Understanding about digital wellness has grown enormously in recent years, and its importance for the development of children is reflected in the wealth of apps and other tools that are now available.

We’ve looked into the options that are available for parents who want to proactively enhance their children’s digital wellbeing, and our recommendations are listed below:

This app provides ideas for how children and parents can interact with each other, and has been shown to increase child concentration, determination, and decision-making.

Availability: Apple & Android

App price: Free, with in-app purchases

Suitability: Children aged 0-5

Website: https://www.easypeasyapp.com

This app uses Cognitive Behavioral Therapy strategies that can help both adults and teenagers to relax, be mindful, and improve their ability to handle mental health issues like anxiety.

Availability: Apple & Android

App price: Free

Suitability: 12+

Website: https://www.anxietycanada.com/resources/mindshift-cbt/

In this game, children get to complete missions related to their wellbeing. It uses a science-based approach that helps them develop resilience and coping skills, as well as a better understanding of their own minds.

Availability: web platform

App price: Free

Suitability: Children aged 7-12

Website: https://hundred.org/en/innovations/mind-moose

This is the children’s section of their adult fitness app, and was designed with the objective of improving their exercise habits and reducing obesity.

Availability: Apple and Android

App price: Kids content is free

Suitability: Children aged 7-14

Website: https://app.sworkit.com/collections/kids-workouts

Smiling Mind is a meditation app for people of all ages. Created with students in mind, it has a useful feature on mindfulness in the classroom, and has a user-friendly interface that records your progress, and how your emotions change, over time. 

Availability: Apple and Android

App price: Free

Suitability: 7+

Website: https://www.smilingmind.com.au

This is a popular mindfulness app for all ages, and will help kids fall asleep and wake up peacefully. It aims to keep children “calm and focused” during short meditation exercises, and provides a range of features for general health and wellbeing.

Availability: Apple and Android

App price: Free

Suitability: 12+

Website: https://www.headspace.com

This app is a tool for helping young kids to develop coping skills in the face of frustrating situations. With the help of classic Sesame Street characters, they’ll learn things like problem-solving, self-control, planning, and perseverance.

Availability: Apple and Android

App price: Free

Suitability: Kids aged 2-5

Website: https://sesamestreetincommunities.org/activities/breathe-think-do/

This app is a great tool for stoking your kid’s interest in the night sky, while also showing them how technology can be applied to the real world in an educational way. This app uses your location to calculate where all the stars and planets are, and allows you to see them - even during the day.

Availability: Apple and Android

App price: Free

Suitability: 2+

Website: https://www.escapistgames.com/sc.html

This game has been designed to help children and their parents to develop emotional regulation and stress-control in the face of difficult situations.

Availability: Apple and Android

App price: Free

Suitability: Kids aged 3+

Website: http://chillpanda.co.uk

This is a great educational tool that’s designed to get kids dancing, jumping, and moving around the living room, with a library of short, entertaining, and interactive videos, and other activities.

Availability: Apple and Android

App price: Free

Suitability: Kids aged 5-12

Website: https://www.gonoodle.com

Shortcomings in the Available Apps

There are a range of tools for monitoring and aiding sleep for any age, as well as apps that either provide children with a passive viewing experience or are designed to be used in isolation.

There still remains a real shortage of apps that actively engage both parents and young children, and that promote real-world interaction and learning, but this will certainly change in the future.

For the moment, we’ve created an exhaustive digital wellbeing hub for anyone who wants to learn about their personal wellness, as well as how to develop it in their children.