Alphabet, Phonics, and Sight Word Apps for Growing Readers
This post may contain affiliate links.
I love reading apps for kids because they’re not just mindless tech time but either provide practice or learning to read.
Learning letters and letter sounds start a child’s journey to reading words and these alphabet and phonics apps will help. Learning “sight words,” or words to recognize at a glance, is another step. Download these sight word apps when your child is ready to learn these commonly used words.
Click on the image or name of app to see or buy it in the Apple App store. Android links are indicated in parenthesis when available.
You’ll find 2 sections below:
- Emergent Reader Phonics and Alphabet Apps
- Sight Word Apps
Emergent Reading Apps for Kids
Starfall ABC $2.99 (Android)
See, hear, and interact with letters and sounds in words, sentences, and games.
Duolingo ABC FREE
Watch children grow as readers with three levels and 300 bite-sized activities that teach the alphabet, phonics, and sight words. Children work independently and progress through the sequential curriculum.
ABCs Alphabet Phonics & Montessori FREE
Based on the proven Montessori learning method, Kids Academy develops spelling, writing and reading skills through games.
EduKitty ABC FREE (Android)
14 Different games teach children about Letter Recognition, Alphabet Sequence, Letter Memory, Spelling, Upper Case to Lower Case Match and more.
Alphabet Sounds $2.99 (Android)
There are FOUR levels of interactive play, based on how children develop in their awareness of letter sounds.
Dora’s ABCs $4.99 Letters and Sounds (Android)
Learn to recognize letters, write letters and associate letters with sounds.
Pocket Phonics $6.99 (Android)
PocketPhonics shows children how to write letters using an arrow they can follow with their finger or stylus. PocketPhonics supports two different writing styles, and for each style, kids can write in lowercase, uppercase and cursive.
Alphabet Aquarium Early Reading Letters FREE
Aquarium presents the wonderful world of letters in four great games.
Avokiddo ABC Ride $2.99 (Android)
Bike with your favorite characters Beck and Bo in this wonderful A – Z alliteration adventure and experience the alphabet like never before!
AlphaTots $2.99 (Android)
26 fun preschool puzzles and mini-games that helps kids learn the alphabet.
Dr. Seuss’s ABC $3.99 (Android)
Learn your ABCs with Dr. Seuss in this interactive book app for young readers.
Letter Muncher $1.99 (Android)
Designed and tested by educators and parents of young children, Letter Muncher will help your child build vocabulary while mastering the essential skills of identifying initial consonant sounds and the letter or letters that represent them.
Grandma’s Preschool $.99
Touch, play, and explore to discover interactive games, challenges, puzzles, and problems to solve.
First Words at Home $4.99
First Words Deluxe provides endless fun for the toddlers in your life, all while giving your child a head start on learning their letters and learning to spell words.
Bugsy Kindergarten Reading School $2.99
Alphabet — lowercase & uppercase letters, Phonics — beginning, ending & vowel sounds, Reading — Dolch sight words & more.
Hairy Phonics $2.99
Save the Hairies by learning phonemes, tracing letters, and blending sounds. Cute!
Phonics and Letter Sounds School FREE (Android)
Lay the basics of your child’s literacy skills with this colorful, mysterious island full of phonics sounds. Children learn and have fun tracing letters, recognizing letter sounds, matching letters, and identifying beginning sounds.
Hooked on Phonics Preschool $.99 (Android)
Letter matching and letter-name recognition skills + more!
Letter Quiz School FREE
7 games to teach letter recognition, association of words with their beginning letter, and alphabetical order.
I like that in all these fun games, kids can choose upper case or lower case letters! Then, watch classic Super Why videos and decorate a place in the Phonics Fair. A great quality learn to read app for kids based on a favorite PBS show.
Word Wagon HD $1.99
Word Wagon is a fun, award-winning app teaching letters, phonics and spelling. Based on Common Core State Standards kids will learn letter names, sounds and spelling of 4 and 6 letter words.
Reading Raven $3.99
This app helps preschoolers practice and match letters and sounds. It’s simple but fun for kids who are learning letters.
Tiggly Words (Android)
Physical letters (vowels) to use with apps: Tiggly Tales, Tiggly Doctor, or Tiggly Submarine and children ages 4 – 8 can construct words and solve problems. We LOVE this app!
Sight Word Reading Apps for Kids
Duolingo ABC FREE
Watch children grow as readers with three levels and 300 bite-sized activities that teach the alphabet, phonics, and sight words. Children work independently and progress through the sequential curriculum.
Mystery Word Town $2.99 (Android)
To travel through this old-time western town, collect a letter and spell a sight word. A narrator reads the sight word which has a blank space. You must pick one of the letters you’ve collected to finish the word with one space. Also, players must find the gold pieces and catch the outlaws.
Bugsy Kindergarten Reading School $2.99
Alphabet — lowercase & uppercase letters, Phonics — beginning, ending & vowel sounds, Reading — Dolch sight words & more.
Reading Eggy Words $.99 (Android)
Eggy Words 250 is an application designed to help children recognize and learn sight words. Sight words are words that readers should know automatically “at sight”, such as he, the, was and where.
Sight Words: Kids Learn FREE
Combine fun, easy-to-follow activities with hands-on and audio features to jumpstart the learning process. Created by reading experts such as Dr. Fry, Kids Learn Sight Words uses developmentally appropriate approaches to let the child.
Word Puzzles: Kids Learn Sight Words Games $1.99
This app combines word recognition practice with entertaining, engaging graphics in a disguised-learning format.
The Sight Word Adventure $1.99
A fun-filled game where children can learn to recognize, read, and write up to 320 sight words!
Bob Books #1 – Reading Magic (Learning Touch) $3.99 (Android)
Each page shows the sentence and a black and white drawing. Great for beginning readers!
Bob Books #2 Reading Magic $3.99 (Android)
Now set #2 is here with twelve new scenes and over 50 words!
Sight Word Games by This Reading Mama $2.99 (Android)
Two sections, one for learning and one for playing games, make this a great choice. Games include bingo, hang man, and more.
Monkey Word School $1.99 (Android)
Monkey Word School Adventure! Join Monkey and his jungle friends as they explore a fun-filled world of letters, sight words, phonics and spelling.
Sight Word Bingo (Android)
Engaging app for learning sight words.
Sight Words Games by Abby Monkey FREE
Entirety of 220 SIGHT WORDS from the popular Dolch list (with extra 94 NOUNS!)
Pixopop Sight Words $2.99
This app will help your child learn sight words through seeing, hearing and spelling.
Endless Reader Free / In-App Bundles of Words
Android
Learn sight words with word puzzles, letters that come alive, and a sentence puzzle for each word. It’s fun to see the sentence become animated.
You Might Also Like:
Pros and Cons of Teaching Reading with Bob Books
Beginning Reading Apps for Kids
Storybook Apps for Toddlers, Preschoolers, and Early Elementary Age Kids
WOW! I just found Imagination Soup and I LOVE IT! I am currently taking a class at my local university called Integrating Technology Into The Curriculum. We have talked a lot about “Appropriate and Effective” ways to use technology in an early childhood classroom. Thanks for all the great ideas you have shared : )