Review: Montessori Crosswords for iPhone, iPad, and iPod Touch

It’s wonderful how many educational apps for preschoolers are available for the iPhone and iPad. However, there’s so many it’s often hard to find what you’re looking for in the App Store. So when I find an app that is really impressive, like Montessori Crosswords, I like to tell everyone I know about it. I also like to hear about what apps you think are the best, so please leave a comment if you have suggestions!

picture of cat and the word cat - logo for Montessori crosswords app for teaching preschoolers phonics and spelling

Montessori CrosswordsMontessori Crosswords - Teach And Learn Spelling With Phonics-Enabled Alphabet and 300 Words for Children - L'Escapadou

Best for ages: 3 to 7
by L’Escapadou
There is just one version for iPhone, iPad and iPod, so pay for it once and you can put it on all your apple mobile devices. $2.99

App Menu

You can see from the menu that there are lots of ways to use the Montessori Crosswords App. You can do really simple words with only 3 sound, you can do more complex words, or you can just play around with the letters as a movable alphabet.
menu options on Montessori crosswords app, 1, 2, 3, movable alphabet

App Options

From the settings menu you can adjust several options, including letter format (capital, lowercase, or cursive), alphabet layout, and sounds. You can customize these settings for both the movable alphabet and the crosswords game.
settings menu gives options for font, audio, letter sounds

Making Words

My favorite thing about this app is how the letter sounds are made when you tap the white boxes and when you tap the letters, so that children can gain knowledge of letter sounds, and from there construct the words on their own. That’s exactly the skills they need for reading! If they’re stuck, they can reveal the word in the upper right corner, and copy it.
alphabet and picture of a kid with boxes in which to spell k-i-d with the letters

Focus on One Sound

Another really useful feature of Montessori Crosswords is the option to focus on a particular sound. This is perfect for beginning readers, as they can build reading skills by focusing on one sound at a time.
choose a sound to focus on

When the words are completed, the child is rewarded with sparkly graphics she can drag and swirl around the screen.

Montessori Crosswords - Teach And Learn Spelling With Phonics-Enabled Alphabet and 300 Words for Children - L'Escapadou

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Disclosure: Preschool Universe is an App Store affiliate

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