The short version: the free iPhone games worth putting in front of a child are the ones built by education focused teams that don't rely on ads or in app spending to make money, which mostly means Khan Academy Kids, PBS KIDS Games and a handful of well established learning and pretend play apps. Every game below downloads its content up front so it plays offline, and I've flagged the couple that show occasional prompts so you know what to expect.
Picking apps for a child is a different job to picking a game for yourself. Storage size barely matters, since kids don't carry a hundred games around, but ads, in app spending prompts and data collection matter a great deal. I've prioritised those three things over anything else on this list.
I've also stuck to apps with a long track record rather than anything newly released, since an app that's been well reviewed by parents for years is a safer bet than one with a handful of ratings and a shiny new listing.
Learning and letters
Khan Academy Kids is completely free, with no ads and no in app purchases at all, covering reading, maths and social skills for younger children. It downloads its lesson content so it plays fully offline once set up, and it's one of the few apps in this space really funded without relying on advertising to a child.
PBS KIDS Games is a free official app bundling dozens of short games based on PBS shows. It's ad free within the app itself and plays offline once the games you want are downloaded through the app's own menu.
ABC Kids - Tracing and Phonics is a free letter tracing and phonics app that plays offline after installation, with a simple, calm design suited to very young children learning their letters.
Endless Alphabet offers a free set of letters and words to explore, with playful animations for each one. The free portion plays offline, though the full alphabet set is a paid upgrade if your child gets through the free letters quickly.
Lexercise style phonics practice is worth searching out too if your child needs extra reading support, though for most families the four apps above cover the learning and letters group well on their own.
Imaginative and pretend play
Sago Mini Friends gives young children a free, gentle pretend play experience with a small cast of animal characters. The free content plays offline, with the wider Sago Mini World subscription available separately if you want more.
Toca Kitchen 2 lets kids experiment with cooking pretend food for a group of characters, with a free base version that plays offline and extra paid characters available if wanted.
LEGO DUPLO WORLD is free to download and offers offline pretend play built around familiar DUPLO sets, with additional themed packs available as optional purchases.
Thomas and Friends: Adventures! gives younger children a free, simple train based pretend play world that plays offline once downloaded, with extra characters and areas as optional add ons.
Early years and toddler apps
Fish School is a free, simple toddler app teaching letters, numbers, shapes and colours through gentle animated fish. It's calm, ad free in its free tier, and plays fully offline.
Monkey Preschool Lunchbox is a free preschool app covering matching, counting and simple problem solving through a cheerful monkey character, with the main free content playing offline.
Peekaboo Barn, in its free lite version, is a very simple, calm app for the youngest children, built around tapping barn doors to reveal animals. It plays offline and asks nothing else of a toddler beyond tapping the screen.
Kids Numbers and Math Light is a free counting and early maths app with simple tap based games. It downloads its content up front and plays offline, with a paid full version available if your child wants more once they've worked through the free set.
How to check a game really works offline
Set the games up while connected to wifi at home, since several of them need to download their content the first time you open them, then test each one correctly before handing the phone over unsupervised.
- Turn on flight mode and open each app fresh to confirm the content you want has downloaded rather than only partially loading.
- Check whether a "parent gate" appears, a simple maths question or press and hold action before reaching any purchase or external link screen. Reputable kids apps include this by design so a child can't accidentally buy something or leave the app.
- Look at the App Store's age rating and the "Made for Kids" badge, which Apple applies to apps that meet its stricter children's privacy and content standards.
- Read the App Privacy section on the listing. Apps really built for children tend to show minimal data collection, since children's privacy law limits what they're allowed to gather in the first place.
It's also worth doing a short trial run yourself before you hand the phone to your child, playing through a few minutes of each app so you know exactly what they'll see, including any screens that appear between activities.
Avoiding fake "offline" apps full of ads
The App Store's kids category still contains apps that technically qualify but lean heavily on ads or aggressive purchase prompts between short bursts of actual content.
Stick to developers with a genuine track record in children's education, such as the names above, rather than unfamiliar studios with a single kids app and no other history.
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Watch out for apps that interrupt play with a full screen advert aimed at an adult product. Apple restricts this in apps rated for young children, so its presence is a strong sign an app is misusing its category listing.
Check reviews written by parents specifically, since they tend to mention things a general review won't, like a purchase prompt disguised as part of the game or a character that nags a child to ask an adult to buy something.
Avoid any app that asks a child to tap through several screens before reaching the actual game or activity. A well designed kids app gets to the point quickly and doesn't bury the content under menus and offers.
Every free games guide I have written is indexed on the free games hub.
If you want the wider picture, see free PC games with no download.
Related: 1000 Free Games to Play Offline (No Wifi Required).
Wondering how to find kids games with no ads? I've got a tested list. Here are cricket game downloads that work with no wifi.
Frequently asked questions
Are any of these apps completely free with no purchases at all?
Khan Academy Kids and PBS KIDS Games are both fully free with nothing to buy inside either app. The others offer a really playable free tier with optional paid extras, which I've noted individually above.
What age range do these apps suit?
Peekaboo Barn and Fish School suit toddlers from around two years old, the learning apps like Khan Academy Kids and ABC Kids work well from about three to six, and the pretend play apps sit comfortably across that whole range depending on how much reading is involved.
Do I need to set up parental controls separately from these apps?
It's still worth it. Apple's Screen Time settings let you restrict in app purchases device wide, which adds a second layer of protection even on apps that already include their own parent gates.
Can a toddler use these apps without adult help?
The early years apps, Fish School and Peekaboo Barn especially, are designed for a toddler to use with minimal help beyond starting the app. The learning apps aimed at slightly older children benefit from an adult nearby for the first few sessions.
Do these apps need my child to have their own Apple ID?
No, all of them can be installed and played from a parent's Apple ID with no separate child account needed, though Apple's Family Sharing and Screen Time tools give you more control if you'd rather set one up.
Will these apps work on an older iPhone handed down to a child?
Most will, since these apps are built to run on a wide range of devices, but check the App Store's minimum iOS version against the hand me down phone's software version before relying on it, particularly for the newer learning apps.
How do I stop these apps from using data once I'm out and about?
Turn on flight mode, or turn off mobile data specifically for each app in the iPhone's Settings menu under the app's own data permissions, and the offline content will keep working exactly as it did at home.
What should I do if one of these apps starts showing more adverts than it used to?
Treat that as a sign the app has changed hands or updated its business model, check the most recent App Store reviews for other parents reporting the same thing, and consider deleting it and reinstalling an older, better behaved alternative from this list instead.
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