From Experimac
School is out and summer is upon us! Figuring out what to do with the kids all summer is a challenge for most parents. Some families will opt for a big vacation or maybe even sleep away camp but what about the rest of the summer? While beach days and camping trips are great summer activities, keeping your kids’ brains active is important too! Take a look at some of the best apps and games available to engage their minds in a fun and motivational way.
Grades: Preschool – 5th
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Highlights
This developer, famous for their children’s magazine, has produced a few apps all aimed at improving literacy and critical thinking skills in children. From their hidden pictures app to one app called “All About Summer,” Highlights offers children a variety of fun yet academic apps that are easy and free to download and use.
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ABC Mouse
Studies have shown that this app has improved math and literacy skills in elementary-aged children. It teaches subjects such as reading, math, science, and art through the use of interactive activities, songs, and even offline printable activities!
Grades: K – 8th
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BrainPOP
<This app features animated movies that are easy for students to relate to followed by some questions to ensure comprehension of the video. From core subjects such as math, reading, science, and history to electives such as health, art, music and even engineering, BrainPOP is designed for elementary and middle school students to use on their own and support cross-curricular education.
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Inventioneers
If your child is creative or you want to support creative thinking skills, look at this app. Your child can create inventions, learn about science, and even share their inventions with friends. Inventioneers comes in a free and deluxe version and is compatible with Apple and Android devices alike.
Grades: 9th – 12th, College and grad students
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Khan Academy
“You can learn anything” is this app’s tagline and rightfully so! With over 40,000 Common Core-aligned questions and interactive exercises, your child can easily spend the summer preparing for upcoming exams such as the SAT, ACT, and school entrance exams. Khan Academy is even equipped to prepare users for the GMAT and MCAT! This app is designed for high school, college and post-grad students looking to sharpen their skills in algebra, calculus, statistics, finance, chemistry, physics, art history, economics and much more! Make sure your son or daughter is ready for the upcoming school year by sharing this app with them!
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Scholly
So your child has spent over a decade studying and might be over the summer-studying. Seeing that it’s never too early to start considering scholarships, help motivate your teenager by subscribing to Scholly. For just $2.99 a month, Scholly makes it easy to find and apply to scholarships, keep track of deadlines and follow up on outcomes. While this app will not reinforce specific subject matter, a summer spent filling out scholarship applications teaches life skills, is time well-spent, and depending on the scholarship, could involve writing an essay to submit with the application.
While the lackadaisical days of summer spent doing nothing productive may be every child’s dream, it’s likely not in their best interest to let their brain take a vacation all summer long. These great apps will help keep every child thinking and ensure they start off the next school year on the right foot. Should your iPhone® device or iPad® tablet need a little tune up or screen repair so your child can benefit from these apps, stop by your local Experimac store today – no appointment necessary.
Business hours are Monday – Sunday 10 AM – 8 PM. Experimac is located at 1865-106 Carl D. Silver Parkway, Fredericksburg, VA 22401.
