Khan Academy Kids

What is Khan Academy Kids

Khan Academy Kids is a comprehensive toddler, preschool, and early learning app designed for children ages 2 to 6+. It includes a wealth of age-appropriate activities that will help young children learn about letters, numbers, colors, measurement, science, health, readiness skills, and more.

Kids can learn a variety of foundational skills in Math and English language arts. Specific topics include numbers, simple addition, logic, letters, blending sounds, early reading. 

Khan Academy Kids is as child-friendly as it can be. There are no in-app purchases or outside advertisements. Khan Academy Kids offers all the subjects in one place, and it's designed to adapt to your child's learning process. 

Features Khan Academy - What we like about it

Khan Academy Kids has two sections – kids and parents. In the parent’s section, you’ll find an option to add a new account, change the kid’s name, age, avatar and delete an existing account. It also displays details about the Khan Academy organization.

The Kids section of the Khan Academy Kids gives toddlers access to informative stories, videos, and books that will teach them alphabets, words, counting, addition, subtraction, multiplication of numbers, etc. It also features puzzles that will build their logic skills. The educational content and animations are provided by National Geographic, and Super Simple Songs.

Many people will have heard of or used the learning content of Khan Academy Kids.  Its huge library of resources and videos have supplemented and enhanced the learning of many students.  What you may not be aware of is that Khan Academy Kids has put considerable effort into helping parents and teachers build a strong foundation in the education of their young children.  The culmination of this effort is in the Khan Academy Kids.

There is an icon on the main page of this app that says library.  Behind it lies quite a surprise. Khan Academy Kids has no advertisements nor in-app purchases so the sheer amount of content that lies behind this icon is quite staggering.  

Hundreds of choices including books, videos, and activities await young learners.  General subjects include numeracy, literacy, logic, and science.  A click on each one brings up learning content that could be at home on any paid-for platform but to reiterate, this is free!

A structured guide through the learning content can be followed by clicking on the largest icon of the app's main screen.  Each completed activity is shown on the path that builds up when the section is completed.  This is the best method for children to follow as it means that they encounter topics in the ideal order.  

Is Khan Academy Kids free?

Khan Academy Kids is available for free to download on iOS and Android devices with no in-app purchases or subscriptions.

What age is Khan Academy Kids for?

Khan Academy Kids content is designed for kids ages 2 through 7 (Pre-K to 2nd Grade).

What's the difference between Khan Academy and Khan Academy Kids?

Typically, Khan Academy Kids is used for students in Pre-K through 2nd grade, while Khan Academy is meant for older learners in grade 3 or above.  

What devices should I use with Khan Academy Kids? 

Khan Academy Kids is available on iOS, Android and Amazon devices and you can download it from the Apple iTunes, Google Play, and Amazon app stores.

For those looking for the best Kindle Fire apps running Amazon FreeTime, download Khan Academy Kids from a parent profile, and then make the app available to your child's profile through the Amazon FreeTime settings.

Pros of Khan Academy Kids

There is a finely crafted progression through the activities that maintain variety while moving through topics.  For example, early on, your child will be looking at how colour mixing produces new colours. This introduces sorting items by colour which progresses on to sorting shapes by colour.  Next, children sort by shape without regard to colour.  While learning about colours children will also have learned how items can be sorted by different characteristics.

Still, the library, which allows less structured access to the content is a very useful section as it allows children to revisit past topics or follow a line of interest. The books and videos are not necessarily bound by any required order so children can dive into interesting subjects such as animals, cars, feelings, numbers or letters.

The app's developers have a real understanding of the place that young children are at on their learning journey.  All instructions are spoken, books can be read out to children, and a good balance of active and passive activities has been achieved.  Even the basic methods of interaction with the app are slowly introduced as the opening greeting asks children to tap, drag and select the app's cast of characters.  It feels like a gentle introductory exercise but it is cleverly ensuring that children know how to interact with the screen before they begin learning the main subjects.

Cons of Khan Academy Kids

There are a few instances where your child may be slightly confused by variations in the app's use of language compared to their own.  Those in the UK, for example, might not recognise an American-style mailbox and, if they did, would think it started with a 'P' for post box or pillar box. In the context of the whole, though, these moments are few and far between.  Plus, learning that not everyone uses language precisely as they do is no bad thing for a child.

None of the activities in the app creates pressurised environments. Children are free to think and experiment in their own time. Parents and teachers can provide support and talk to children during this process as there are no time limits, penalties for incorrect answers, or lives to be lost. The books included in this app are as useful for shared reading as any physical copy whether they are simple stories or factual descriptions of the world.

Bottom Line

Khan Academy Kids is one of the best educational mobile games available. Led by a cast of colorful animal characters, children can learn skills like reading, writing, and problem solving by partaking in drawing, storytelling, and lots of other fun activities.

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You can download Khan Academy Kids on your iOS or Android devices from the app stores. Download the Khan Academy Kids app from the Apple App Store or the Google Play Store.