The 13 Best iPad Apps For 3 Year Olds

We love the concept behind this beloved PBS kids app. All of your kids favorite characters, and games for every level of motor skill ability, it’s an easy favorite. Oh, and it’s free. Get it on Apple or in the Google Play store.

There’s a Bluey app, and your kid loves Bluey. Therefore, your kid will love the Bluey app. It’s simple math, really. Just do it, you won’t regret spending a little more time with Bandit, Chilli, Bluey and Bingo. Available on Google Play and Apple.

You may be more familiar with the name Khan Academy from your own high school days, but the educational company now offers online learning tools for children, and they're free. Khan Academy Kids (for ages two to five) was designed with the Stanford Graduate School of Education and provides dozens of activities across multiple subjects while kids collect bugs, hats, and toys as rewards.

Kids and parents alike seem to adore Metamorphabet, and alphabet-focused app for 3 year olds. What kid wouldn't enjoy poking, prodding, dragging, and spinning each of the 26 letters to "reveal surprising and luminous transformations." It costs $5, but the rumor is that it’s worth way more than that.

Your child is likely already obsessed with farm animals, now they can work on learning their names and sounds by playing Peekaboo Barn. For just $1.99 in the Apple app store, this sweet game as they tap to find out what an animal is called. With darling animation and super easy to navigate format, even the youngest users can take on this app on their own.

Whether it's math or STEM skills you're wanting your little one to develop, look no further than LeapFrog Academy. This app offers a variety of interactive games for children ages 3 to 6. Yes, it requires a subscription, but this is a tool you'll be able to use for a few years.

The concept of Balloon Pop is mind-numbling simple: Pop the floating balloons on the screen. But you might be surprised to find yourself stealing the iPad away from your 3-year-old so you can have a go on the free app. Regardless of your age, this game is wonderfully mesmerizing.

This $3 interactive book is all about diversity and friendship. Children must take Platypus through the woods on an adventure meeting all kinds of unique characters along the way. As the app's YouTube page explains, kids help the main characters find their lost objects using a flashlight "to look even in the darkest corners. Then they can join the party in the wood, creating a real music band, getting all the characters in the story to play, sing and dance together."

Designed for children ages two to eight, ABC Mouse is a free app that some teachers even recommend. Kids create their own kid avatar and then explore the ABC Mouse classroom. If they complete certain games, they can earn points to go shopping. It’s fun, and your kid just might learn a thing or two.

For $4 you can help your curious child (ages 3 and up) start to explore and learn about the body with Toca Doctor. This app lets kids see what it’s like to be a doctor without the need for a voluntary patient (ahem, you!). They can apply bandages, erase scratches, and even squirt eye drops into their eyes.

Bingo ABC is a song-based game app that uses music to teach and entertain kids for free. That means your child will get an introduction to phonics concepts while singing along to classic nursery rhymes and playing games on a colorful animated farm.

With more than 100 animal sounds, this completely free app should give you at least a few minutes to finish writing an email. And you can write it guilt-free, knowing your kid isn't just mooing at a screen, but really learning about animals (critters are divided into farm, Savannah/desert, jungle, insects, ocean, forest, mountain, city/countryside and dinosaurs sections).

Busy shapes and colors — which is available in both the Apple app store and on Google Play — offers 3D puzzles and 100 colorful levels. We love it as a great distraction for kids during travel, say on a plane or in a car.