Search for "free learning apps for 3 year olds" and you get hundreds of results. Every icon is bright, every description promises to "build skills" or "boost early learning". Then you download one, and on the third lesson a padlock appears. Or an ad pops up in the middle of a puzzle. Or your child taps around for a minute and hands it back, because the instructions are all written words.

This article doesn't rank apps or tell you which one to buy. It gives you seven checks you can run in about five minutes: most of them on the App Store or Google Play page before you download anything, the rest in the first few minutes your child holds the device. For each one, it shows where to look and why it matters for a 3 to 6 year old.

The seven checks at a glance

  1. Does it have ads? On Google Play, look for "Contains ads" under the Install button. No label is a good sign.
  2. Is it really free, or free for the first few lessons? On the App Store, check "In-App Purchases" in the Information section; on Google Play, look for "In-app purchases" under the Install button. None at all is a good sign.
  3. What data does it collect, and does it force an account? Read "App Privacy" on the App Store or "Data safety" on Google Play, then look at the first screen after opening. The less it collects, and the sooner your child can play, the better.
  4. Can a child who can't read use it alone? Hand it over for five minutes. If tapping makes things talk and questions come with pictures, that's a good sign.
  5. Are the buttons big enough for small fingers? Watch during the same five minutes. Your child hitting the right button first time is a good sign.
  6. Does it work offline? Turn on airplane mode and open the app. Lessons you've already downloaded still working is a good sign.
  7. What happens when your child gets it wrong? Ask them to pick a wrong answer on purpose. A gentle hint and another try is a good sign.

Each check is explained below.

1. Does the app have ads?

Google Play makes this easy: if the developer says the app shows ads, a "Contains ads" label appears under the Install button or price. Two things to know about it. The label is based on what the developer declares. And, as Google's own help page points out, it doesn't cover other kinds of commercial content, such as paid product placement or offers to buy upgrades.

The App Store has no ads label. Two places help instead. In the "App Privacy" section, a purpose called "Third-Party Advertising" is a strong hint that the app shows ads from other companies. And the one-star reviews are worth a quick scroll, because ads are one of the things parents complain about most.

Why it matters so much at this age: a 3-year-old can't tell a game from an ad for another game. One stray tap and they're in the app store, or watching a video you've never seen. The American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) goes further and calls advertising to young children unethical, because they can't tell advertising apart from information. And "watch a video to get a reward" ads quietly teach a child that waiting through ads is part of playing.

2. Is it really free, or free to start?

Many apps say "Free" on the download button and then open only the first few lessons; the rest sits behind a subscription. You can find out before downloading:

  • App Store: next to the Get button you may see "In-App Purchases". To see what's for sale, scroll down to the Information section and find the "In-App Purchases" row. It lists each item or subscription with its price.
  • Google Play: under the app name and Install button, look for "In-app purchases", often on the same line as "Contains ads".

An app without in-app purchases isn't automatically a better app. But you'll know your child won't hit a padlock halfway through, and you won't have to explain why the next lesson "won't open". If you do pick an app with purchases, both stores let you require a password before anything is bought, and on iPhone and iPad, Screen Time can block in-app purchases altogether.

3. What data does it collect, and does it force an account?

Both stores require developers to describe the data their app collects. On the App Store, that's the "App Privacy" section of the product page, split into "Data Used to Track You", "Data Linked to You" and "Data Not Linked to You". On Google Play, it's the "Data safety" section, which says whether the app may share data with third parties and which kinds of data it may collect.

Two things deserve a closer look: data used to track you, which means combining what the app knows with data from other companies, usually for advertising; and data shared with third parties. An app for a 3-year-old has almost no reason to need your location, your contacts or your device's advertising ID. Like the ads label, these sections are written by the developer, so read them as the developer's own statement.

Then open the app and look at the very first screen. If it asks for an email address or phone number before your child can play anything, the app is collecting your details before it has let you try it. Some apps offer an account only for extras like syncing between devices; that's a very different thing from requiring one.

4. Can a child who can't read use it alone?

This is the check no store page can answer, so the only way is to try it: give your child the device for five minutes, without explaining anything, and watch.

Apps that work well for non-readers usually have three things in common:

  • tapping a letter, word or card reads it aloud;
  • instructions come as pictures and a voice, not a line of text;
  • finishing an activity leads straight to the next one, so your child doesn't have to find their way back through menus.

If, after five minutes, your child keeps turning to you with "what do I press?", the app needs a grown-up beside it the whole time. That isn't wrong, and playing together is something the AAP encourages anyway. It's just better to know in advance.

5. Are the buttons big enough for small fingers?

Apple's Human Interface Guidelines give 44 × 44 points as the minimum control size on iPhone and iPad. That figure is for adult fingers. A 3-year-old's fingers are smaller, but their taps are far less precise, so buttons for young children need to be much bigger than that minimum, with space between them.

The signs are easy to spot while your child plays: missed taps, double taps, or pressing the button next to the one they meant. Watch how they hold the device, too. Young children often grip a tablet with one hand, with a thumb or finger resting on the screen. An app that doesn't allow for that may treat the resting finger as a touch and seem to "ignore" what your child is doing.

6. Does it work offline?

Turn on airplane mode, then open the app. Many children's apps are little more than a frame that streams everything from the internet, so in the car, on a plane or at a grandparent's house with patchy Wi-Fi, all you get is a spinning wheel. A good app keeps working with whatever it has already downloaded.

7. What happens when your child gets it wrong?

Ask your child to choose a wrong answer on purpose, just once. A harsh buzzer, a big red cross, lost lives or a score that drops can put a 3- or 4-year-old off quickly, and some will simply stop. What suits this age is gentle: a hint, a chance to try again, and praise when they get there.

What about how long they use it?

A good app is only half the picture. For children aged 2 to 5, both the World Health Organization and the AAP recommend no more than about an hour of screen time a day. Our article Screen Time for a 3 Year Old covers those guidelines in detail, and how to set limits with Screen Time on iPhone and iPad or Google Family Link on Android.

The AAP also has a piece of advice that fits everything above: try an app yourself before your child uses it, then play it together. It notes that most apps in the "educational" section of app stores have no evidence that they work. The seven checks won't tell you whether an app teaches well, but they'll quickly rule out the ones that get in the way.

On Google Play, you may also see a Teacher Approved badge on some kids' apps. Google describes it as a program where experts rate apps that meet its Families policies for quality and age appropriateness. It's useful context, but it doesn't replace your own five-minute test with your child.

Dino Kids against these seven checks

Dino Kids is our own app, so please don't take this as a score. It's here so you can check it yourself, the same way you would any other app:

  • Ads: none.
  • In-app purchases: none, and no subscription.
  • Data: no third-party analytics or tracking tools in the app.
  • Account: not required. The first screen has a button to start right away without an account; an account is only for syncing pictures and progress between devices.
  • Non-readers: tapping a letter card reads it aloud; questions come with pictures and are read aloud.
  • Button size: children's buttons are 88 points on iPad, and touch handling allows for a finger resting on the screen, because young children often hold the iPad with one hand.
  • Offline: pictures, lessons and stories you've already downloaded work without a connection.
  • When your child is wrong: a stroke drawn off the line fades away so your child can write it again. No red, no "wrong", and never zero stars.

What Dino Kids doesn't have: there's no built-in timer or play-time limit. To limit time, use Screen Time or Google Family Link as described above.

Dino Kids runs on iPad, iPhone (iOS 15 or later) and Android (7.0 or later). Inside, you'll find coloring, alphabet tracing, math, piano, Japanese, Korean and Chinese, and stories. Short answers to common questions are on the FAQ page.

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