As the holiday season approaches, everyone wants to get into the holiday spirit. This year has been trying to say the least, so we all might need a little Holiday App booster.
Luckily, there are a ton of Christmas themed apps and games for kids to help get kids ready for Santa Claus to arrive on Christmas eve. We’ve come up with a list of the best Christmas apps for kids to get you started.
There’s a wide selection to fit all tastes. Some of these apps are for your Android device. Others are for Apple products. Many work on both systems. Regardless, we’ll let you know in the review.
1. A Charlie Brown Christmas
For many parents and children, Charlie Brown is synonymous with Christmas. I have fond memories of watching A Charlie Brown Christmas special with my family – I’m sure you do with yours. This interactive storybook will allow you to keep the tradition alive.Aid Charlie Brown, Snoopy and the whole Peanuts squad to discover Christmas’ true meaning. Peter Robbins, Charlie Brown’s iconic voice, narrates an immersive storybook with original characters and dialogs and newly enhanced graphics, animations and music tailored for your mobile device.
2. The Nutcracker
Quite possibly our personal favorite of the bunch, this fabulous Christmas app (currently on sale at a quarter of its usual price!) is fully interactive, allowing children to lose themselves in the magic and excitement of the storyline. It’s packed with challenges and educational games as well as special features with the storyline embedded throughout and the music of Tchaikovsky’s ballet woven through the narrative.
Set to the true symphony of Tchaikovsky’s renowned ballet, the Nutcracker and The Mystery of the Disappearing Cheese includes an animated opening, a drawn children’s story, 7 engaging games, and 6 gloriously designed communicating characters that offer plenty of chances for creative play. Style Clara’s hair, and dress her in one of many outfits .. Bake with Mrs. Stahlbaum and decorate the cake. Outfit Mr. Stahlbaum with multiple eyeglasses and mustache styles. Visit the chamber and decorate the Nutcracker Christmas tree. Then descend to the cellar and help the Mouse King wear his various crowns.
3. First Words Christmas
Move the letters into place and Santa Claus comes to town bearing fun and learning presents!
One for the youngest children, this app is a new Christmas holiday version of the hugely popular tool used to engage toddlers in learning about letters, words and sounds.
The famous educational app for kids as young as 4 with a Christmas theme is now available. First Words Christmas presents 40 wonderfully depicted Christmas words and accompanying holiday sounds. All of your perfect Christmas words are used: from Bell to Gifts, Cookies to Star.
This app is created for the smallest fingers. First Words is not only a game but also a complex learning tool that allows your child to discover and appreciate the connections between letters and words.
A selection of choices help you to tailor the level of difficulty to your younger or older children’s skills.
Children can play First Words on their own, but they also like to have their parents with them. They want to show off what they’ve learned, tell their parents the letters and share Christmas cheer.
iOS only.
4. NORAD Tracks Santa
Track Santa Claus around the world as he prepares for a wonderful day!
The current practice of NORAD Tracks Santa started in 1955 when a young child mistakenly dialed the CONAD Operations Center’s unlisted phone number after reading a newspaper advertisement that told kids to call Santa. Operations Chief Colonel Harry Shoup answered the phone and told his team to search the radar for signals that Santa was going south from North Pole.
A tradition was born and continued when NORAD was founded in 1958. Every year since, on Dec. 24, NORAD has announced Santa’s position to millions of children and families worldwide that want to keep track of his sleigh.
I must admit; it’s a real Christmas gift that our airmen of the North American Aerospace Defense Command have enough time to make such a cool app rather than worrying 24/7 about enemy bombers invading our airspace. There’s also a Google Santa Tracker if you wish to compare.
5. How the Grinch Stole Christmas
This app is perfect for encouraging reluctant readers around Christmas time. With scenes to select, they can zoom straight in on their favorite parts of the story, and interactive elements around words and pictures encourage learning skills through the gentle exploration of the characters and settings.
6. Christmas!!
This simple but fun app pretty much does what it says on the tin – an opportunity for kids to countdown to Christmas with festive jokes, Christmas songs, games and wintry wallpaper
7. Christmas Sudoku
Sudoku is a brilliant game for strengthening kids maths and logic skills at any time of year, but this seasonal twist throws in Christmas backgrounds and graphics, spicing it up for the holiday season!
8. Christmas Fun Sing Along
This great free app (with in-app purchase) is a lot more than just a Christmas sing-along. There are a boatload (a technical term) of educational games as well. Mix and match, Christmas tree paint coloring book, Santa dress-up game – you’ll find hours of fun with this app.
What are your favorite Christmassy apps and edtech tools? Share your ideas with us below!