My daughter was a mere year old when the first iPhone hit the market, and she was quite capable of operating my phone better than my husband by the time she was two. The phone became our default device if she was bored in public, so I soon loaded my phone up with apps for kids. But we didn’t select “fun” games; while 90% of American kids are gamers (according to the Kids and Gaming report by NPD Group), we wanted her to use it as a learning tool instead of simple entertainment (at least until she’s on to us), so we chose educational apps instead.

Four years (and three generations of phones) later, there are so many great teaching apps for kids that my kid has learned counting, spelling, and basic math with my phone. A number of gaming hubs and websites offer a variety of iPhone games and Android games, many of which happen to offer a fun “edutainment” benefit to kids. It’s just a matter of whittling down the choices.

So what are the best educational apps? Here are just a few that are all available as both iOS and Android. [click to continue…]