Touch devices provide a variety of opportunities for children to practice their pincer grasp, visual spacial skills, finger isolation and more. It can also help with handwriting development and other fine motor skills!
The best iPhone games for kids to improve their dexterity are simple enough for even the youngest players. They can be downloaded and played at any time without requiring an internet connection.
1. Busy Shapes
Today’s App of the Week is Busy Shapes, an educational game that helps kids develop their fine motor skills. It’s designed for toddlers and can be downloaded for free until Thursday.
This simple yet engaging app helps children learn to match shapes and holes through a series of puzzles. The app responds to each child’s actions with positive guidance and motivation.
It also encourages children to explore and engage with their surroundings. Its digital exploratory playground regularly refreshes with new objects, which keeps kids engaged and interested.
The game is inspired by the pioneering work of famed Swiss scientist and intelligence expert Jean Piaget, who believed that “children are little scientists.” In addition to supporting cognitive development and spacial reasoning, it is also a great way for kids to exercise their basic logic skills.
The game begins with a simple drag and drop task, where children must drag an object into a hole that corresponds to its shape. As the difficulty increases, new objects and holes appear in a different setting and kids are challenged to match them with their corresponding hole.
2. Dexteria Jr.
The makers of Dexteria have created an app specifically for toddlers and preschoolers called Dexteria Jr. This app is designed to encourage kids to pinch, trace and squish their way to improved dexterity and handwriting readiness.
The games require three simple movements – tap, pinch and drag – to interact with lively pictures. They also offer progress reports that parents, therapists and educators can use to track their child’s scores.
Developed in consultation with occupational therapists, Dexteria Jr’s fine motor and handwriting skills exercises take advantage of the iPad’s multi-touch interface to help build strength, control and dexterity. The activities are designed to be repeated and engaging.
Dexteria Jr’s activities are fun and educational for kids, but will they transfer well from the screen to the real world? It’s important to remember that kids will be practicing these skills on a tablet, so it’s hard to tell how much they will transfer to the 3-D world of pencil and paper.
3. Tozzle
Aiming for the eyeballs, this app is a good old fashioned jigsaw puzzle in the guise of a modern day augmented reality game. It features 40 funky shaped puzzles to test a child’s dexterity and wits. It is also a fun way to pass the time with your kids on long car rides.
It is a cleverly designed interactive experience that makes the best use of your iPhone’s camera and touch screen capabilities. You can play games, view photos and videos or play a simulated video chat session with up to five people simultaneously. To top it all off, you can control the app with your iPhone’s haptic feedback system to make for a truly immersive experience.
A fun and functional app that will have your children’s brains buzzing for hours. A free version offers a small handful of puzzles and a limited number of other games. If you’re looking for a little more action, the paid version has over 200 more to choose from.
4. Awesome Xylophone
A xylophone is a very simple but effective way for kids to get started in music. They’re also a lot less expensive and more portable than guitars or keyboards, making them an ideal first instrument for children to explore their interest in music.
Xylophones are available in a variety of colors and have separate keys that represent different notes. This makes them ideal for children learning to read music, as it lets them easily distinguish which note is being played.
It’s important to choose a xylophone with an octave range that will allow your child to play more complex songs in the future. You can also find ones that feature wheels or pull strings, so you don’t have to worry about your child slipping on them when they’re playing.
Xylophones are great for developing eye-hand coordination and musical skills, so they’re a great addition to any baby’s toy box! They also encourage creativity and improve motor skill development, sensory engagement, and color recognition.