Check out our list of our favorite reading apps for 10-year olds, and kids of all ages!
“Reading is boring.” “I just want to play another level!” “Just one more show, please?”
With so many fun options competing for kids’ time these days, it can be a challenge to grab their attention long enough to get enough reading into their day.
These apps aim to give 10-year olds (and other age groups and grade levels, too) the confidence and stimulation they need to build new skills and put them to use–whether they’re born bookworms or more on the reluctant side. From phonics to vocab, reading comprehension and more, these apps will give your kid a fun way to polish those reading skills and fuel a love of reading.
Check out our picks for best reading apps for 10-year olds, all rated 4+ stars on Common Sense Media!
Best Reading Apps for 10-Year Olds
Audible on Kindle
Ages: 12 & under
Audible is a subscription service from Amazon, offering an enormous catalogue of audiobooks. In general, we’re huge fans of audio stories for kids of all ages for their power to open up worlds for those who aren’t ready or enthusiastic about reading more advanced books on their own. Young readers can listen along while they follow the narration with physical copies of their favorite books, or just sit back and develop their listening comprehension. For some great choices for kids, download the app and check out their classic books for kids and picture books.
What we love:
Not only is the breadth of content exceptional, there’s plenty for parents, too. Adult fans of audiobooks can also enjoy podcasts, guided wellness and some of the most popular titles across genres.
Possible downsides:
Not everyone is a fan of the cost for a monthly membership, but if you and your kid love audiobooks, it’s well worth the expense.
Price: $14.95/month after 30-day free trial.
Available on: iOS, Android, Kindle and Windows 10
Homer Learn & Grow
Ages: 8 & under
Though it’s known as an early literacy app for kids 8 and under, older kids can also benefit from the 1,000+ games and stories available on its platform.
Designed by a team of child development, curriculum design and EdTech experts, Homer Learn & Grow focuses on eight skill areas. It was also created and tested in Head Start classrooms on 82 students, and is proven to help kids pick up skills like letter sounds and phonics.
If your kid wants to try another fun app that focuses on spelling basics, check out Starfall in the Google Play or Apple Store.
What we love:
The app offers so many activities, kids won’t easily get bored. Your kid can explore stories and record their own voice as they read and answer questions. It also offers positive feedback to encourage their progress and keep them engaged.
Possible downsides:
The app can take up a lot of device memory, and may not challenge older kids who are already strong readers.
Price: Free-$7.99 a month
Available on iOS and Android
Hoopla
Ages: 10+
This service supercharges your kid’s library card, unlocking 800,000+ media titles, including high-quality instructional videos, documentaries, audiobooks, comics and more. As long as you have a current library card, you can borrow up to eight titles a month (depending on your local library policy). This is another great choice if you’re looking for an app that can supplement your kid’s daily learning while offering content for parents, too.
What we love:
The app serves up a wealth of educational content on a range of topics, from history to learning another language.
Possible downsides:
Like a brick-and-mortar public library, the Hoopla platform offers no parental controls (although it does include a kid mode), so you will need to supervise your child while using it to make sure they’re only consuming kid-friendly content.
Cost: Free
Available on: iOS, Android and Kindle
Marvel Hero Tales
Ages:7+
Get your comics fanatic ready for some serious learning fun, as they go up against villains in a playable comic book while they brush up on vocab and grammar. Your kid can role-play as their favorite Marvel superhero as they patrol the city for bad guys. To defeat each villain, they’ll need to compose sentences by filling in blanks with nouns, verbs and adverbs that describe their character’s actions. As they progress, their sentences are saved into a complete, personalized comic that they can re-read once they’ve finished the game.
What we love:
This interactive, action-packed game is an exciting, creative way for comics enthusiasts and reluctant readers to practice vital language skills. They can be as silly or as serious as they want to be. It’s their story!
Possible downsides:
The free version only offers the option to play “on patrol,” as opposed to as a popular Marvel character.
Price: Free with in-app purchases and upgrades
Available on: iOS and Android
PBS Kids
Ages: 3+
Shows like PBS have already been shown to improve cognitive, linguistic, and social outcomes for kids, but research shows then when they consume PBS content in more hands-on ways, such as interactive games, they benefit even more. Among the most popular educational apps for kids, PBS Kids features the beloved PBS family of characters and offers more than two-dozen mini games based on PBS TV shows, including a great selection of reading-focused activities.
What we love:
While it skews young, PBS Kids offers enough varied content to grow with your child. As an added bonus, kids will also recognize their favorite PBS characters, from Daniel Tiger to Wild Kratts.
Possible downsides:
Some users feel the activities are too straightforwardly educational, with the fun factor taking a back seat. But for the most part kids seem to find it entertaining.
Price: Free
Available on:iOS, Android and Kindle
Simplex Spelling HD – Dolch Sight Words With Reverse Phonics
Ages: 6+
This high-quality app helps kids learn 240 commonly misspelled, high-frequency words. Struggling with tough-to-master terms can trip kids up and affect reading speed. With helpful quizzes, hint buttons and encouraging popup messages, the app lets elementary school kids practice and improve outside of the classroom.
What we love:
This is a highly effective tool for practicing spelling and phonics. It’s accessibility also makes it perfect for ESL students fine-tuning their English skills.
Possible downsides:
This app is not the most exciting choice on this list, and kids might need a little extra encouragement to stay motivated.
Price: $4.99
Available on: iOS
SwapTales: Leon!
Ages: 6+
Part storytelling and part puzzle game, SwapTales: Leon teaches kids language skills in an engaging Choose Your Own Adventure-style format. They can swap words around on the screen and watch as illustrations change to reflect the meaning of the words in their new positions. This allows them to hone the power of words to customize the story’s events and outcome.
What we love:
If your kid gets stumped, the app offers hints to help move them forward. Plus it lets them play either alone or with a friend or family member. Kids can change the language, too, with English, Spanish, Italian, French or German to choose from.
Possible downsides:
For some, the choice of words can be limiting, and since there is only one ending to whatever story kids create, they may not feel motivated to play it again and again.
Price: $4.99
Available on: iPad and Android
Weirdwood Manor
Ages: 7+
Here’s another exciting story game to get your kid reading. This app is an interactive storybook that invites users into the home of a reclusive benefactor. They must then join three children with remarkable abilities to uncover clues, solve puzzles and collect hidden items to get to the bottom of the mystery. Kids can read with or without audio guidance and track their own progress along the way. It’s great for read-alouds, too!
What we love:
The story is nothing short of enchanting, and it’s perfect for current and future fans of fantasy-mystery tales like the Harry Potter series.
Possible downsides:
Themes and images in the story can be a little scary at times for some kids, and the price for premium access is little on the steep side.
Price: $2.99 per chapter, $8.99 for premium (unlimited access)
Available on: iOS
Wordscapes
Ages: 6+
Wordscapes helps kids improve spelling and word recognition through a combination of crosswords and word-search puzzles. It serves up a few letters at a time and challenges kids to guess which words they could form. The game is entertaining and educational (and we’re told, super addicting). Kids earn coins as they progress and the puzzles increase in difficulty as they go.
What we love:
The fun factor makes this app a standout. It easily holds kids’ interest and almost distracts them from how much they’re learning.
Possible downsides:
Some parents feel it lacks clear instructions, and some are frustrated with the amount of in-app purchases.
Price: Free with in-app purchases
Available on: iOS and Android
WordWhile: Casual Literary Fun
Ages: 10+
Whether your child loves classic literature or is still yet to discover it’s charm, they’ll get a lot out of this fun, quirky “Mad-Libs” style app. It asks users to read brief passages or phrases, then fill in the blanks with either a or funny (intentionally wrong) answer. They’ll earn achievements based on the content themes (proverbs poems, tongue twisters, children’s classics, etc.) as they hone their literary knowledge and practice their parts of speech. This is one of the best reading apps for 10-year olds and older for playfulness alone.
Price: $3.99
Available on: iOS, Android and Kindle
Epic
Ages: 12 & under
No list of best reading apps for kids is complete without Epic. If your kid loves digital libraries like Farfaria, Epic will open up a whole universe of discovery. With a selection of 40,000+ popular, high quality children’s books, our library is filled with opportunities for kids of all ages to become strong, confident readers.
What we love:
Epic has tons of great books for kids to enjoy, and with Epic Unlimited, kids can choose from the full library of books, audiobooks, Read-To-Me books and animated books. With a huge variety for every age, interest and reading level, Epic is truly an app that grows with young learners.
Price: Free on Epic Basic, $9.99/month or $71.99/year for Epic Unlimited.
Available on iOS, Android, Chromebook and web.
That’s our list of best reading apps for 10-year olds! For more entertaining, educational apps, check out our post: “Best Free Learning Apps for Kids.”
