The best preschool learning apps for ages 3 to 6: a dad’s list
I’m a dad of a little girl, and I make Girafoufou. For Nursery to Year 1, I look for a few things in an app: clear spoken instructions, nothing sold to the child, and a calm way to stop. Here are the apps I’d point a British family to, sorted by what they do best, with ours first and what to know about it. Every age and price comes from the publisher’s own page or store listing, checked on 20 October 2026.
INSIDE THE ENGLISH GAMEThe English village in Girafoufou, with doors to the different activities
The table, at a glance
Facts checked on 20 October 2026, on each publisher’s own page or store listing. The table sums up; the cards below say what each app does best and what is good to know. Prices change: check them before you subscribe.
Age, best for, price, adverts and British English, checked on 20 October 2026
App
Age (publisher)
Best for
Price
Adverts
British English
Sources
Girafoufou
3 to 6
Letter sounds, numbers and puzzles, calmly
Free trial, then £5.99 a month, £49.99 a year or £69 once
Ages and prices checked on 20 October 2026 on the publishers’ sites and their UK App Store or Google Play listings. When a publisher says nothing about a point, its card doesn’t either. Other plans may exist. Something has changed? Email me from the bottom of this page and I’ll correct it.
Our app, and what to know
Our app, outside the ranking
For letter sounds, numbers and puzzles, calmly
Girafoufou
Our app, made in Aix-en-Provence, France
This is our app, and I’ve listed it with what you should know. Your child meets a little giraffe in a village where every house opens a game: letter sounds and first words, numbers, puzzles and mazes, stories, a garden and a kitchen, and a few first words of French.
Every instruction is spoken and shown on screen, for a child who can’t read yet. After 25 minutes of play in a day, Girafoufou takes a nap, and only a grown-up can extend it.
What to know, honestly Girafoufou is very new: the game opened to the public in autumn 2026, and the English edition is newer still. The trial offers a selection of games at your child’s level, and the full game is paid. Our iOS and Android apps are in review with Apple and Google: for now, Girafoufou plays in your web browser.
Age
3 to 6: Nursery, Reception and Year 1.
Price
The trial is free. The full game is paid: £5.99 a month, £49.99 a year, or £69 once for “Nursery to Year 1” (five years of family access), VAT included, for all the children in the family.
Ads
None, and no trackers. Nothing is ever sold to your child in the game.
Screen time
After 25 minutes of play in a day (adjustable from 5 to 25 minutes), Girafoufou takes a nap. Only a grown-up can extend it.
Where to play
In a web browser on a tablet, a phone or a computer, with nothing to install.
I don’t rank them: each one has its strength, and I also say what is good to know before you install it. What they do well comes from their own publisher.
Best free start for Nursery
CBeebies Learn
BBC
Learning games and videos built on the Early Years Foundation Stage, with the Alphablocks for phonics, the Numberblocks for maths and a “Starting School” area. Free, from the BBC.
Good to know It is made for children aged 2 to 4, so it suits Nursery and the start of Reception best.
Teach Your Monster, part of the Usborne Foundation
A phonics adventure that covers the first two years of learning to read, from matching letters and sounds to reading short sentences. It was developed with the University of Roehampton.
It is completely free on a computer. In 2020, it was one of six apps the Department for Education approved for its Hungry Little Minds campaign, which has since closed.
Good to know On a phone or tablet, the app costs £8.99 at the time of writing, and the publisher has announced a move to a subscription in early 2027. New players now sign up before playing.
Age
3 to 6
Price
Free on a computer; £8.99 for the app (October 2026)
All the Numberblocks episodes, number songs and games, by level, created with the National Centre for Excellence in the Teaching of Mathematics. The free Meet the Numberblocks! app is a lovely way to start.
Good to know The full world is a subscription, with a seven-day free trial.
The Alphablocks help children aged 3 and up learn to read, with phonics as taught in UK schools, in British English. The free Meet the Alphablocks! app lets your child tap each letter to hear its sound.
Good to know The full world is a subscription, with a seven-day free trial.
More than 850 short games, from letter sounds to blending, segmenting, tricky words and sentences, built on synthetic phonics, in a British English accent. It was also one of the six apps approved in 2020 for Hungry Little Minds.
Good to know It is aimed at ages 4 to 7, so it fits Reception and Year 1 better than Nursery.
Age
4 to 7
Price
£29.99 for six months on the web, after a seven-day free trial (October 2026)
A step-by-step learn-to-read path, from phonics to comprehension, with British English spelling and pronunciation, and a maths add-on called Mathseeds.
Good to know It needs an account and an internet connection. If data matters to you: its App Store privacy label lists identifiers used to track.
Age
2 to 13, across several programmes
Price
£6.99 a month after a 30-day free trial on the web (October 2026)
Hundreds of free eBooks to read at home, including phonics books, the Oxford Reading Tree and some books used in schools. Ideal for reading together in the evening.
Good to know It is a website rather than an app, best on a computer or tablet, and it asks you to register.
Lots of little worlds for pretend play, with no rules, timers or points. It is more about imagination than a learning path.
Good to know The stores don’t say quite the same thing: the publisher promises no ads for subscribers, while the Google Play listing shows “Contains ads”.
You’ll find them in many lists, and they are well made. They are simply designed for older children, or for another country.
Prodigy Math
A popular maths role-play game, made for grades 1 to 8 in the US system, around ages 6 to 12, with paid memberships and an in-game currency: a better fit for older children.
I listen to the voice, look at the pictures and try a wrong answer: is there time to think, can the instruction be replayed, can you leave without losing anything? Then I look for adverts, links out of the app, renewal terms and whether a child can reach a purchase. I don’t rank the apps: each one has its strength, and I say what is good to know.
Phonics in England: what “validated” means
Schools in England teach reading with a systematic synthetic phonics programme, and the Department for Education keeps a list of validated programmes (last updated on 16 February 2026). None of the apps on this page is on that list, ours included, and that is normal: the list is for school programmes. In 2020, the Department for Education approved six early years apps for its Hungry Little Minds campaign, including Teach Your Monster to Read and Phonics Hero. The campaign site has since closed.
Screen time at 2 to 5
The government’s Best Start in Life advice for children aged 2 to 5 is to try to keep screens to about an hour a day, less if possible, and to avoid young children using screens alone. Girafoufou’s nap after 25 minutes is a feature of the game, not a recommendation.
PUT THE SCREEN DOWN
A family app checklist
You will need: A grown-up, the app and a few quiet minutes.
Try one activity with the sound on and then check its written instruction.
Make a mistake and practise leaving the activity.
Read the price, renewal and privacy information. Decide where you will stop together.
Keep this activity using your browser’s Print menu, or share it by email. No sign-up needed.
There is no single answer: it depends on your child and what you are looking for. For a free start, CBeebies Learn. For a phonics adventure, Teach Your Monster to Read. For numbers, the Numberblocks. For a calm world that stops on its own, Girafoufou, our app. The table at the top of this page compares them.
Is there a free learning app with no ads?
Yes. CBeebies Learn and CBeebies Storytime are free, from the BBC. Teach Your Monster to Read is free on a computer. Khan Academy Kids is free and ad-free too, but follows American frameworks. Girafoufou’s trial is free, with no account and no time limit, and it covers a selection of games.
Which app helps with phonics in Reception?
Teach Your Monster to Read, Phonics Hero and the Alphablocks are all built on synthetic phonics, with British English. None of them replaces the programme your child’s school uses: ask the teacher which one it is, and keep the same sounds at home.
How much screen time for a 4 year old?
The government’s Best Start in Life advice for children aged 2 to 5 is to try to keep it to about an hour a day, less if possible, and to avoid young children using screens alone. In Girafoufou, the nap comes after 25 minutes of play in a day by default, and a parent can set it earlier.
Is Girafoufou free?
The discovery games are free to try without a card or account. Full family access is paid. Check Prices for the current plans in pounds; changing between French and British English does not require another purchase.
Is this an independent review?
No. It is written by the person who makes Girafoufou. Ours comes first, outside the ranking, and every other fact comes from the publisher’s own page, checked on 20 October 2026. No app paid to appear here.
The discovery games are free to try without a card or account. Full family access is paid. Check Prices for the current plans in pounds; changing between French and British English does not require another purchase.
