Five free apps to keep kids entertained during the summer

School is out and summer is here. Kids don’t have to suffer from summer tedium, not when parents have iPhones, iPads and iPods to help quell the boredom. Here are five free fun apps that will keep kids playing, learning and strategizing for hours at a time – whether on road trips, plane rides or just sitting at home.

Pirate Rush by TabTale

Okay scallywags, Pirate Rush by TabTale features pirates, high seas adventure, romance, and of course, treasure. This is TabTale’s first arcade and racing game, and kids will love it. The object is to rescue Princess Annie, who was taken by the pirate Bitter Bob. To rescue Princess Annie, you must first collect each piece of a map, which was torn into five pieces by Bitter Bob. Each piece helps you get closer to the princess' location.

Lego 4+ by Lego

Lego Lovers (and who isn't?) can build their own Lego vehicles, whether it's a truck-copter, brick-up truck or carbio van. It's simple and fun — drag and place Lego pieces to create your vehicle. Gamers devise ways to bring the cargo to the correct place and collect coins to earn more parts. Once you reach your destination, drag and drop Lego pieces to create a structure to complete the level.

SparkleFish by Whosagoodboy Partners

SparkleFish is a hilarious audio story completion game that will have your child laughing uncontrollably. In this educational game, kids record creative words in their own voice for playback inside surprising, ad-lib stories. They can save their recordings and listen to them later. SparkleFish encourages children to think more creatively, and is excellent for teachers and speech therapists.

https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/sparklefish/id432462341?mt=8

Sushi Monster by Scholastic

Kids use speed and accuracy to place sushi pieces near the monster and make the target number. By correctly formulating an equation, they feed the monster. To be successful, kids must plan ahead and strategically select numbers from their sushi counter. This app is engaging and appropriately challenging, allowing children to practice, reinforce and extend math fact fluency.

Toy Story Read-Along by Disney

To infinity and beyond! Toy Story takes kids on a fun, interactive reading adventure packed with games, movie clips, coloring pages, sing-along tunes, and surprises on every page. Children can hear the story read aloud, record their own narration or explore at their own pace. Kids turn pages manually and move back and forth through the story as they choose.