Do educational apps actually teach toddlers anything 18 months to 3 years?

What the evidence says

For babies and toddlers under 2, the Canadian answer is simple: apps don't teach them anything useful. The Canadian Paediatric Society says screen time isn't recommended at this age because there's no proof it helps the brain grow, and there's good evidence it can cause harm, like less time for talking, playing, and moving.

For toddlers between 2 and 3, things get more mixed. Some studies found toddlers can learn new words or shapes from an app in a lab setting. But other research found toddlers often do worse when they have to actively tap and swipe, compared to just watching, because managing the app itself takes up brain power that could go toward learning.

One big problem is called transfer. This means taking what you learn on a screen and using it in real life. Research shows toddlers are generally poor at this. A study on toddlers aged 24 to 36 months found they struggled to use information from video to solve a real-world hiding game, though apps that respond to touch helped a little more than video that just played on its own.

A Canadian study from Memorial University found that 2- and 3-year-olds could learn to operate a tablet and pick up some story details from an e-book, and that 3-year-olds did better than 2-year-olds. This shows some learning is possible, but it depends heavily on the child's age and the app's design.

The bottom line from Canadian experts: even if an app can teach a narrow skill in a study, it's not a replacement for playing, talking, and reading with your child. If you do use apps with a toddler over 2, sit with them and talk about what's happening, the same way you would with a book.