Apps to use in your ministry – and their descriptions
(I called this “updated” because I wrote one a few years ago and it is pretty outdated :) it was easier to start over than to edit!)
We have 5 ipads that each class uses once a month. I spend time developing a lesson plan, searching for "applicable" apps that would fit with the story and then writing it out. Rarely (with David and Goliath being the exception) do the kids ever play games - these apps and lessons promote creativity, working together, writing, drawing, thinking and learning. It brings their world into the church and shows them how to use this technology in a positive, uplifting way :) I've developed around 15 lesson plans with around 15 different apps for 15 different stories and I've uploaded 10 so far on my teachers pay teachers store. They're only $3 each (or 10 for $20) if you're interested. The links are listed below the apps I used. Have you found another app that was awesome? let me know below! they are infinite and forever changing :)
We have 5 ipads that each class uses once a month. I spend time developing a lesson plan, searching for "applicable" apps that would fit with the story and then writing it out. Rarely (with David and Goliath being the exception) do the kids ever play games - these apps and lessons promote creativity, working together, writing, drawing, thinking and learning. It brings their world into the church and shows them how to use this technology in a positive, uplifting way :) I've developed around 15 lesson plans with around 15 different apps for 15 different stories and I've uploaded 10 so far on my teachers pay teachers store. They're only $3 each (or 10 for $20) if you're interested. The links are listed below the apps I used. Have you found another app that was awesome? let me know below! they are infinite and forever changing :)
thanks and God bless...
-Laurie
Canva: Create beautiful designs and professional
graphics with Canva. Whether it’s a photo editor, pic collage, logo, invitation
or poster maker you’re looking for — Canva makes graphic design easy. Canva is
available on your iPhone, iPad and computer so you can create, edit and share
your designs when it suits you most
Facebook: one of the main ways I communicate with the parents in my church; make events, groups, "boost" you posts so more people see them, etc
Keynote (powerpoint): Keynote is the most powerful presentation app ever designed for a mobile device. Built from the ground up for iPad, iPhone, and iPod touch, it makes creating a world-class presentation — complete with animated charts and cinematic transitions — as simple as touching and tapping.
I actually created a jeopardy board for the story of Joseph and wrote a lesson plan to go with it :)
I actually created a jeopardy board for the story of Joseph and wrote a lesson plan to go with it :)
Art Studio:
$5
ArtStudio is the most comprehensive, sketching, painting and photo editing tool in the App Store. Completely re-designed from the ground up the new ArtStudio features a beautiful new user interface and a powerful new graphics engine to make creating works of art faster, easier, and more fun! Using advanced drawing algorithms this is the fastest and most precise version of ArtStudio to date.
ArtStudio is the most comprehensive, sketching, painting and photo editing tool in the App Store. Completely re-designed from the ground up the new ArtStudio features a beautiful new user interface and a powerful new graphics engine to make creating works of art faster, easier, and more fun! Using advanced drawing algorithms this is the fastest and most precise version of ArtStudio to date.
Introducing Artstudio Pro, the most powerful
painting and photo editing app available for both iOS and macOS. The successor
to our famous ArtStudio app has been redesigned bringing many new features and
improvements taking full advantage of the latest technologies Metal, iCloud
Drive, Apple Pencil, and optimized for 64-bit multi-core processors to achieve the
smoothest possible workflow.
PDF Expert 6 is an essential app for anyone who
reads, highlights, signs and fills out PDFs on their iPhone and iPad. With an
additional in-app purchase PDF Expert 6 acquires the unique superpower to edit existing
PDF text, replace images and hide sensitive data.
Make amazing photos, from anywhere.
Adobe Lightroom CC for mobile is a free app that gives you a powerful, yet simple solution for capturing, editing and sharing your photos. And you can upgrade for premium features that give you precise control with seamless access across all your devices – mobile, desktop and web.
Adobe Lightroom CC for mobile is a free app that gives you a powerful, yet simple solution for capturing, editing and sharing your photos. And you can upgrade for premium features that give you precise control with seamless access across all your devices – mobile, desktop and web.
Stay in touch whether you’re separated by a
hallway or a hemisphere. Get your group together.
Whether you're in the classroom, at home, or
anywhere in between, Remind makes it easy to stay connected to your school
community.
More than 27 million educators, students, and parents use Remind in over 95% of U.S. public school districts.
More than 27 million educators, students, and parents use Remind in over 95% of U.S. public school districts.
Edmodo is a free classroom communication hub
that lets you engage with your classes and connect with teachers
globally.
ClassDojo is a beautiful, safe, and simple
communication app for teachers, parents, and students.
* Teachers can encourage students for any skill, like “Working hard” and “Teamwork”
* Teachers can bring parents into the classroom experience by sharing photos, videos, and announcements
* Teachers can also safely and instantly message with any parent
Pages:
* Teachers can encourage students for any skill, like “Working hard” and “Teamwork”
* Teachers can bring parents into the classroom experience by sharing photos, videos, and announcements
* Teachers can also safely and instantly message with any parent
Pages:
Pages is the most beautiful word processor
you’ve ever seen on a mobile device. This powerful word processor helps you
create gorgeous reports, resumes, and documents in minutes. Pages has been
designed exclusively for the iPad, iPhone, and iPod touch with support for
Multi-Touch gestures and Smart Zoom.
Explain Everything is a free-form creation tool
that innovates getting a message from your mind to the eyes and ears of
audiences, all from a mobile device.
It works like an interactive whiteboard, allowing for quick communication with students, colleagues, and customers. Groups of any size can work together in real-time and use seamless integrations with Box, Dropbox, iCloud, and more.
ANIMATE YOUR THINKING
• Create slides using an infinite canvas, use a laser pointer, draw in any color, add shapes, text,
math equations, videos, images and audio files
• Record everything you do within the app (even yourself while using the front-facing camera)
to create high quality, creative and valuable content for others to learn from!
It works like an interactive whiteboard, allowing for quick communication with students, colleagues, and customers. Groups of any size can work together in real-time and use seamless integrations with Box, Dropbox, iCloud, and more.
ANIMATE YOUR THINKING
• Create slides using an infinite canvas, use a laser pointer, draw in any color, add shapes, text,
math equations, videos, images and audio files
• Record everything you do within the app (even yourself while using the front-facing camera)
to create high quality, creative and valuable content for others to learn from!
Turn your iPad into your personal interactive
whiteboard!
ShowMe allows you to record voice-over whiteboard tutorials and share them online. It’s an amazingly simple app that anyone can use, no matter how young or old!
ShowMe allows you to record voice-over whiteboard tutorials and share them online. It’s an amazingly simple app that anyone can use, no matter how young or old!
Publisher Expert - View, Edit, Convert
Microsoft Publisher(.pub) to Photo, Adobe PDF and Apple Pages formats
Publisher Expert is a must-have app for anyone who reads, edits, prints and converts MS Publisher document on the iPhone. It allows you to view and edit MS Publisher document directly, export as PDF and Pages formats to reuse it.
Publisher Expert is a must-have app for anyone who reads, edits, prints and converts MS Publisher document on the iPhone. It allows you to view and edit MS Publisher document directly, export as PDF and Pages formats to reuse it.
This is a user-friendly application to create
stylish posters and various invitation cards.
All-Reminder is a lovely app which will remind
you everything, may it be a Call, SMS or Email. It relieves you from the burden
of remembering when to make a call to someone or send them SMS or email.
With it, you just have to create your important schedules and at the time you specify, it will alert you through a notification. You can then take actions right from the lock screen or notification center to send SMS, Email or Call.
With it, you just have to create your important schedules and at the time you specify, it will alert you through a notification. You can then take actions right from the lock screen or notification center to send SMS, Email or Call.
Green Screen – by do ink $3
The #1 Green Screen app for the iPad in
Education, now available for the iPhone too! Green Screen by Do Ink makes it
easy to create incredible green screen videos and photos. Classroom-tested by
kids and teachers, this app emphasizes ease-of-use and simplicity while still
enabling fantastic results. With Green Screen by Do Ink, you can tell a story,
explain an idea, and express yourself in truly creative and unique ways.
Splice -
Simple yet powerful, Splice makes it easy to
create fully customized, professional-looking videos on your iPhone, iPad or
iPod touch. Imagine the performance of a desktop editor, optimized for your
mobile device. Just tap to trim clips, adjust transitions, add slow motion
effects and more to create beautiful videos you’ll love to share. It’s never
been easier to edit like a pro on the go.
Instagram: Great place to advertise events - be wary of posting pics
Youtube: create a kidsafe youtube channel that they can subscribe to and watch videos that you use in Sunday school, videos that you make, etc.
Bible Gateway: Take the Bible with you wherever you go. The Bible Gateway App is the OFFICIAL and FREE mobile Bible reading and learning experience from BibleGateway.com.
Check – In
Nursery Alert – (mixed reviews) $4
Nursery Alert is a simple mobile app to be used
in church nurseries or classrooms. It allows churches of any size and any
number of classrooms to notify parents of issues without the use of klunky,
expensive beepers or pagers that get lost pretty easy.
Check in Easy – (great reviews)
Check In Easy is for simple and fast guest
registration, check-in, and management at events from 2 people to 200,000. Honored as one of the top 10 event &
meeting apps at Tech-Fest!
(must have a kidddo account to use this
app) Kidddo is Child Check-In,
simplified. Keep tabs on the kids in your church, daycare or gym, track
attendance, print name labels, page guardians via SMS.
Lambslist – this is $500 a year and
it seems to only have an online site…no app.
You must already have an account at Planning
Center to use this software.
The Planning Center Services app is the best way to access your Planning Center Services account on your iOS device. Planning Center Services is an online scheduling and worship planning application to keep your staff and volunteers connected. and if you are a musician, use the media player or attachments section to access music for rehearsals.
The Planning Center Services app is the best way to access your Planning Center Services account on your iOS device. Planning Center Services is an online scheduling and worship planning application to keep your staff and volunteers connected. and if you are a musician, use the media player or attachments section to access music for rehearsals.
Prek Games
Bible Heroes – ranges from $1-$3
Esther, Daniel, Moses (2), David and
Goliath, Noah, Joseph and his coat , Jonah – 7 interactive stories bundle for
$10. To find the bundle, go to one of
the above apps and then scroll down to “more apps by Kingdom Media”. The bundle has the icon:
Find Me If You Can brings a new one-of-a-kind
experience where your child is the star! Personalized with your child’s name
and photo throughout the book, Find Me If You Can provides a fresh take on the
hide and seek experience. With engaging animation and sound effects, your
child’s face will light up as they look for their picture hiding amongst other
faces, floating with balloons, soaking in candy treats, and flying far into
outer space. This was a really cool app we used with the Prodigal son story. You can get my lesson plan here.
Bible app for kids (download as you
go, great for prek)
Through interactive adventures and beautiful
animations, kids explore the big stories of the Bible. The Bible App for Kids
is a delight-filled experience designed to encourage kids to return again and
again. It’s the beginning of a lifelong love of God’s Word.
Writing wizard - $5
Writing Wizard is designed to help every child
learn how to trace letters, numbers, and words through a fun system carefully
designed to maintain motivation.
Fish HD –
A playful underwater experience with 8 educational
activities, this award-winning app teaches letters, numbers, shapes, colors and
more. Watch colorful fish create letters; Recognize numbers and learn to count
from 1 to 20; Follow the fish as they form shapes; Touch, tap and drag to make
fish and other colorful sea life do funny things; Listen to classical
variations of the ABC Song. AWARDS: Parents’ Choice Gold Award; Children’s
Technology Review Editor’s Choice Award. AGES: 2-5.
There are tons of ways to play:
- Create and customize your spud in any way you want! Create a funny face, put an arm where an ear should be, and any other crazy combination.
- Comes with two complete play sets. A one time in-app purchase unlocks 13 more play sets giving you over 200 mix-and-match parts.
- Take your Mr. Potato Head on spud-tacular interactive adventures to fantastic places with fullscreen touch sensitivity.
- Capture and share pictures of special and crazy moments!
- Create and customize your spud in any way you want! Create a funny face, put an arm where an ear should be, and any other crazy combination.
- Comes with two complete play sets. A one time in-app purchase unlocks 13 more play sets giving you over 200 mix-and-match parts.
- Take your Mr. Potato Head on spud-tacular interactive adventures to fantastic places with fullscreen touch sensitivity.
- Capture and share pictures of special and crazy moments!
Group Games
adventure Bible games for kids (this
summer?) – at the moment this isn't available but hopefully it will be up and running summer 2018
SIX Bible Games In One App!
* Who Wants to be a Bible Millionaire! , TruthQuest, Leopardy.
* X Marks the Spot – Test your knowledge of where important events in the Bible took place by dragging flags over to the correct location on each Bible map.
* Leapin’ Lemur – Guess the missing letters to solve each Bible verse. If you like Hangman, you’ll like Leapin’ Lemur.
* Books of the Bible – Reorder each small group of Bible books on the shelf. Before you know it, you’ll have memorized the order of all 66 books of the Bible!
* Who Wants to be a Bible Millionaire! , TruthQuest, Leopardy.
* X Marks the Spot – Test your knowledge of where important events in the Bible took place by dragging flags over to the correct location on each Bible map.
* Leapin’ Lemur – Guess the missing letters to solve each Bible verse. If you like Hangman, you’ll like Leapin’ Lemur.
* Books of the Bible – Reorder each small group of Bible books on the shelf. Before you know it, you’ll have memorized the order of all 66 books of the Bible!
Kahoot -
Play fun learning games and cool quizzes
anywhere and anytime, on your own or with your friends. Kahoot! makes learning
awesome - and homework, too!
I wrote a lesson plan using this app! Find it here.
I wrote a lesson plan using this app! Find it here.
touch the sound – $1
Touch the Sound is a fun new game that allows
your kid to explore the world of sounds one touch at a time.
This app focused on helping kids learn to recognize familiar sounds and match the sounds to the picture. The interface is so simple to use, that even little babies will delight in using this app.
Here are a few lesson plans that I wrote that had to do with sound. It uses some youtube videos and a few other apps.
This app focused on helping kids learn to recognize familiar sounds and match the sounds to the picture. The interface is so simple to use, that even little babies will delight in using this app.
Here are a few lesson plans that I wrote that had to do with sound. It uses some youtube videos and a few other apps.
Fighter verses: memorize Bible – $3
The Fighter Verses Bible memory system was
created to help believers persevere in the fight of faith by arming them with
God's Word. Designed for children through adults, this system allows
individuals, groups, or entire churches to memorize and review at their own
pace.
Do you need to create your own WordSearch
puzzles for your students or activity group? PuzzleMaker lets you create
puzzles form scratch, in minutes, using just your iPad.
I wrote a lesson that turned out to be pretty fun with this app. Find it here!
I wrote a lesson that turned out to be pretty fun with this app. Find it here!
Bitsboard Pro – $20
WHAT YOU GET:
• Access to the Bitsboard catalog including tens of thousands of gorgeous flashcards and carefully curated lessons covering hundreds of topics.
• Bitsboard is ideal for learning languages, mastering vocabulary, learning to read, learning to speak, becoming the next spelling champion and so much more…
• Bitsboard is fully customizable to meet your specific learning needs
OVER 25+ POWERFUL MINI GAMES / STUDY MODES IN 1 APP I
• Access to the Bitsboard catalog including tens of thousands of gorgeous flashcards and carefully curated lessons covering hundreds of topics.
• Bitsboard is ideal for learning languages, mastering vocabulary, learning to read, learning to speak, becoming the next spelling champion and so much more…
• Bitsboard is fully customizable to meet your specific learning needs
OVER 25+ POWERFUL MINI GAMES / STUDY MODES IN 1 APP I
Bingo Board Generator -
Save time! You can create and print your own custom BINGO cards in minutes.
Save paper! Decide exactly how many BINGO cards to print per page.
Save money! Download hundreds of existing Bingo cards for free from our catalog
Every Bingo card is randomly generated so if you have 30 kids in your class, each will have a unique Bingo card.
Keep kids engaged! Kids will love hearing a familiar voice and seeing familiar words and photos while playing Bingo.
Save time! You can create and print your own custom BINGO cards in minutes.
Save paper! Decide exactly how many BINGO cards to print per page.
Save money! Download hundreds of existing Bingo cards for free from our catalog
Every Bingo card is randomly generated so if you have 30 kids in your class, each will have a unique Bingo card.
Keep kids engaged! Kids will love hearing a familiar voice and seeing familiar words and photos while playing Bingo.
Bible Trivia is the most fun you'll have
studying the Bible! This app is ok – if you just want something to fill time together as a
group…but the reviews aren’t super.
Our Faves
3… 2… 1… ACTION! With Toontastic 3D you can
draw, animate, and narrate your own cartoons. It’s as easy as play. Just move
your characters around on screen, tell your story, and Toontastic records your
voice and animations and stores it on your device as a 3D video. Toontastic is
a powerful and playful way to create interstellar adventures, breaking news
reports, video game designs, family photo albums, and anything else you might
imagine! you can find a lesson plan I wrote with this app here.
vittle – free or upgrade ($3?) this is the lite version; once you get it upgrade to the regular version
Vittles combine your photos, handwriting, and
voice into engaging screencast videos that can be instantly shared with anyone.
I LOVE this app and have used it with a few Bible stories. Here is a lesson plan for one of them. And here is a youtube video of my 4th/5th graders' final product spliced together :)
I LOVE this app and have used it with a few Bible stories. Here is a lesson plan for one of them. And here is a youtube video of my 4th/5th graders' final product spliced together :)
Storytelling is a fantastic way to promote
literacy, comprehension, creative thinking, and self-driven learning. My Story
is an amazing way to engage your K-5 students.
* Create and share ebooks and movies of your stories by adding drawings, photos, and stickers. Export to iBooks!
I've used this app (there are other story maker apps) for multiple stories. Here is my lesson plan. And here.
* Create and share ebooks and movies of your stories by adding drawings, photos, and stickers. Export to iBooks!
I've used this app (there are other story maker apps) for multiple stories. Here is my lesson plan. And here.
comiclife 3 – $5
The Most Powerful Photo Comic Creation App
Available. Packed with fonts, templates,
balloons, captions, and lettering art, Comic Life is a fun, powerful and
easy-to-use app that makes creating comics easier than ever. And now you can
build your comics anywhere you like!
felt board – $3
Design scenes, dress up characters and let your
imagination soar as you invent your own stories with Felt Board. Especially
designed for imaginative play, storytelling and learning, Felt Board is perfect
for children, families, teachers and therapists. You can find a lesson plan I wrote with this app here.
showme -
Turn your iPad into your personal interactive
whiteboard!
ShowMe allows you to record voice-over whiteboard tutorials and share them online. It’s an amazingly simple app that anyone can use, no matter how young or old!
ShowMe allows you to record voice-over whiteboard tutorials and share them online. It’s an amazingly simple app that anyone can use, no matter how young or old!
sock puppets - free or $4
Create your own lip-synched videos and share
them on Facebook and YouTube. Add Puppets, props, scenery, and backgrounds and
start creating. Hit the record button and the puppets automatically lip-synch
to your voice.
bible word search puzzle (Giant Bible
word search) –
word
searches for different books of the Bible and different scriptures and
different characters/ stories
Create your own puzzles!
What will you look like when you’re old? And
what about your friends? Find out with AgingBooth, an easy to use and amazing
face aging machine on your iPhone, iPod Touch & iPad.
Colorfy –
The ORIGINAL coloring book! Join over 25
million users in a relaxing experience. Paint mandalas, patterns, animals,
florals, and thematic images from our artists - or upload your own drawings and
give them even more life!
Chatterpix Kids can make anything talk -- pets,
friends, doodles, and more. Simply take any photo, draw a line to make a
mouth, and record your voice. Then share your Pix with friends and family as
silly greetings, playful messages, creative cards, or even fancy book reports.
And best of all, it’s FREE! AGES: 5-12
MORE APPS…
create beautiful stop motion animated movies anywhere instantly on your
device. Everything you need is right at your fingertips. No computer needed.
It's simple to use, deceptively powerful and insanely fun to play with. Create
fantastic movies your friends will enjoy or share it with the world on YouTube,
Facebook and other sites. Cool themes, titles and sound effects are easy to
add, too
Beginner Bible (six free stories and
pay for the rest) -
The bestselling Bible storybook of all time
with over 6 million copies sold is now available in an iPad app that includes
enhanced audio with compelling narration, music, and sound effects that help
bring 94 Bible stories to life like never before.
With Bible characters you can touch, coloring pages, puzzles, and games, this special iPad edition of The Beginner’s Bible brings God’s Word to children ages 2-6 in an engaging and interactive way.
With Bible characters you can touch, coloring pages, puzzles, and games, this special iPad edition of The Beginner’s Bible brings God’s Word to children ages 2-6 in an engaging and interactive way.
QR reader for ipad - The most simple & easy QR Reader - 100% FREE. Now scans QR codes, barcodes, documents and puzzles.
Look & Find Bible (one story free
for OT and NT, $3 to unlock all)
Look, find, and learn with search-and-find
illustrations from five adventure-filled Old Testament stories. While searching
for hidden items, kids can explore Noah's amazing ark, the Israelites escaping
across the sea, the walls of Jericho, David's battle with Goliath, and Jonah
being swallowed by a big fish. Also a NT version.
Plants by Tinybop – $2
Discover nature’s wonders! Explore the forest,
desert, and grasslands. Play and learn as plant and animal species spring to
life in ecosystems around the world. Observe seasons, experiment with weather,
see how creatures live, and more. (great for creation)
Skyview –
SkyView® Lite brings stargazing to everyone!
Simply point your iPhone, iPad, or iPod at the sky to identify stars, constellations,
satellites, and more!
David and
Goliath
Cheesy little game J
The epic story of David vs. Goliath from the
Bible! Help David go from shepherd to hero with tons of slinging, lion fighting
and lyre practice along the way! Can you get him ready to face Goliath?
Experience the Breathtaking Bible Tale of David
and Goliath Like Never Before! Join David, Goliath, King Saul, and the armies of
Israel and the Philistines as They Battle. Educational
games inside: puzzles, matching games, shapes, counting and more!
My lesson plan for David and Goliath is here.
CHRISTMAS
Sing along Christmas carols (3 free,
pay $4 for 50 more) –
Love to sing along to Christmas Carols, but
can't always remember all the words? Or simply wish you knew more carols to
sing? Then get our handy little Christmas Carol karaoke-style app.
a Charlie brown christmas by loud
crow interactive – $5
Play Schroeder's piano, finger paint with the gang, and go carolling
with the Peanuts choir. Participate in the Spectacular Super-Colossal
Neighborhood Christmas Lights and Display Contest to unlock decorations for
your very own Charlie Brown Christmas Tree! With something to discover on every
page, this is one interactive Peanuts adventure you won't want to miss this
holiday season!! (totally worth the $5!)
Best Christmas app for toddlers andkids (xmas around the world) - $2
Takes your child “around the world” for a
special view of Celebrations in other Continents and cultures! Select
countries, find all hidden animations, and be surprised at how they react! It’s
a superb mix of learning and entertainment...
For kids:
One of the only apps that seamlessly integrates story and activities to create a truly engaging and interactive experience for hours of great Bible instruction and fun!
For parents:
A unique “Parent Portal” that helps you take an active part in your child’s Bible learning. Browse our Parent’s Discussion Guide for ideas on helping your kids apply Scripture lessons from the birth of Jesus Christ.
One of the only apps that seamlessly integrates story and activities to create a truly engaging and interactive experience for hours of great Bible instruction and fun!
For parents:
A unique “Parent Portal” that helps you take an active part in your child’s Bible learning. Browse our Parent’s Discussion Guide for ideas on helping your kids apply Scripture lessons from the birth of Jesus Christ.
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