The apps I've used with my own gifted child and still recommend to my private clients

What are the best apps for gifted kids?  In our family we've used four: Elevate for English and mental maths, Mathspace for curriculum-aligned maths, Problemo and Bebras for computational thinking, and the VIA Survey as an annual family reflection. Each one works best inside connection, with clear agreements and a parent close by.

Every parent of a gifted child meets this moment eventually.

The appetite for learning is bottomless. The app store is a literal jungle. And somewhere in between stands you, trying to choose well without handing your child's attention to a slot machine.

So let me save you some scrolling.

These are the apps we've used in our family, and the ones I still recommend to private clients with children around after the age of seven or so. This piece was first published in 2025. I've refreshed it since, because a recommendation should stay true or come down.

A quick note on the word gifted

Giftedness is often misunderstood as being solely about intellectual advancement. So the heightened emotionality, the vivid imagination, the body that never stops, the senses in techno-colour... these get read as disorders instead of what they often are: the five flavours of giftedness, grounded in the five overexcitabilities first described by Polish psychologist Kazimierz Dąbrowski. When those intensities show up in hard ways, it's rarely the trait itself. It's an unmet need, pent-up feelings, or missing information about themselves and the world around them.

(If you'd like the full picture, the Five Flavours are what I teach in my mini-course. https://www.devonharris.com.au/5-flavours-of-gifted)

High potential, not high achievement

One more clarification before the list. I say high potential, not high achiever. A high potential child can certainly also be a high achiever, but achievement is not the measure of giftedness and... it isn't the goal here. The goal is a love of learning and the resilience to keep at it. Achievement might follow when developmental needs are met, but we look at it as a byproduct, not a target.

The caveats (please don't skip these)

Timing matters. I sort these apps into daily, seasonal and annual rhythms, and in our family they happen before school, not after. Our culture overestimates what can be done in a fortnight and underestimates what can be done in a year. Working in rhythms sets honest expectations and builds perseverance without pressure.

Watch the designed-to-addict features. Children cannot be expected to self-regulate against features engineered by adults to be irresistible. When I introduce a new app, I use it alone first. I learn it, then turn off every notification, ping, sound and alert. If they can't be switched off, I choose another app. It's that simple.

Try greyscale. In our house, screens run in colour before midday and greyscale after, and we've found it takes the compulsive edge off. For teens, try a whole-household experiment: one typical day in colour, one in greyscale, then compare notes. The results can be genuinely surprising.

Tech is a tool of connection, not a babysitter. And I want to say this gently, because if a screen is currently holding your household together, that is not a parenting failure. It's a signal that the support around you needs reviewing, and reviewing support structures is genuinely hard work. Wherever possible though, the aim is deeper change, not just better management of screen time.

And that's the real thread through everything below.

The app is never the point. The connection beside it is.

You'll notice each recommendation comes with an Attachment Play suggestion. Attachment Play comes from Aware Parenting, the approach developed by Swiss-American developmental psychologist Dr Aletha Solter, and it's how learning and laughter stay paired. Now, the apps...

Elevate: a daily English companion

Elevate has been a daily staple in our family. It's promoted as brain training for ages 13 and up, but it's essentially high school English: writing, reading, spelling, vocabulary and mental maths in short game form.

How we use it:

• In settings, turn off all sounds and timed games. This reduces stress and restores a sense of play and exploration.

• Make a shared agreement about amount before you start. Ours is ten minutes and five games a day. Small and consistent beats long and occasional.

• Under 'activities', let your child choose their own games. Choice builds autonomy, and growth areas are visible on the same screen if you want to steer gently.

• Use growth-oriented reflections: "I think your brain grew through the challenges today," or "That looked smooth. Or was it bumpy? How did it feel for you?"

• Debrief briefly: "What's one thing that worked? What was the hardest part?"

• Set up the next session so they know what to expect: "Same time tomorrow," or "We'll skip tomorrow while we're travelling and play again the day after."

Attachment Play: I volunteer to be the chair. Body Contact Play with a little Contingency Play mixed in: my child can adjust my position, use my arms as a seatbelt, or press an imaginary vibrate 'button' on me to make me wriggle. Laughter releases tension, and learning happens where tension isn't.

Look out for: some stories in the comprehension games are heavy for younger children. Skip them. There are 42 other games to choose from.

Note for homeschoolers: the study section is excellent for deeper practice. Twenty minutes a day is usually more than enough.

Mathspace: curriculum-aligned maths

We've used Mathspace daily and love it. It aligns with the curriculum in our state, which makes it a beautiful fit for Australian families. For families elsewhere, Beast Academy and Life of Fred are worthy alternatives (we've used both). Twenty minutes a day is our ceiling; ten minutes will suit younger children.

How we use it:

• Set the grade level accurately. WIAT results help here. Parents and teachers routinely underestimate where gifted kids are at, and underestimated kids learn to hide their abilities.

• Choose 'skills', then 'all skills', and explore the sections together. Doing this side by side builds engagement and choice.

• Start each section with a check-in, and let your child choose the order they work through. Handing over the sequence can be hard for us as parents. It's also where cooperation comes from.

• Check-ins score each circle from 1 to 3, or leave it blank. Improving scores and filling in blanks becomes the quiet, satisfying game.

Attachment Play: we do Body Contact Play standing or kneeling beside each other at the desk, and I fold in Nonsense Play by making outrageously and and obvious mistakes. When I'm corrected: "Ah yes, that reminds me of the last time I was wrong, back in the summer of 1846." This kind of play keeps perfectionism from taking root.

Look out for: resist the urge to enforce the order or pace at which your child navigates the program. Learn alongside them and hold space for feelings.

Problemo and Bebras: computational thinking

Problemo's Sandpit and the Bebras Computational Thinking Challenge, both from the Australian Maths Trust, run competitions across the year and suit school learners and homeschoolers alike.

How we use them:

• A short session each day on one or two sandpit questions. Each level holds 25 to 30 questions.

• Near the end of the fortnight, set up mock test conditions at home and run one practice test.

Attachment Play: turn the tests into Power Reversal games. Your child is the teacher, you are the (hopeless) student. Let them set up the space, wield the playful teaching tools, and invent outlandish test conditions. It helps them process their whole experience of being tested.

Look out for: avoid driving the play or using it to engineer particular study habits. Show up consistently, and challenge becomes something they walk towards.

VIA Survey: an annual family reflection

Our family revisits the VIA Character Strengths Survey once a year as a reflection and planning tool. The quiz says 15 minutes. Ours takes closer to an hour, because we slow down and talk about the questions as a family. The results surface character strengths and growth edges that invite genuine curiosity and self-inquiry.

How we use it:

• Complete it together as a family while planning the learning year ahead.

• Talk through the results. What surprised us? What did we already suspect?

• Return to the values across the year, connecting everyday feelings back to the strengths they touch.

Attachment Play: one year we held a knighthood ceremony, reading each value out as a bestowal. Another year, a family fashion show, strutting an imaginary catwalk while announcing values in ridiculous voices. Ceremony optional, laughter mandatory!

The rhythm at a glance

App	Rhythm	What it's for	Watch for
Elevate	Daily, 10 minutes	English and mental maths	Heavy stories for youngsters
Mathspace	Daily, 10 to 20 minutes	Curriculum-aligned maths	Enforcing order or pace
Problemo and Bebras	Seasonal	Computational thinking	Driving the play
VIA Survey	Annual	Family values reflection	Rushing it

Key takeaways

• The app is never the point. The connection beside it is.

• Make shared agreements about time and volume before you begin.

• Strip out addictive design features, and try greyscale after midday.

• Pair every learning app with Attachment Play so laughter stays in the room.

• Daily, seasonal and annual rhythms build perseverance without pressure.
  

A last word

These four have earned their place in our family. Your family will have its own fit, its own rhythms, and perhaps it's own ridiculous catwalk.

If you'd like company working out what fits, you can read about how I work with families here. And I would genuinely love to hear your questions, or the apps that have earned their place at your kitchen table.

Devon x