Key Stage 2 is a part of the National Curriculum. Contrary to how it might feel for children at this stage of education, KS2 is not just about English and maths. A new emphasis on computing has emerged in the curriculum. A well-rounded education also needs to take in history and geography. We mustn’t forget creativity either. Lifelong artistic passions can be sparked at this age.
Help children to learn about the world around them and develop key skills with these educational apps for KS2 English, Maths and Science. Get access to over 100 curriculum aligned apps for Key Stage 2, curated and certified by practising teachers inside our Teacher App Library. If you do need to focus on one particular subject or approach do look at the other lists on the Educational App Store.
So what might a well-balanced suite of apps look like for a child in KS2?
Teachers throughout time have realised that only plenty of practise yields results in spelling. The weekly spelling test is the result and the source of many dull revision sessions for children. It is worth it, though, as few things spoil a piece of otherwise good writing like spelling errors.
DoodleSpell provides teaching, testing, and revision to support children in becoming better at spelling. Each day it prompts children to play a short session and keeps the activity as interesting as the subject allows. It does this through the use of a variety of question and answer styles, many of which are speech-based to replicate the classroom spelling test. The parental dashboard also lets you see how your child is improving.
Subject: English(KS2)
Price: Offers 7-day free trial
Devices: iOS, Android, Web browsers
If we missed any of the Best Apps for Key Stage 2, tell us about them!
DoodleMaths is an excellent learning tool for use in school or at home that covers key stage 2. It provides essential data to the teacher or parent of not just what their student or child is good at, but more importantly, areas of weaknesses. It is extremely intuitive, but help is at hand by pressing the “more” information icon. The user is then guided audibly through the options and how to use the app.
That’s a lot to cover and so if you want a comprehensive maths app that does all of that you’re probably best to use one of the maths education platforms that are accessible through an app. DoodleMaths is one of these and highly recommended. Aesthetically clear and educationally well designed, this will provide KS2 children with solid support for their maths education.
Our teachers have also curated a list of best KS2 maths apps for teachers and students.
Subject: Maths (KS2)
Price: Offers 7-day free trial
Devices: iOS, Android, Web browsers
Tappity is an educational app for kids in Key Stage 2 that hopes to engage kids through interactive videos, quizzes, games, and storylines all centered around science topics. The platform provides students a well-structured curriculum in which they can choose amongst all the experts available on the platform.
Tappity even has a Live classes option - a series of mini-classes 4 times a week centered on a weekly science theme that the kids would be most interested in! The platform is accessible through the web as well as a dedicated app for mobile users.
Subject: Science (KS2)
Price: Offers 14-day free trial
Devices: iOS, Web browsers
Every KS2 teacher has seen children perform worse than they should in tests because of a poor recall of times tables. Number patterns are easier to spot, calculations are quicker, accuracy is greater, and maths itself makes more sense when times tables become second nature to a child.
It makes sense to provide children with support specifically for times tables and Times Tables Rockstars is a great way to do this. It is a fun way to practise and really harnesses the competitive spirit of many children. Set the bar yourself and compete with your child as you both improve your multiplication recall!
Subject: Maths (KS2)
Price: Free with in-app purchases
Devices: iOS, Android
Coding is a new addition to the KS2 curriculum. This reflects the role that it is expected to play in the workforce of the future as well as the logic and thinking skills that coding engenders.
Hopscotch is a long established program in this space. It is designed for KS2 users and has enough capability to take it into KS3 too. It does not teach a specific programming language but rather the concepts common to all mainstream programming languages. Once a person understands and can employ these concepts in one way, the learning of new languages is much easier.
Hopscotch takes a difficult subject and breaks it down into understandable pieces and provides the tools for children to work on set problems and break out their own creativity.
Subject: Computer Science (KS2)
Price: Free with in-app purchases
Devices: iPhone, iPad
Maths-Whizz is designed to tutor your child in maths and provide them with the frequent practice they need to progress. Used in schools throughout the UK and the rest of the world, Maths-Whizz is aimed at parents, students, teachers and is even suitable for central procurement and deployment. A number of leading educationalists have helped to develop Maths-Whizz™ covering the entire maths curriculum from Year 3 to Year 6.
Maths-Whizz Tutor offer an enormous amount of support and inspiration through interactive maths lessons, tailored learning environments, games, toys and fun adventure activities.
Subject: Maths (KS2)
Price: 7-day free trial
Devices: Web browsers
Does your child have a love of music and the potential to make creating it a part of their life? If there is nobody in a child’s life with musical skills, it can be difficult to help them get the chance to discover their inner musician.
Mussila Music School is like a music teacher in an app. It is about music as a whole and what it teaches encompasses most musical instruments although it makes good use of a built-in piano keyboard for learning.
Knowledge is built up about music theory and genres while skills such as reading musical notation and playing the piano are developed. It is a constantly growing course that can really develop a child’s musical expertise.
Subject: Music (KS2)
Price: Free with in-app purchases
Devices: iPhone, iPad, Android
Geography is another subject that is not yet well served by apps. In an increasingly globalised world, it is important for children to know something about other countries, regions, and people. Some topics of geography are also many children’s favourites such as volcanoes and weather.
All the World provides access to a huge and growing library of videos covering a broad variety of topics about the world. It doesn’t just provide a passive experience either as it includes instructional videos for activities that encourage children to put down their devices and do something practical.
Subject: Geography (KS2)
Price: Free with in-app purchases
Devices: iPhone, iPad, Android
Keeping abreast of the news allows people to form opinions and make decisions. Adults can access the news through a variety of sources and while children can use the same, the content is often not pitched at a level that suits them.
News-O-Matic is a newspaper for children. Each day, current affairs and general interest articles are published to the app. They are well written to convey key facts while avoiding unsuitable content or adding unnecessary complexity. Ideally, children are reading books regularly but they should still be enjoying the written word in a variety of formats. As well as making them informed members of society, News-O-Matic provides valuable reading practice.
Subject: History (KS2)
Price: Free with in-app purchases
Devices: iPhone, iPad, Android
A great way to test your own knowledge of a topic is to try to explain it. This soon exposes gaps and misunderstandings.
Smoovie Stop Motion – Animation is exactly as it sounds, an app that lets you make stop motion films. This unleashes a huge amount of potential projects for children. Chalk and a chalkboard let children create an animation that explains maths. Some toy figures and homemade props will let them make a film showing a key moment in history. Or, perhaps, children can create something just for fun.
Whatever their goal, when they are using this app they will be using planning, artistry, and, if they work with a brother or sister, teamwork and cooperation.
Subject: Art (KS2)
Price: Free with in-app purchases
Devices: iPhone, iPad
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