IntellectoKids: Learning Games

What is IntellectoKids: Learning Games app?

IntellectoKids includes minigames, songs, cartoons and more to help preschoolers begin their education ready for school. Unusually for an app aimed at this young age group, a subscription to IntellectoKids also includes a collection of worksheets to print out for your kids.

The app's activities are very varied and include content that teaches knowledge and skills and gets kids to practice what they know. Kids can choose which topics to play and then unlock the games within them in the order that best suits building their understanding.

The premium subscription with the Progress with Oxford add-on active is the app that forms the basis of this IntellectoKids review. There are further add-ons available which were not active in the app we reviewed.

What we love about IntellectoKids: Learning Games app.

IntellectoKids: Learning Games consistently looks fantastic. Its graphics are vibrant, clear, and full of extra animations that encourage kids to look and play more.

The worksheets add a lot of value to the app. Parents who print them out can use them to work alongside their kids and help them develop their use of pens and pencils.

It is rare for preschool apps to do a good job teaching aspects of science or even attempt it. IntellectoKids has a great selection of early learner-friendly science interactive cartoons. These cover various science topics, but the ones that introduce elements and their properties were especially good.

The games are varied in playstyle and content. Each has speech to help kids play them independently and get a good learning experience.

The app links different learning types together, making playing the app a more interesting and educational experience. For example, when looking at letters of the alphabet, kids move on to items that start with the relevant letter. The app relates an interesting fact or story about the object when they get the answer correct. 

What skills does it teach?

IntellectoKids: Learning Games includes minigames and worksheets to help kids learn and practice different topics for early learners. These include:

• English language: alphabet, letter recognition, stories, reading, and phonics
• Math: numbers, counting, colours, and sorting
• Logic: puzzles
• Creativity: musical instruments, lullabies, art, and fun facts
• Science

The app also includes stories about doing the right thing and other social education.

What age is it appropriate for?

IntellectoKids games have been designed for kids between 2 and 7. The ideal age range is kids aged 3 to 6.

Is IntellectoKids Learning Games app easy to use? 

IntellectoKids is easy to navigate for kids. They choose the learning category they want to concentrate on and then the specific game which the app presents as a carriage on a train.

The game uses speech to provide instructions and add to the learning content.

How will students benefit?

IntellectoKids has a great mix of learning and entertainment. However, the entertainment is also educational! The cartoons frequently lead to interactive screens, and they relate facts about numbers, animals, space, elements and more in a child-friendly and fun way.

It is easy for kids to dip into the app for short sessions. Many of the games play well in just a few minutes, and once kids have played one, they might feel like staying longer and sustaining their learning.

Kids won't feel their learning is on rails as they can choose which topics to learn. However, within those topics, the app ensures they unlock the next activity as they show they have understood the previous.

This approach provides a balance that rewards kids' interest and curiosity while leading them through the content.

How will parents benefit?

The app works equally well for independent and supported learning. The activities explain their purpose well and don't have pressure like time limits or player danger. 

When kids play alone, they know what to do. When playing alongside their kids, parents can explain ideas and support them to enhance the learning opportunities within the games.

The app needs its sound effects and speech for kids to play the games, but others might not welcome the music in the room. The music option for the app is behind the parental lock, which is ideal for situations where the app might be used in the company of others. Protecting the music toggle from kids ensures they can't turn it back on.

How will teachers benefit?

IntellectoKids app is aimed at preschool/pre-k kids, so it has not been designed for teachers.

However, some of its activities and worksheets could be useful for teachers to use with kids, especially those struggling with numeracy or literacy development.

The worksheets included with the app are numerous and attractive. These could be useful in early years or pre-k classrooms for teachers to link the app to written work.

The app also has a reset button behind the lock, which will let it be reset for use by different kids.

How much does IntellectoKids: Learning Games app cost?

There is a seven-day free trial available for IntellectoKids. After the trial, you can subscribe for a year or six months. The one-year subscription offers approximately a 25% discount compared to the same period covered by the shorter term.

If you plan to keep the app for more than two years (perhaps to pass on to younger kids), there is a lifetime option which lets you use the app forever and comes with bonus worksheets.

Note that the app has further options that require additional purchases, even to subscribers. For example, a parenting course is available in the app, which will remain locked after a standard app subscription.

The app's FAQ states that Family Sharing does not allow the app to work across multiple devices but that the developer will enable it if you contact them.

Is IntellectoKids: Learning Games app safe to use?

A detailed privacy policy is available for this app, indicating that it is GDPR compliant. Although we did not see any advertisements in the IntellectoKids app during this review, the privacy policy refers to advertisements. This reference is most likely relevant to those using the app outside the subscription.

The app protects parent-targeted features and options behind a lock which asks you to answer a simple, single-digit addition.

What can IntellectoKids: Learning Games app improve on?

Kids choose the activity category by tapping a small icon at the bottom of the screen. We felt these were a little smaller than ideal for young kids who might find it difficult to select the one they meant. Once they have chosen the category, the activity buttons have a much larger target area which is easy to tap.

The app protects content not meant for kids behind a parental lock but not the worksheets page. We think this would be better behind the lock as kids can't do much with the downloads, but they could become confused.

Some of the activities require downloading after selecting them. We'd like the app to provide a method for parents to pre-download activities to avoid delays and disappointments.

Overall rating of the app.

IntellectoKids is an excellent preschool/pre-k app. The high-quality addition of science content to the more typical numeracy and literacy material is a distinguishing factor from many similar apps but hasn't come at the expense of math and English learning.

It is easy to see how much you value the content in this app by using its seven-day free trial. We recommend you do this and spend some time with your child as they explore the app's content. IntellectoKids is a five-star app.