I am frequently asked “What are the best apps for kids to learn geography and practice map-skills?” I put together a list of 8 of my favorites: the first 3 are interactive atlas/map apps that are fun to explore (especially when parents/teachers and their kids explore together!) and the final 5 are engaging geography games that even adults will enjoy!
Best Apps for Kids: Maps & Atlases
Barefoot World Atlas
I love this app because it has so many detailed and colorful illustrations to explore, a ton of information and an interactive 3D globe that you can spin and zoom in on. Kids learn about weather, animals (my kids favorite), flags, landmarks and famous features, the oceans, and more. The 2 downsides would be that it takes up a lot of space (because it is so rich!) and the $4.99 price tag- which really is worth it if you’re looking for a complete, digital atlas for kids. (see the printed version of the Barefoot World Atlas, on which this is based).
Google Earth (also available on Android)
Google Earth is such a fun way to travel virtually. Here is an article on how to use Google Earth in your classroom. My kids like to look at our house and playset, zoom into their school or a bike route we always take! But it’s also fun to check out my sons’ birthtowns in China and Ethiopia, or where our grandparents live in Mexico City.
Kids World Maps
Clearly labelled, zoom-able maps of the world with 6 different modes: political, city, physical, deserts, mountains, rivers. Also check out History: Maps of the World if you’d like more advanced maps from different time periods.
Best Apps for Kids: Geography Games
GeoBee Challenge HD by National Geographic
Like the actual GeoBee, this quiz game asks you questions about geography, asks you to identify locations on a world map, and in the bonus round shows you photographs of famous places and asks you to identify their locations. This is a really advanced, challenging game- but the older elementary crowd will get better and better the more they practice!
Tiny Countries
This animated game has kids traveling in 6 continents to 75 countries, to complete 15 missions and prevent Mr. Evil from moving the continents in the shape of a rooster. While helping cute little “Tiny” the chick, kids learn about countries, their capitals and famous monuments. This is a fun way of learning geography without even realizing it! Available in many languages.
Stack the Countries app
I love this one and the Stack the States. The game asks questions about capitals, landmarks, geographic locations and more, and if you answer correctly you move the outline of the country to a “stack,” on the bottom of the screen and try to carefully build the tower of countries. Silly and fun. There’s also flashcards, interactive maps, and you can control the types of questions you get.
Kids Maps App (iPad, Android and Kindle)
This interactive puzzle game is recommended for kids 2+. Kids must find each state’s location, and drag and drop it to complete the map.
Geo Walk HD – 3D World Fact Book
This app begins like an atlas, showing kids photographs and descriptions of 500+ interesting historical places, famous people, wildlife, and plants all around the world. There is a quiz mode that tests the user’s knowledge
Did I miss any of your favorites? Leave them in the comments so we can all check them out!
We really need to get an ipad! These sound great.
Maybe the next person to come visit you can pick one up from craigslist? We got a cheap, very used one there, but it’s perfect because we just put some educational apps on it for the kids. I used to be so, so against videogames and screens, etc, but if you choose wisely, there are some awesome ways to learn:).
These really look like wonderful ways to learn about our world.
Our newest geography app has also proven to be really successful among kids, especially for teaching flags and spatial relationships. Geo Challenge – Flags, Maps and Geography Learning Game for Kids https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/geo-challenge-free-world-map/id576297649?mt=8&ls=1
Thank you so much! I am going to share on twitter, fb, and pitnerest!
On your recommendation, we got “Stack the Countries” and my 5 y/o loves it! I just posted about this app, with a HT to you. Thanks for the great heads up!
Julie
OpenWideTheWorld
We love that too- it is more educational that first glance! My daughter was getting so excited to “earn” all of the Latin American countries- she kept saying “Now I only need Brazil, Peru, and Ecuador” and then “I got Peru!!! I only need Ecuador and Brazil!!!” etc. Great little geo game for all ages!
Hi, we developed an interactive map for younger kids (3-6 years old). Would love to hear your thoughts on it based on your experience. http://funmapsforkids.com/products/interactive-world-map-for-kids-white-continents-symbols-landmarks-and-animals. If you like we can send you one for your review.
I developed a free quiz app for android device. The quiz shows list of capital cites of the world and you would have to find out which country it belongs to. You can get some hints like see the flag of that country, see what the neighbour countries are etc to find the answer. Hope the android users can try it.
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.hellothupten.capital2countryquiz
This is a great list! My company developed an app for iPad and iPhone called JigsawGeo. it’s a map app that challenges you to place a country (or flag!) on the map. The app is free to try with a US 13 colonies map, and then you can buy any other maps you like – Africa, Europe, US, World, Caribbean, and more! Here’s the link: https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/jigsawgeo/id542979846?mt=8
My daughter loves Stack the Countries and Stack the States. Now that she is getting older she discoverd GeoGuessr online and has a lot of fun with that as well.
TenSun’s iWorldGeography Series (iPad) is designed for 3-6 & 6-9 year olds. Montessori-inspired 3-part lessons include intro to names & locations, a quiz, and puzzle, plus label activities. Earth’s Continents, North/Central/South America, Australia, Canada, and United States.
A free trial version for United States let’s you explore activities at:
http://bitly.com/iWorldUSLite
Free outline maps and labels for anyone interested at this link:
http://tensuninteractive.com/extras.html
Great article, nice to see all those apps! How about the Our world puzzle game is great learnig tool for kids learning the world geography qnd bit of the space. Also a good one from the same developer US Puzzle educational geography puzzle game learnig the states and cities of america.
Our wolrd puzzle https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/our-world-puzzle-game-master/id857615646?mt=8
Us puzzle game
https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/us-puzzle-educational-geographical/id925692878?mt=8
I’m stunned that I have been unable to find a KID navigation app, you know, one for road trips that lets them see progress to a destination, perhaps teaching them things along the way, with off-line maps. Delorme had this 20 years ago!
Thank you! Really useful information. Once I decided to find best online geography tutor for my son, I’ve found a website https://preply.com/en/skype/geography-tutors, but after a few lessons I decided to stop that because tutoring is too expensive nowadays.
i can not get it to lode