Creative creatures ... a screenshot of Lego App4+.
The educational element in Bugs and Bubbles is cleverly hidden behind gorgeous graphics and a relaxing, symphonic soundtrack. Completing a variety of simple puzzles, including popping bubbles and flying a bumble bee around, lets your kids achieve critical learning outcomes involving colours, counting, shapes and sorting.
Lego App4+ lets kids of all ages build trucks, cars and helicopters out of virtual Lego. Once they've finished building, they can drive their creation to pick up cargo and drop it at the right destination, while also collecting coins to unlock new parts.
This virtual dollhouse may be missing the tactile experience of a real dollhouse, but it redeems itself with its sheer breadth of activities. Kids can fry eggs, run a shower, change a CD, brush their teeth and more.
Kids Learn to Read (Preschool)
Using games starring Tommy the Turtle and friends, preschool-age children can practise blending sounds, reading and spelling simple words. This is the third app in a set of three that eases kids into reading, and it works on both Android smartphones and tablets.
Squiggles! adds fun to your kid's scribbles, transforming them into things such as clouds, fairy floss, sheep's wool or a beard. There are 14 pages on which to draw with a variety of tools, and finished pictures can be printed and shared online.
You may think music editing is a little too advanced for your youngster, but you'd be surprised what some cute graphics and intuitive controls can achieve. Toca Band offers a simple, interactive platform on which kids can move the various characters to achieve different sounds. There are no time limits or levels, so kids can experiment at their own pace.