Best Apps for Helping Kids Learn the Alphabet [Updated for 2020]

Learning the alphabet has never been easier

We Reviewed Dozens Of The Best Apps for Helping Kids Learn the Alphabet So You Don’t Have To. Here Are Our Top Picks.

Children are usually ready to tackle letter learning during the preschool years. You can tell when they are ready by watching what they do. Have they noticed that books have words? Are they asking what different words say when they see print? Do they recognize common logos and symbols such as store or restaurant signs? If so, then it’s time to help them on the road to early literacy!

If it’s time for your child to be learning about the alphabet, there are tons of digital tools to help reinforce the skills. From classics to new arrivals, developers have created a vast array of alphabet apps that you will want to explore with your youngster. Here are some real winners!

ABC Ebooks

Even high-tech kids need to look through ABC books to help them make the connection between letters and the sounds they make. Here are some great ABC ebooks, both classic and new.

Metamorphabet: Amazing ABC’s

iOS App Store / Google Play Store

Children can poke, prod, and otherwise manipulate the ABCs to discover huge surprises for each one. The app will provide countless playful opportunities to learn about letters and increase vocabulary.

Parents will appreciate that there are no in-app purchases in this app. The app is so intuitive that kids of all ages will be able to use it with next to no learning curve. This app costs $4.99 on the App Store and $3.99 on Google Play.

 

Dr. Seuss’s ABC – Read & Learn

iOS App Store / Google Play Store

This app brings a classic favorite book to life with animated interactive surprises on every page.

All of your child’s favorites are here, including Aunt Annie on her alligator and the Zizzer-Zazzer-Zuzz. Dr. Seuss’s ABC includes surprises your child can unlock with a tap. This includes learning games that help with matching capitals to lowercase, sorting, and letter recognition. Kids will learn new vocabulary and more as they play.

There are good reasons why the book has been a favorite for generations, and these developers did an outstanding job of leveraging digital media’s power to update it and make it interactive. This is a great app to share with your little one!

Talking ABC

iOS App Store

Delight your young learner with this claymation animated look at the alphabet. Each letter is introduced with a special clay animal. The app also includes 6 alphabet games to round out the offerings.

Your youngster will also learn by singing the cute alphabet song and two modes: letters and sounds. The artwork is unique and interesting, so it will be unlike anything your child has ever seen.

Learning the alphabet is important to continued school success, so get things off to a great start. This app is a fun way to practice letter recognition and letter sounds. It costs $2.99.

ABC Animals – Your Alphabet Letters Mini Adventure

iOS App Store

Hundreds of animal words and over a thousand unique animal photographs are featured in this app that will keep children entertained and learning for hours. Each letter and animal connects to a carefully screened YouTube video for even more adventurous fun.

One unique feature is that this app is customizable. Put in your own pictures and record your own voice overs for a very personal touch every young child will love. The app costs ninety-nine cents.

ABC Go

iOS App Store

What little one doesn’t love things that go? This ABC app maximizes that interest by sharing all kinds of things that go paired with delightful photos and printed words for each letter of the alphabet.

With a simple interface and built-in video clips, this app is perfect for the very young as well as older kids who are focused on learning their ABCs. The videos are served from YouTube, so the app does need an active internet connection to operate correctly. This app costs $2.99.

 

Letter Games

Endless Alphabet

iOS App Store / Google Play Store

The app presents letters with delightful animations and engaging puzzles. Best of all, it’s designed to build vocabulary, too! Imagine your preschooler spouting words like “gargantuan” and “cooperate.” Children will love to hunt through the alphabet for monsters, and then rescue letters from the monster stampede to put them back in their proper order.

The app encourages free play, with no high scores or failures to worry about. It’s a low-stress game that children will love, which makes it perfect for early learners. It costs $8.99 on the App Store, and it’s free to try with an in-app purchase of $8.99 on Google Play.

Alphatots Alphabet

iOS App Store / Google Play Store

Check out this unusual set of alphabet activities: instead of traditional noun keywords (like a is for apple), this app uses verbs and actions to connect letters to the real world. Each letter represents and action, and young players get to activate it as they enjoy this app.

The app features capital and lowercase versions of each letter and enough building, digging, and zapping to keep little ones occupied for quite a while. There are 26 different mini-games and activities, so loads of content as well.

Best of all, kids get a hefty dose of environmental print. It’s just what they need to get ahead with reading readiness. Young players will also get a healthy opportunity to sing along with the traditional ABC song to help them in their learning. It costs $2.99.

Fish School – 123 ABC for Kids

iOS App Store / Google Play Store

This toddler and preschooler-friendly app feature friendly fish swimming to make the ABCs. It’s from the people behind Khan Academy, so you know they have education on the mind. This app offers an array of preschool skills. Kids will enjoy watching the fish make the ABCs, and they will also benefit from early counting, matching, and other activities to build readiness skills.

There are a total of 8 educational games in this app, so there are lots of possibilities for your children ages 2 to 5. It’s free to install and to play.

Montessorium: Intro to Letters

iOS App Store

Here’s a thorough and complete introduction to the alphabet that is developmentally appropriate as only Montessori techniques can be. This app features interactive activities that will help your child learn to recognize capital and lowercase letters, match sounds to letters, trace letters, and more.

In true Montessori style, this app is not too frilly or distracting but offers naturally engaging explorations of the alphabet. Kids can learn at their own pace and in their own way. The app also includes a recording studio, allowing parents to record their own versions of the sounds and words in a familiar voice. It’s a must-have, especially if your child is struggling a bit to learn letters. It costs $3.99.

Interactive Alphabet ABCs

iOS App Store

Interactive Alphabet ABCs offers five different modes of play that grow with your child. Even young toddlers can join in the fun with the interactive tour (developers say it’s suitable for ages 1+).

Kids can learn the ABC Song, get a dose of matching keyword pictures with letters, working with capital and lowercase letters, and more. The app moves gradually to more challenging activities when your child is ready, so it’s a great way to begin learning.

In addition, this app is highly customizable. Users can add their own alphabet pictures, choose left-handed support for tracing activities, and more. Hats off to the developers! The app costs $2.99.

 

Tracing & Writing

ABC Kids – Tracing & Phonics

iOS App Store / Google Play Store

Here’s a fun app to start young toddlers and preschoolers outright as they learn to form letters. With tracing, matching, and game-like exercises, it will keep little ones focused and learning for quite a while. The app is also designed to encourage adult participation, which is crucial for learning, as well.

Kids will enjoy collecting stickers and virtual toys as they complete the games. The colorful illustrations will bring them back for more. This app is child-friendly, with no in-app purchases or outside advertising. Controls are tucked away and hidden from small fingers, too. It is free to download and play.

iWrite Words (Handwriting Game)

iOS App Store

Take some of the tedium out of handwriting practice with this gem. Kids will enjoy helping Mr. Crab collect the balls as they drag their finger in the proper strokes to correctly form the letters. Spell the complete word to see a cute drawing.

Sometimes the toughest part of teaching children to write is the boredom they experience while practicing to gain the proper control of their muscles and to learn the strokes to make letters. This app adds some fun to the experience.

In addition, children will develop fine motor skills and will have fun while they practice. The app costs $2.99.

Scribble Cards

iOS App Store / Google Play Store

Lots of writing practice here! This simple and no-frills flashcard set gives your child plenty of opportunities to trace, copy and write capitals, lowercase letters, and numbers. Kids get to see the letter or number and then copy it. The recognition software will help them know how close they came.

The app is extremely simple to use, with a clean, no-nonsense interface. It is very child-friendly and can be used without Wi-Fi or internet. The app costs ninety-nine cents.

ABC Preschool Kids Tracing & Phonics Learning Game

Google Play Store

This app rolls activities from the entire preschool curriculum into one, but it focuses on tracing and writing. Kids can trace and write letters, numbers, shapes, straight lines, curves, and more. They can also practice their colors, shapes, and numbers.

There is a range of activities, so it’s suitable for the very young up through about kindergarten or level. Parents should be aware, however, that there are advertisements and in-app purchases of $2.99 within this app. Be sure to review it thoroughly to make sure it is right for your child.

Writing Wizard for Kids

iOS App Store / Google Play Store

Kids can write and trace not only letters and numbers, but also entire words with this comprehensive app. One really nice feature is that adult users can enter their own words and voice overs, which adds a nice personal touch and also makes the app good for practicing those early spelling lists.

Another nice feature is that there are several fonts to choose from. The app also uses stickers and other motivational tools to help your child stay on track with learning. It costs $4.99 on the App Store, and is free with in-app purchases between ninety-nine cents and $4.99 on Google Play.

 

Letter Sounds & Phonics

Starfall ABCs

iOS App Store / Google Play Store

The people behind the Starfall Reading website have put together a delightful app to help preschoolers get ready to read. Children will see, hear, and interact with letters at the word and sentence levels, and get to play games as well.

Some activities include matching capital to lowercase letters, seeing the capital and lowercase letters while hearing their names and sounds, seeing vivid keyword pictures to match each letter, and following the alphabet through a maze.

The app provides lots of kinds of productive practice with foundational skills that kids need to get ready to learn to read. It’s free to download and play.

Pinkfong ABC Phonics

iOS App Store / Google Play Store

26 dynamic letter games will engage your preschooler as he or she learns about letter sounds. The app includes tracing and letter songs as well.

One unique feature is ABC Phonics’ alphabet photo frames. The app can take your pictures and put an A-to-Z photo frame around it. Decorate your pictures with frames such as “K is for kiss” or add a witch’s hat and the letter W.

This free version of the app is limited, but it will allow you to make a good decision about purchasing the full version. The free version does include in-app purchases of $1.99 each and outside advertisements.

Word Wizard for Kids School Edition

iOS App Store / Google Play Store

This talking, movable alphabet allows children to experiment with spelling. It uses text-to-speech technology to say the “words” that your child creates. Kids will learn with hands-on experimentation that short vowels are by themselves in words and that final e’s are silent and make most vowels say their names.

The app includes about 1800 built-in words and also has the capability to add your own. Choose one of the three built-in games to adjust the level of difficulty.

The app also keeps tabs on what your young learner does in the game. Parents can see reports that even include the length of time spent on spelling each word. The app costs $8.99 on the App Store, and it’s free with in-app purchase options of ninety-nine cents to $224.99 on Google Play.

The Joy of Reading

iOS App Store / Google Play Store

 

This great app focuses on phonemic awareness- the foundational understandings of how letters make sounds and are spoken in sequence to build words. It includes 8 games that are perfect for preschoolers and even early readers. The app is bright, colorful and encouraging.

It costs $3.99 on the App Store and $4.49 on Google Play.

 

ABC House

iOS App Store

Young children will learn to connect spoken words with the letters and sounds that make them up in this cool app. There are over 60 everyday objects to explore by the letters that make the words. It also includes over 100 video clips to show the items in use.

The app costs $2.99. And if your child likes it, there are 10 other similar offerings from the same developer using different topics.