Guides for parents and teachers
Practical guides for giving every child a head start: learning to read early, numbers, music and money, understanding feelings, moving more, and getting the most from a few minutes of screen time. Each one says what to do at home, by age, with the research behind it.
Screen time and choosing apps
- Screen Time for Toddlers: Good Screen Time, Bad Screen Time and Our House RulesWhat pediatric guidance says about toddler screen time, how to tell good screen time from bad, and how a few minutes a day can give a child a real head start.
- ABCmouse Alternatives: Free and Cheaper Learning Apps ComparedABCmouse alternatives for ages 2 to 8, free and paid, compared on price, ads, accounts and what they teach, including free options with no subscription.
- Free Educational Apps for Kids With No Ads: The Honest ListThe learning apps and sites for children aged 2 to 8 that are genuinely free with no ads, what each teaches, which need an account, and the free tiers worth knowing.
- Khan Academy Kids Alternatives: Free and Paid Learning Apps ComparedKhan Academy Kids is free and excellent. Here are the alternatives, free and paid, compared on price, ads, accounts, ages and whether they run in a browser.
- Lingokids Alternatives: Free and Paid Learning Apps ComparedLingokids alternatives for ages 2 to 8, compared on price, ads, accounts and devices, including free apps and ones that run on a computer, not only a tablet.
- Pok Pok Alternatives: Kids' Game Apps Compared on Price, Ads and Sign-upPok Pok, Sago Mini, Toca Boca, Lingokids, Khan Academy Kids, PBS KIDS and more, compared: what each costs, which show ads and which need an account.
- School Readiness: What Really Helps a Child Start School ReadyWhat really helps a child start kindergarten or school ready: early reading, numbers, attention, feelings and independence, with a gentle checklist by age.
Reading and writing
- How to Teach Your Child to Read and Write at Home: A Gentle Phonics GuideA gentle, research-based way to teach reading and writing at home: letter sounds, blending, writing alongside reading, and what to do at each age from 2 to 7.
- From Scribbles to Letters: How Drawing Leads to WritingWhy scribbling matters, the stages of children's drawing from 2 to 8, and how tracing shapes and letters builds the hand skills for writing.
- How to Teach Letter Sounds: Saying Them Right, the Order and the Mistakes to AvoidHow to say each letter sound cleanly, the order most schools teach them in (s, a, t, p first), simple games to practise, and the common mistakes to avoid.
- Reading Apps for Kids Compared: The Free and Paid Learn-to-Read Apps, by AgeLearn-to-read apps compared by price and age: Khan Academy Kids, Starfall, Teach Your Monster to Read, Reading Eggs, Hooked on Phonics, HOMER and more.
- Missing-Letter Games and Early Spelling: Why C_T Beats Copying WordsHow children move from letter names to spelling, why a missing-letter format beats copying words, and how to play Spell It Out without making it a test.
- Reading Eggs Alternatives: Free and Paid Phonics Apps ComparedReading Eggs alternatives, free and paid, compared on price, ads, accounts, ages and how they teach phonics, so you can pick the right reading app for your child.
- When Can a Child Start Learning to Read? Signs a 2, 3 or 4 Year Old Is ReadyWhen children usually learn to read, the signs a 2, 3 or 4 year old is ready to start, what to do at each age, and how to start early without any pressure.
Numbers and maths
- Early Maths at Home: Numbers, Shapes and First Sums for Ages 2 to 7Simple ways to build early maths at home: counting properly, seeing amounts at a glance, board games, shapes and patterns, and first sums with real things.
- How Toddlers Learn to Count (and Games That Help)How toddlers go from reciting numbers to really counting, the steps along the way, what research says, and simple counting games for ages 2 to 5.
- 20 Mental Math Tricks for Kids, Explained Step by StepThe twenty mental-arithmetic shortcuts taught in Math Ninja, each with a worked example and the reason it works. For ages 7 to 10.
- Shape Sorting: How Toddlers Learn Shapes (and Why the Toy Works)Why the shape sorter is a classic first toy, how shape skills grow from circles to hexagons, and how to make a shape game easy enough for a two-year-old.
- Sorting Games: How Children Learn to Classify (and Recycle)Why sorting is one of the first thinking skills, how it grows from colors to categories, and how a recycling game turns it into a habit.
Music
- Music for Toddlers and Preschoolers: Rhythm, Singing and Listening at HomeEasy ways to bring music into a young child's day: keeping a beat, high and low, singing together, listening to the world's music, and homemade instruments.
- Teaching Toddlers Melodies: Do-Re-Mi, Ear Training and a Piano With Eight KeysWhy young children learn music by ear first, what an eight-note piano teaches a 3 to 7 year old, and how Melody Maker goes from three notes to Ode to Joy.
Money
- How to Teach Kids About Money: Saving, Thinking Long Term and a Lemonade StandA dad who loves investing on teaching money to 3 to 7 year olds: saving with the ant and the grasshopper, delayed gratification, and a lemonade stand.
- Pocket Money for Young Children: When to Start, How Much and How to Make It TeachWhen to start pocket money, how much to give, whether to link it to chores, and why starting early matters: what $2 a week from age four can grow into.
Feelings and calm
- Calm-Down Activities for Toddlers: What Works and What to SaySimple calm-down activities for 2 to 6 year olds, from turtle breaths to a cosy corner, what to say in a meltdown, and how a little quiet time each day helps.
- Teaching Toddlers About Feelings: Emotional Intelligence From Age 2How to help a 2 to 6 year old name and understand feelings: the first words to teach, games that help, what to say in the moment, and what to expect by age.
Movement
- Indoor Activities to Burn Energy: Brain Breaks for Toddlers and PreschoolersRainy day, small flat, child bouncing off the walls? Easy indoor activities and brain breaks to burn energy, with how much movement young children need.
- Brain Breaks for the Classroom: 15 Quick Movement and Calm-Down BreaksFifteen quick brain breaks for preschool and early school years: movement breaks to burn energy, calm-down breaks to settle a class, and what the research says.
Learning through play
- Free Toddler Games and First Learning for 2-Year-OldsWhat a two-year-old can do on a screen, the five things a game needs at this age, and the free games and first learning that fit, with no ads.
- Building Bricks and Open-Ended Play: Why There Should Be No Wrong AnswerWhy children aged 3 to 8 learn so much from building with bricks, what open-ended play builds, and how to join in without taking over.
- Cause-and-Effect Play for 1 to 3 Year Olds (and Why Toddlers Repeat Everything)Why toddlers repeat everything, what cause-and-effect play builds, and how a bouncing-ball game turns the instinct into aiming and anticipation.
- Creative Play at Age 2 to 3: Why Dress-Up Games MatterWhat creativity means for a two-year-old, why choices with no wrong answer build confidence, and how to play a tap-to-dress game as a conversation.
- Following Directions and Map Play: What Kids Learn Exploring a Tiny TownHow children build mental maps, why multi-step instructions are hard, and how a gentle exploration game with no timer exercises both.
- Jigsaw Puzzles for Kids: What They Teach and How Many Pieces to Start WithWhy jigsaw puzzles are good for toddlers and preschoolers, what the research on puzzle play says, and how many pieces suit a 2, 3, 4 or 6 year old.
- Why Toddlers Love Smashing the Keyboard (and a Free Game That Makes It Safe)Why babies and toddlers are drawn to keyboards, what they learn, how to make it safe, and how Kaboom Keys compares to other keyboard smash games.
- How Memory Games Build Working Memory in Young ChildrenWhat working memory is, why it predicts school success, and how to play a pairs game with a 2-year-old versus a 7-year-old.
- Pretend Play: Why Toddlers Love Dollhouses and Daily RoutinesHow pretend play grows from two to five, why toddlers love acting out meals, baths and bedtime, and how to keep dollhouse play calm and open-ended.
- Reaction Games for Kids: Timing, Motor Control and Knowing When to StopWhat one-button and steering games teach 4 to 9 year olds about timing and momentum, why lives beat game-over screens, and how to keep them fun.
- Stacking Games and Early Physics: What a Falling Tower TeachesWhy preschoolers stack and knock down, the intuitive physics they learn, and how Stack It Up makes the collapse the fun part.
- Looking for a Tiny Fingers Alternative? A Keyboard Smash Game With No AdsLike Tiny Fingers? Kaboom Keys is a free keyboard smash for babies and toddlers with no ads, an ABC mode, and free first reading after. An honest comparison.