Technology is widely used in the speech therapy world to provide communication, learning, and Augmentative/Alternative communication support for many. In 2018, Apple reported that there were 200,000 educational apps available from their app store. Given the multitude of apps out there, it’s no surprise that we frequently get asked by parents and professionals to recommend apps appropriate for little ones.
As early interventionists, we first have to start with the disclaimer that there is no greater learning experience than interacting through play and routines. Technology cannot replace these language rich opportunities, but when used correctly, it can certainly enhance them. But remember, your child will not be learning as much if they are left alone with a device. Instead, interact with your child at the same time!
Some tips while interacting with your child:
1. Comment on what your child is looking at
2. Pause occasionally to discuss what just occurred
3. Narrate what’s happening as it’s happening (ex: “The page is loading”, “Let’s push this button”)
4. Help apply what your child sees to real life examples of things they have seen on their screen
5. Ask questions about what's happening in the app, tailored to your child's level
Given recent research linking increased screen times to delays in cognitive, language and social emotional skills in young children, we also recommend that screen time (TV and tablet use) be limited to one hour per day for children over the age of two. Another useful link can be found here.
With that in mind, we wish to share some of our favorite apps for language and learning as discussed in our most recent Instagram live chat. Although many tend to gravitate towards apps that focus on pre-academic/academic skills such as letters, shapes, colors, numbers etc.; as speech-language pathologists, we recommend apps that provide opportunities for language learning, pretend, and/ or imaginative play.
Pretend Play
All Toca Boca apps are great for pretend play around daily routines. Favorites are Toca Hairdresser, Toca Hair Salon, Toca Doctor, Toca Store, and Toca House.
Another app targeting everyday routines as well as building vocabulary around things and actions within the environment. They’ve also introduced My Play Home School, hospital and stores.
Very similar to Toca Boca but we prefer these apps for younger ones. Great pretend play opportunities, with Doctor, Tree, and Bath being favorites.
We not only love these because they’re all FREE!!!, but they also provide language learning and vocabulary building opportunities. We love the song apps such as ‘Wheels on the Bus’ and ‘Itsy Bitsy Spider’ for the 2-3 year age group, and Trucks and Musical Me for 3+.
Great for building vocabulary and sequencing skills, mainly for children over 3 years. There’s also cupcake and cake version, which have the same format.
Concepts & Following Directions
Designed by speech therapists, this app works on following multi-step directions at different levels in different picture scenes.
Peek a Zoo and the new Khan Academy provide great opportunities for learning new concepts and following directions
This fun little alien teaches children to follow simple to more complex directions, before blasting off to other planets.
Interactive Books
These are all fun interactive books that you can use to support vocabulary building and conversation
A subscription service to thousands of popular books
Pre-Literacy and Literacy
Finally an app which targets phonological awareness skills in a fun and engaging way! Many apps only look at letters and word building for reading, but this app also looks at the early phonological awareness skills required for literacy development such as syllable segmentation and rhyming skills.
Social Stories
Us this app to create your own stories using your own images. This app is very customizable, as you're able to add titles, text, and even audio! When your story is complete you can save it as a pdf and email/print it out to share with others.
Finally, we want to mention a site called Common Sense Media, it's a wonderful site where you can read detailed reviews and ratings about any app you might be curious about. Common Sense Media offers developmentally age appropriate reviews for books, movies, and TV shows. It's definitely worth checking out!