tours of museums around the world
Lots of information on art and culture
Entertaining and educational for tweens and adults
CONS
Database isn’t very user-friendly
Some content is restricted by location
A free mobile app has been developed to accompany the well-known website, which offers a treasure trove of virtual travel and sight-seeing. The app lets you search by keyword or category and read relevant editorials about the art collections.
While Google Arts and Culture became famous for its selfie feature, which allows you to compare your face to great works of art, the site and app contain a wealth of information on museum collections, artists, theater and performing arts, historic figures, and events.
Google Arts and Culture is an invaluable resource for tweens who are assigned research projects, as it can provide in-depth information that goes far beyond the written word to include images and videos. While the app can truly be enjoyed by people of many ages, the amount of information available can be overwhelming for younger kids who may not know how to use search terms efficiently.
Extracurricular Activities for Your Tween
BEST FOR TEENS
Quizlet
Quizlet
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Key Specs
Price: Free
Ages/Grades: Ages 13 and up
Apple/Android: Both
Why We Chose It: Quizlet makes it easy to prepare for tests by letting you create as many flashcard sets as you want on your phone or computer. It offers different testing methods, such as multiple choice and true/false questions, plus it has millions of sets available that students have already designed.
PROS
Offers flashcards, games, diagrams, and study guides
Can be used by students or teachers
Seven study modes allow for personalized instruction
Millions of flashcards sets available
CONS
Users say that editing flashcards can be difficult
Interface can be hard to organize
Self-directed study is an important skill for high schoolers, and Quizlet is one of the most effective apps on the market for review of material a student will be tested on. Teachers and students can create study sets/flashcards on many topics—from the periodic table to U.S. presidents to vocabulary words.
The Quizlet Learn feature provides different types of testing, such as true and false questions and multiple-choice, and based on the user’s performance, increases in difficulty over time. Quizlet is particularly good for foreign language study, and its audio pronunciation is better than many other apps.
Quizlet also has 500 million archived study sets already created by users, so new users can search within those to see if a study set has already been created that matches up with their needs.
That said, like Wikipedia, the study sets aren’t fact-checked, so users need to be aware that they may contain errors. However, it’s a free resource, so users should weigh the benefits with the drawbacks.
Conclusion
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