Side by Play is learning games a parent and a kid play together: counting, letters, a states and capitals game, and feelings, for ages 3 to 6. You sit next to them and read the line at the top. They do the tapping. It’s built for 15 minutes before bed.
My oldest didn’t talk until he was almost 2.
But sit him next to me with a math problem on my iPad and he lit up. So every night, we spent 15 to 30 minutes playing games we made up on it.
He started reading at 3, so he could read his own math problems on Khan Academy.
When he was old enough for kindergarten, the school wanted to start him in 2nd grade because of how he tested.
We have four kids now, and all four have tested into gifted. I think a huge part of that is simple: a little time, on purpose, going over the basics together.
Almost everything in Side by Play is one of the games we used to play. Now your family can play them too.
Not a sponsor. We just love Khan Academy.
Joel PettigrewDad of four, and the one who built this
Short on purpose, and the app ends it for you.
5, 10, 15 or 20 minutes. The time left sits in the corner of every screen.
The app stays quiet unless you turn sound on. Every screen has one line for you to read out loud.
When time’s up, the app winds down from wherever you are. Every star they’ve earned hangs in a night sky, colored by what they learned.
Kids spend their stars and the grown-up has to do it: a silly dance, a song in a funny voice, one extra book.
More than one kid? Each one gets their own stars and sky, and one tap switches who’s playing. Just exploring? Just learning earns no stars and keeps nothing.
What you’ll play
Four tracks, each with easy and harder levels, so a 3 year old and a 6 year old both have somewhere to go.
Counting BoardReal math with things you can count, stamped or drawn right on the board.
Letters and RhymesTrace it, hear it, rhyme it, then draw something silly.
Map PiecesDrag a piece back into the map. Then go find its capital.
FeelingsName the face. Make the face. Then talk about your day.
Nothing to sign up for, and nobody selling anything to your kid.
Stars, names and drawings stay on the tablet. It all works with the wifi off.
No subscription, and nothing to buy inside the app.
It’s a one-time buy, so it works as a gift. How you send it depends on their device.
In the App Store app, open Side by Play, tap Share, then Gift App. They get an email, tap Redeem, and it downloads.
Apple’s stepsGoogle Play doesn’t let you gift a single app. Send a Google Play gift card instead, and they buy it with that.
Google Play gift cardsKids 3 to 6, playing with a grown-up. Every track starts easy, and the harder levels stretch toward first grade.
There are no ads, no chat, no links out of the app, and nothing a kid does is sent anywhere. It’s built for you to be sitting right there.
No ads, and nothing to buy inside. You pay once when you get it, and that’s the whole thing.
Yes. Everything lives on the device, so it works in the car, on a plane, or with the wifi off at bedtime.
As much as you pick. The timer runs 5 to 20 minutes and ends on a calm screen, and the whole idea is that you’re sitting there too.
Yes. Each kid gets their own stars, sky and levels, and one tap on the home screen switches who’s playing.
It’s out now. iPad and iPhone get it from the App Store, and Android phones and tablets get it from Google Play. It’s $2.99, once.
Yes. On an iPad or iPhone, open it in the App Store, tap Share, then Gift App. Google Play can’t gift a single app, so for Android a Google Play gift card is the way to do it.
Most are built to keep a kid busy on their own. This one is built for you to sit next to them. And there’s no subscription.
It’s out now on iPad, iPhone and Android. You pay once, and there’s nothing else to buy inside it.