For some children, picking up a pencil for the first time can be a challenge. The best way to help them become better is to practice writing with them regularly and encourage them to develop literacy skills in the process.
In this digital age, there is no better way to teach children to write than with a familiar environment that they enjoy. Your child’s smartphone or tablet can be a relevant and useful tool that your child can use to learn how to write letters, right up to improving their handwriting.
Fortunately, there are writing apps for kids that can help your child move from their first shaky chalk letter to sharpened words and sentences.
Our roundup of the best writing apps for kids is geared towards preschool and primary school kids of all ages and learning levels, so you can find the one that best suits your child’s needs.
Letter School ( < a href = "https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.letterschool.lite" target = "_ blank" rel = "noreferrer noopener"> Android < and iOS
Letter School is an alphabet and handwriting tracker app designed for younger students to learn the most effective way to spell words. The app encourages kids to trace uppercase and lowercase letters and numbers, using their index fingers to trace each character until they get a good representation of a letter or number.
Demonstrations are available showing children where they should start and end each number or letter, and if they want to move on to the next number or letter, they have to write a satisfactory representation of it.
This is a fun and addicting app that kids will love especially for its engaging sound effects and animations that encourage them to practice forming numbers and letters regularly.
For each letter or number, there are four fun games that test whether your child knows numbers and letters as he writes them from memory. Gradually, the app improves children’s understanding of numbers and letters, which are learned in such a fun style that they may even forget they are learning.
The app is available for Android and iOS devices.
iTrace
ITrace App is a writing app for kids that makes learning how to write numbers and letters fun and interesting. It influences how different children write and provides them with letters and numbers that they can keep track of.
Parents can choose from three different letter styles and can also choose between standard or italic letters. It also has a left-handed orientation switch for lefties using the app.
To develop your child’s muscle memory, the app allows him to write the same letter multiple times and offers no less than 10 unique prizes as a reward for satisfying each letter. In addition, parents can track their children’s progress as the app stores a history of the child’s attempts.
It’s the only app to use multiple letter writing techniques and one switch for left-handed kids, but it’s only available on iPhone and iPad.
( Android and iOS
This app is designed to help kids learn how to track numbers and letters while learning phonetic sounds and letter names.
If your child has problems with handwriting, fine motor skills and dysgraphia, this app will help him learn to write in longer and smaller forms with fun interactive graphics such as funny stickers, games and sound effects.
His bright and fun drawing practice helps kids practice drawing shapes, words, uppercase or lowercase letters and numbers with unique rewards after each attempt. You can customize your handwriting by choosing from a variety of styles such as Tearless Handwriting, D’Nealian, Zaner-Bloser, UK, or Scandanavia, and watch the hand with the index finger trace a number, letter, word or shape.
The child learns to track characters using red arrows and targets that indicate the direction of the track, and audio cues that tell them what to do next.
It’s a fun and interactive app with amazing animations, from rushing rainbows to dancing cupcakes, jumping hearts, tiger faces, and more, to motivate your child to keep exercising.
The app is available for Android and iOS devices.
iWriteWords
This handwriting and tracking app is designed to help young children learn to write numbers and letters at their own pace. It uses quirky sound effects and cartoon graphics to teach kids how to write simple words, helping them become more familiar with the basic structures and sounds of individual letters.
Each letter is accompanied by a letter to better match letters to words and words to images. Children will also learn how to correctly form lowercase and uppercase letters, simple words and numbers from 0 to 20.
A funny cartoon character named Mister Crab leads the children as they draw letters and numbers by sliding their fingers over the numbered dots. If the child deviates from the outline, he has to start all over again, and after tracing each element, he gets a nice catchy picture that helps him remember what he wrote.
This is a handy app, especially if you have a reluctant tracer who might be involved in an interactive experience of hand-drawn pictures, singing ABC songs, and swirling letters eating.
Parents can customize the app to suit their kids’ needs and select individual words or letters for them. You can also expand the off-screen activity by helping your child identify and draw the images they see that correspond to the letters they have learned.
The app is only available on iOS devices. There is a Lite version if you’d like to preview before purchasing. It has all the functions, but is limited to three words and three letters.
Make writing fun
By getting your child to write early and often, you prepare him or her for success in all subjects. With these writing apps, your child will learn how to write letters, numbers, words and short sentences. They are a great tool for any child learning the basics of writing.
Do you have a favorite writing app that you use to teach your child to write better? Share with us in the comments below.
–