The following apps are FREE and for bilingual individuals.
1. First Vehicles by Moo Moo Lab
Ahoy! By land, by air or by sea, the First Vehicles free version offers six different vehicle options including a fire truck, police car, submarine, ship, dump truck and airplane. Kids 1 and up can color the vehicles, pick the correct vehicle from a choice of 6 or solve a basic one-two piece puzzle. Best of all, the vehicles are interactive and fun! This app would work best for toddlers.
Upgrade: Love First Vehicles? There are expansion packs. Buy an additional 15 vehicles for $1.99 and 30 additional vehicles for $2.99.
Languages: English, French, Japanese, Mandarin, Spanish
Get it here.
2. Animal World by Moo Moo Lab
Elephants, Zebras and Peacocks, oh my! Another great game for toddlers, Animal World features an exciting peek-a-boo game in two different settings (circus and farm) which includes beautifully illustrated animals such as peacocks, elephants, chickens, zebras, etc. The puzzle game is simple but adorable and includes many insects to learn about! Coloring is also fun and simple. Another more advanced peek-a-boo game is included as a a nice receptive task where the child picks the correct animal in a field of 4-6. This game has many animals featured for free including a sheep, a cat, a pig and a dog. Great for kids, 1+ years old.
Upgrade: Full version includes 45 animals which is $2.99 and “zoo pack” is only 15 animals but just $1.99.
Languages: English, French, Japanese, Mandarin, Spanish,
Get it here.
3. Speak Colors Español by Robert Harrison
Photo: rwhtechnology.com
Kids can learn basic colors in this app and the free version includes a nice syntactic component, where the child can use the color appropriately in a simple sentence, which would be after the noun in the Spanish language. There is an option to record the production of the sentence to be played back for the child, offering audio feedback. Objects are featured that go well with the colors presented and the photos are clear and appealing. Customization is only possible in the upgrade. Suitable for kids 1+.
Upgrade: A Pro Upgrade is $6.99 which includes 16 additional sentences to fill in the blank with both masculine and feminine forms, 72 more nouns, 1119 more sentences and a customization feature where the voice can be re-recorded for objects and colors. Photos can also be imported if the upgrade is made.
Languages: Spanish
Get it here.
4. Gramática de Maravillas (Primary) by McGraw Hill
Need to work on identifying verbs? Check! Basic nouns? Check! Adjectives? Uh-huh! Want something interactive and fun for kids? You got it! There are fun games like feeding flies to a beautiful chameleon and helping a crab swim through the ocean to find nouns, so kids will definitely like this one. The free version has easy, intermediate and advanced options, but not all are available for all parts of speech. For example, intermediate and advanced adjectives are free, but not at the beginner level. This app is for K-2nd grade.
Upgrade: More advanced reading and writing options are available for $2.99.
Languages: Spanish
Get it here.
5. Lee Paso A Paso by BQWare
Photo: Lee Paso a Paso Page itunes.apple.com
Yay for a free app with a focus on phonemic awareness! Work on all vowel sounds as well as sound combinations with the “s” sound (se, sa, so) and the “m” sound (mi, ma, me) found in all positions of words. There is also a section of the app with a focus on multisyllablic identification. Words like “amarillo” are included and the child identifies the amount of syllables in the word. A nice break down is shown of the word. There is also a game to identify a word when given three choices. This app is ideal for young children who are building phonemic awareness skills.
Upgrade: Full version is $2.99 and includes all the sounds of the Spanish language.
Languages: Spanish
Get it here.
6. Shake it by Monkimun
Fun and familiar objects and animals are found here. The child has the opportunity to choose the correct object when given a choice of two as well as practice numbers. But they don’t just touch the right object/animal, they get to move the iPad like a game controller! I thought this app was especially lovely and enjoyable for young children learning new nouns. I think it’s the bright and cheerful illustrations with the bouncy sound effects that may have stolen my heart.
Upgrade: The user can choose between paying to upgrade OR just reviewing the app on iTunes and ACCESSING THE FULL VERSION FOR FREE!
Languages: English, Mandarin, Spanish
Get it here.
7. The Little Red Hen by Ana Lomba Early Languages
Photo: The Little Red Hen Page on itunes.apple.com
This is merely a fun, simple story for children with nice illustrations. It is available in English/Chinese, English/Spanish and English/French and would be a useful literacy tool to have for multilingual children working on literacy and narrative skills. Each page of the “story book” can be translated on the spot. It would be beneficial to use as a speech therapist/teacher to engage the multilingual students in the classroom by offering the reading session in both languages.
Upgrade: None. Free.
Languages: English, French, Mandarin, Spanish
Get it here in Mandarin/English.
Get it here in French/English.
Get it here in Spanish/English.
8. Spanish Reading Magic by Preschool University
Photo: Spanish Reading Magic on itunes.apple.com
This app can be customized with various options for the length of words (i.e. 3-7 letter words). The phonemes or sounds of each word can be broken down individually, to help the listener understand sound-letter correspondence in Spanish of basic words. Categories such as animals, household items, colors, body parts, fruit, clothing, vegetables, verbs, etc. are offered. This app is definitely worth the download due to the number of categories and endless possibilities including gaining new vocabulary as well as improving sound-letter correspondence when reading.
Upgrade: None! F-R-E-E
Languages: Spanish
Get it here.
9. ABC MÁGICO! by Preschool University
Nice simple yet useful app where the initial sounds of words can be identified. The voices are that of native Spanish-speaking children and the images are clear and familiar looking. This app offers a great way to practice and enhance literacy skills of bilingual Spanish-speaking children.
Upgrade: None! Free!
Languages: Spanish
Get it here.
10. Mi Cuerpo – Lite by Momentum Media Design
A fun and FREE app to identify parts of the body. The app includes illustrations, photos and videos. The videos of the children using each body part in a functional way to introduce the word to the child was very fun. English and Spanish voice and text are featured on each page of the app, so monolingual therapists may find it useful. It’s a basic app but the different types of visuals definitely help to reinforce the understanding of the concept.
Upgrade: $.99 for the upgrade
Languages: Spanish, English
Get it here.
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