With the launch of iPad 2, apps development for the device is growing in leaps and bounds. Some schools are giving iPad to kids to educate them on basic lessons on alphabets, numbers, shapes etc. Moreover, busy parents have found a babysitter in their iPhone and iPad devices that allow kids to play, draw, and learn about animals, vehicles and instruments and many more while they are wrapping up tasks. Therefore, a number of educational apps for iPad and iPad 2 are growing evidentially high. These educational apps for iPad help kids and parents in a lot of ways starting from offering aid in their homework, to basic learning of every imaginable subject etc. However, plenty of such apps available at the iTunes App Store could be daunting too. To find a shortcut to the lengthy process of installing, uninstalling and experimenting with hundred apps, take a look at the following highest rated educational iPad apps instead –

Animal PreSchool Word Puzzle

The Animal PreSchool Word Puzzle iPad app has been especially popular among pre-school kids for its visually-pleasing user interface. The visually attractive user interface is designed to interest children to try this app. On launching this app, cute animated animals appear and players are prompted to match letters, number outlines with coinciding silhouettes of the animals. There are other games which prompt players to match images of animals with names and animal sounds using the noise maker! This iPad app is a good choice for parents to allow their young children to develop knowledge in animals and sounds of animals, alphabets and numbers while having fun throughout playing with the app.

Wheels on the Bus HD

Like most of the apps developed by ignited minds at Duck Duck Moose, you will be impressed with the educational value and kids focused user interface of the Wheels on the Bus HD iPad app. The Wheels on the Bus app is created as an interactive children’s book and inspired by the song “Wheels on the Bus” (that we all know). The iPad app implements a page flipping experience to the virtual book reading and now children can flip through pages through this app on iPad. Kids can manipulate various elements on the screen animation such as they can honk the bus horn and swish windshield wipers. The app also invites parents to join their kids for story time. Besides storytelling, you can discover if your child has a flair for singing too. What else? You can also record your kid’s voice while he/she sings this children’s classic.

Pre-School 12 in 1 Kids Pack

This Pre-School 12 in 1 Kids Pack iPad app, as the name suggests, consists of 12 different sections of learning at such a stellar $0.99 price tag. These sections of the app include all that you want your kids to practice, from basic letter recognition to math, sketching and color recognition, first words, identifying animals etc. to bring in bits of everything you need in just one app. At that, the bright, easy to use and pre-school children-friendly graphical interface creates an engaging educational environment for kids that they want to use this app without forcing on them.

Two other top rated educational iPad apps that you should try for your pre-school kids are Cookie Doodle and NASA App HD. Cookie Doodle will engross your kids to create virtual cookies, bake and decorate their creations while testing their ability to count eggs, differentiate between half-cup or full-cup and recognize ingredients in the recipe. The NASA App HD helps them nurture their interest in the solar system and explore the space as well. After all, almost all kids are fascinated with the universe.