Reading Apps for Kids: Why ABCmouse 2 Is a Top Choice for Early Literacy
Built by education experts and backed by research, ABCmouse 2 helps kids ages 2–8 master reading skills through interactive play.
Built by education experts and backed by research, ABCmouse 2 helps kids ages 2–8 master reading skills through interactive play.
Reading opens up a world of imagination, communication, and discovery, and ABCmouse 2 helps children grow their literacy skills with fun, effective activities they’ll want to come back to. The app turns screen time into meaningful learning time with phonics games, sight word practice, and engaging early literacy activities that are all designed by education experts.
Why Choose ABCmouse 2 for Early Reading?
The ABCmouse 2 app supports children ages 2–8 on every step of their reading journey, from letter recognition to decoding words and reading simple sentences. With a multi-sensory, adaptive, and play-based approach, learning to read feels natural and fun for young children.
Backed by research and built on a standards-aligned curriculum, ABCmouse 2 provides thousands of engaging activities across phonics, vocabulary, comprehension, and more—all in a safe environment that’s free from third-party ads.
How ABCmouse 2 Teaches Phonics, Sight Words, & Early Literacy
Along with letter learning, vocabulary and language exposure, reading fluency and read-along books, ABCmouse 2 also brings the following:
1. Step-by-Step Phonics Practice
ABCmouse 2 makes phonics approachable and exciting:
- Animated videos and songs teach letter sounds and sound blends with catchy music and visual cues.
- Interactive games reinforce beginning sounds, word families, and blends, helping children connect letters to sounds.
- Word-building activities guide children as they blend sounds and create simple words, laying the groundwork for decoding and fluent reading.
2. Sight Word Recognition
Children learn to recognize high-frequency words through:
- Games like Cat Catch Fever and Mole in One that help children quickly identify and remember words they’ll often see in books and the real world.
- Repetition with variety ensures that sight words are reinforced across reading, art, science, and music activities.
- Progressive exposure introduces words in meaningful contexts, helping children retain and apply what they learn.
3. Adaptive Learning Paths
The ABCmouse 2 app uses AI to personalize the literacy learning experience:
- Young learners start with basic letter-sound connections and progress to more advanced word patterns and sentence reading as skills develop.
- Activities adjust based on progress, offering just the right challenge at the right time, so kids stay engaged and don’t feel overwhelmed.
- Children can revisit any activity to reinforce skills and build confidence at their own pace.
4. Progress Tracking
- ABCmouse 2 tracks which lessons a child has completed and their performance.
- Tracking progress helps identify areas where children may need extra support or reinforcement.
3. Scaffolding & Gradual Increase in Complexity
- Our reading curriculum is structured so that children move from simple concepts (letters, sounds) to more complex concepts (multisyllabic words, comprehension, grammar) in stages.
- Scaffolding supports cognitive development: children build on earlier skills to master more advanced ones.
6. Motivating & Rewarding
- Every completed activity earns tickets and rewards, keeping children motivated and reinforcing a love for learning.
- Celebration moments can boost confidence in learning, making reading feel like an achievement and something to look forward to every day.
7. Reading Across the Curriculum
With ABCmouse 2, kids read during:
- Science explorations, such as learning animal facts in Safari Park.
- Creative play, including labeling objects in Pet Town.
- Music and art, where lyrics, captions, and project steps incorporate early literacy skills.
This integrated approach helps kids understand how reading connects to everything they do.
ABCmouse Reading Activities
Here are just a few ways ABCmouse 2 makes learning to read a joyful experience:
Letter & Alphabet Learning
- Builds a solid foundation in early literacy with interactive activities that introduce and reinforce letter names, shapes, and sounds.
- Children explore the alphabet through games, songs, digital books, puzzles, and tracing activities that support both visual and auditory recognition.
Phonics Songs & Videos
- Teach sound-letter relationships with 26 original phonics songs and videos.
- Reinforce beginning, middle, and ending sounds in an engaging format kids love.
Word Games & Activities
- From games like Word Bot Sounds Sculptures to Unicorn Word Catcher, children build reading fluency through repetition and play.
- Adaptive gameplay ensures learning remains appropriately challenging and always fun.
Digital Library
- A growing collection of hundreds of digital books invites kids to explore topics that spark their curiosity, from animals to adventure to sports and space.
- The leveled readers support vocabulary development, comprehension, and reading confidence at every stage, with narration and highlighted text to support emerging readers.
- Pre-readers can enjoy read-along books that highlight the text as children hear it.
Early Writing Practice
- Interactive writing games teach spelling, word construction, and sentence building.
- Supports the connection between reading and writing, strengthening language comprehension.
Coming Soon: Printable Literacy Resources
- Offline worksheets, sight word printables, and more are coming soon and offer screen-free practice that reinforces in-app learning.
Key Reading Skills Kids Can Build with ABCmouse 2
Whether your child is just beginning to recognize letters or starting to read full sentences, ABCmouse 2 helps them grow at their own pace:
Toddlers & Preschoolers (Ages 2–4)
- Phonemic Awareness (language sounds): songs, rhymes, poetry
- Alphabet: letter awareness, letter names, letter sounds, onset/rime, alphabet sequence
- Phonics: consonants, short vowels
- Vocabulary: noun words, action words, describing words, genera
- Fluency: high-frequency words
- Literature: read alouds, oral language, storytelling, fairy tales, fun fiction, informational text
Kindergarteners (Ages 5–6)
- Phonemic Awareness (language sounds): songs, poetry, word families
- Alphabet: uppercase and lowercase letters
- Phonics/Spelling: long vowels, word families
- Vocabulary: colors, shapes, animals, weather, opposites
- Fluency: high-frequency words
- Literature: fairy tales, folk tales, fun fiction, informational text, beginning readers
- Comprehension: story events
Early Elementary (Ages 6–8)
- Phonemic Awareness (language sounds): songs, poetry
- Alphabet: letter names, letter sounds, alphabet sequence
- Phonics: consonants, short vowel, word reading, consonant blends, digraphs, vowel spellings, multisyllabic words
- Vocabulary: colors, shapes, animals, food, compound words, prefixes and suffixes, academic words, academic words
- Fluency: high-frequency words, stepped readers
- Literature: fairy tales, fun fiction, informational text, poetry
- Comprehension: story elements, fact vs. opinion, text features, author’s purpose, story elements, point of view, inferences, text features
- Language: sentences, parts of speech, noun forms, verb tense, subject/verb agreement, similes, onomatopoeia
- Writing: writing process, writing genres
Features Parents Love
Looking for the best early reading app? ABCmouse 2 stands out for families because it’s:
Engaging and child-approved
Learning to read feels like play.
Backed by research
Shown to double learning gains in literacy and math when used at least 1 hour per week*.
*Randomized control trial conducted by Age of Learning. PreK children used ABCmouse for at least 2 days/week and for at least 1 hour per week. Go to www.aofl.com/research for more information
Safe and free from third-party ads
No third-party ads—just educational content you can trust.
Expert-designed
Developed by educators and grounded in early literacy standards.
FAQs: Reading with ABCmouse 2
Can ABCmouse 2 help my child learn to read?
Absolutely. ABCmouse 2 introduces reading through phonics, sight words, and early comprehension activities designed for children ages 2–8.
How is ABCmouse 2 different from other reading apps?
ABCmouse 2 provides a personalized, research-validated approach that adapts to your child’s level. With thousands of activities and a complete literacy curriculum, it goes far beyond most apps in both depth and scope.
Does ABCmouse 2 teach phonics?
Yes. ABCmouse 2 teaches phonics through songs, videos, and interactive games that support decoding, sound blending, and word recognition.
Does ABCmouse teach sight words?
Sight words, also known as high-frequency words, are a major part of the reading path. ABCmouse 2 introduces and reinforces high-frequency words through engaging repetition, meaningful context, and cross-curricular content.
Is ABCmouse safe for young children?
Yes. ABCmouse 2 is 100% free of third-party ads and built specifically for young learners in a secure, guided environment.
What age is ABCmouse 2 best for?
The app is designed for children ages 2–8, with reading activities tailored to each stage of development, from letter recognition to reading full sentences.