Brain drain and learning loss are becoming a major concern for parents these days as the coronavirus pandemic continues its spread, leaving odds of opening schools bleaker. The extended vacations of kids along with lack of effectiveness of online schools has become a frequent discourse among parental circles. Nowadays, more and more parents are turning towards medical research to seek help regarding the issue of extreme indulgence of kids in tablets and phones.
Read More: 5 Activities to Stop Brain Drain in Kids during Covid-19 break
While increased screen time is causing agitated behavior in kids, there are several useful online and offline resources that can actually help your children remain busy while engaging in brain development activities. We have prepared a well-researched list of 10 apps and games on tablets that can stimulate kids’ minds while keeping them entertained.
- MentalUP
MentalUP offers more than 100 brain games for mental development that aim at brain stimulation and attention skills. The app offers games that improve several aspects of brain development including memory games, concentration games, visual games for creative thinking and logic games for problem solving skills. The MentalUP app is available for free on android and windows and a 15-20 minute participation daily can improve mental and academic development.
- Kids Brain Trainer (Preschool/Kids/Adults)
Kids Brain Trainer is a great app that has several games for all levels of children and teenagers. There are three versions of the app for preschoolers (3+ years), kids (6+ years) and adults (12+ years). The app has several fun filled mind games including Labyrinths, puzzles jigsaw, alphabet soup, games of wit, memory games, mazes, visual and spatial games, Sudoku, finding objects and math quizzes. The app offers games in three languages: English, Spanish and Portuguese and is more fun and relaxing for even young kids.
- My Incredible body: For Kids
My Incredible body is an interesting and educational app for kids to learn about human anatomy. The app offers a visually engaging virtual guide to human body where kids can zoom in different parts to learn how each organ works. The app explores flow of blood with animated rocket rides inside blood vessels, how lungs work when we are breathing, and how body absorbs and dissolves food. Moreover, the app also explains about bones and muscles, kidneys and five senses as well as has quizzes and puzzles to test knowledge of kids. The best feature of the app is how child friendly it is with immersive 3D models and animations and for more mature concepts, the children will need parents’ involvement for in-app purchases.
- Spell Tower (IOS)/ Word Connect (Android)
Spell Tower is one of the most highly rated spelling and words app available on iPhone and iPad. The app offers six amazing modes for word formation and puzzles that builds on spelling skills and vocabulary of children and teens. The strategic word formation is the key to brain development in this game where several progressive levels are available. For Androids, Word Connect app has equal high ratings and a great interface. The app is easy to use and has levels for kids of all age groups and adults.
- NeuroNation – Brain Training & Brain Games
NeuroNation is a great app that has been awarded Google’s ‘Best App’ award as well as AOK Leonardo Health Prize for Digital Prevention by the German Federal Ministry of Health. The app has a scientific brain training system that addresses the issues of brain fog, weak memory, falling concentration, slow thinking, and lack of decision making. The app is highly effective in reducing dementia by more than 40% and has over 26 exercises on 250 levels.
The levels are available for children of all ages above 3 up to adults. An exercise of 10-15 minutes a day can positively affect mental strength and brain development of children in these idle times.
- Google Earth
Google Earth is a great app available on all devices including desktop PCs. Unlike direct brain training, the app is great for kids in exploring the geography of countries through satellite imagery and 3D terrain of the globe. The app can be used in various ways to stimulate imagination of kids. For instance, kids can learn from guided tours on National Geographic, NASA and then explore the immersive visions of those places on their devices. This app is also specifically appealing these days as traveling bans have restricted outdoor movements and a trip on Google Earth can be a relaxing and learning experience for kids.
- Builder Game
Builder Game is an excellent choice for working on the STEM education of children. The app has many mini creative engineering and math games with varying possibilities. The game has 50 different tools and building materials where kids can use their strategies and creativity to achieve different outcomes. Kids can do different activities including Woodworking, Welding, Timber cutting, Building towers, and houses and managing warehouses. The app is available on all devices and is ideal for kids aged 6-12 years.
- Monster Physics
Monster Physics is another award winning app that offers STEM based physics experiments for kids aged 8 years and onwards. The Monster Physics is a mission based app that offers users to build their own inventions based on concepts of friction, force, mass, acceleration and concentration. The app has over 50 fun missions with up to 6 players’ participation. The players can build and operate their own car, crane, rocket ship, plane, helicopter, tanks and much more with 68 parts. The app is a great brain jolting solution for kids to channel their creativity and knowledge into conception through tutorials and games.
- Doodle Master – Glow Art
The app of Doodle Master Glow Art is one of the latest apps that brings out the creativity in children with beautiful pattern building and playback options. The app comes in the category of Arts and Crafts and can be played by children to stimulate the right hemisphere of brain. Just as the left side of brain is important for analytical thoughts and logic through number, science and technology skills, stimulating right side of the brain results in higher intuition, insight and holistic thought functions. The Doodle Master offers children and adults to indulge in creating unique patterns and add magnificent glow to them which in turn provides a stimulating yet relaxing experience.
- Prodigy Math Game
Prodigy Math Game is an excellent STEM based app that provides self-paced games for young and big kids from grade 1-8. Children can play math game duels against in-game characters and win different challenges to go to next levels. The app covers more than 1300 math concepts and skills till 8th grade and can highlight the weaknesses and strengths of players based along with incentives for boosting morale.
