I believe there are more animal apps around than any other vocab category. The good new is that most are free. But they are not all equal; some are great and some are not worth downloading even for free.
The Best
Mini Adventures Animals by Alligatorapps.com: This app is my favorite for children older than 5. The app presents photographs of a large variety of tame and wild animals. Each animal is clearly named when the screen is tapped. Written below each animal is its name. In the left hand corner is a video window. Tap the arrow and one can view a video of the real animal moving around and making it’s animal sound. This adds a unique dimension to the app. If one selects the browse, rather than the play arrow at the start of the app, one can select an animal to view. All of the animals are grouped by alphabetically. This app is free.
ABA Flash Cards-Zoo Animals by kindergarten.com: The photographs are large and clear. The name of the animal is clearly pronounced and written above the picture. This app is free.
Animal Games by Alligatorapps.com: The free download allows one to open up the following pictures: birds, farm animals, large animals, mini creatures and small animals. The entire set, which includes cats, dogs, pets and things, primates, reptiles and water animals can be purchased for $.99. That’s a great price for so much. The pictures are clear photographs of the real animal. Tap on the picture and the animal is named. Below each animal is it’s written name.
English & Chinese Animal Flash Card by iiPeen Inc.: This is a very attractive app. The animals are creative drawings done with a bit of an Asian flair. Touch the English word on the bottom right hand corner of the page and the animal is named in English. Touch the Chinese word on the bottom left hand corner and the animal is named in Chinese. The animals are grouped in sets of 4. After the animals in a set have been named, there is a receptive quiz. An animal is named and the child needs to tap on it. Stars erupt out of the animal if it was correctly identified along with a voice praising the child’s correct selection. A voice encourages the child to try again if the wrong picture was selected. There is one minor vocab misunderstanding. The picture of a cow is identified as “cattle.” This app is $.99.
Peekaboo HD by Gotclues In this app an animal hides behind a shivering bale of hay as it says it’s sound. One taps on the bale of hay and the animal is revealed and named. The written name appears above the animal. The animal animations are cute and the farm background is appealing. This app is free.
Second Tier Animal Apps
The apps in this next group are fine. Would I buy them? Probably not because the free selection is better.
Peekaboo Barn by nightanddaystudios.com I like the interactivity feature of this app. The child hears a sound coming from the red barn. The child taps the barn doors to reveal farm animal as it says it’s animal sound. The animal is named by a child with “w” for “r.” Not cute and a poor model for a child using the app. The free version of this app offers only 4 animals. The full version is $1.99.
My First Farm Animals by Polarmagic. Free app.
Animal by Baby Touch Free app.
Bird Book by Santpal Dhillon The free version of this app has advertisements on each page.
Preschool Photo Touch Farm Animals by Grasshopperapps.com This free app asks that the child touch the animal named out of 3 presented on the page.
Abby’s Magic Laptop for Preschool and Toddlers Animals by 22learn, LLC Two modes, Let’s Play and Let’s Learn. There is an Animals app and a Zoo app. Each full, non free version, costs $1.99.
Not Recommended
Flashcards by INKids The free download allows me to open only one of the 10 games on the app and that is animals.As with most of the animal apps, each cartoon-like animal/bug is named and the written word appears under the animal. As an added feature, when one touches each letter of the written word, the narrator says each “sound.” I put sound in parenthesis because the phonics are often inaccurate. For instance, for the word cheetah, instead of the correct “ch” sound, the “c” is given a “k” sound and the “h” is given an “h” sound. Vowels production is all over the map. Some vowels are produced in long vowel fashion and others as short vowels, regardless of how the vowel is said in the word. This app is $3.99 for 10 games.
Animals Learning Disc HD and Animals Learning Tool Game HD by Brain Counts The animal pictures are small and cartoonish. Some might be difficult for a young child to recognize. Each app is $.99.
Animal School by Amitech The narrator names each animal at warp speech and his voice is unpleasant. This is a do not bother to download, even if it is free app that I will delete from my iPad once I have published this post.
Animal vocab apps
About the Author: Mirla G. Raz
I am an Arizona licensed speech pathologist and am certified by the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association. I have been in private practice for over 30 years working extensively with children who have speech and language problems. I received my Master’s degree from Seton Hall University in New Jersey. After graduation, I decided that I need sun and warmth and so headed south to work for the Volusia County Schools in Daytona Beach Florida. The next year I moved to California where I was offered a job working for the Los Angeles Unified School District in the severe oral language handicapped program. My next move was to UCLA where I worked in the department of Clinical Linguistics at the Neuropsychiatric Institute. In 1981, I moved to Arizona where I went into private practice. It gives me tremendous satisfaction to know that I have helped hundreds of children gain normal speech and language skills.
