Mood Tools, developed by MOOD, LLC, is a free mental health app for tweens and teens ages 9–17, offering 50+ evidence-based coping tools drawn from CBT, DBT, and ACT. Built for immediacy rather than scheduled sessions, it lets a child in the middle of a meltdown or a surge of anxiety find a useful tool within seconds.
Clearful is a writing and mindfulness app that focuses on journaling in a consistent way to plan, reflect, and practice self-care. The user opens the app each day and receives a writing prompt that they can complete. The user builds up a streak for every day where they open the app and complete the daily prompt.
Go Noodle is an app/website that hosts a wide variety of videos and activities aimed at children ages four through ten. The videos aim to help children build up their flexibility and self-awareness skills while also getting them to combine screen time with fun physical activities like dancing. For users of the website version of Go Noodle, downloadable and printable activities can be used to follow up with activities. Vamos, a video channel, provides some of the site’s activities for a Spanish-speaking audience.
Rebel Girls is an app designed for young girls to be introduced to stories of inspiring women from around the world. When the user opens the app, they simply scroll through the list of available stories and then select one that they would like to listen to. The app then plays an audio recording of the story, usually 10-15 minutes in length. The app also allows the user to favorite stories that they like and keep them saved together for future listening.
Finch is a virtual pet-keeping app designed to help the user practice their self-awareness and self-care skills. The player controls a small bird who will perform certain actions based on the input of the user. The bird will go on adventures, discover favorite foods, and ask the user for advice on different topics. Interacting with the bird will earn gems which can be used to purchase new clothing or accessories for them to wear and hold.
DailyBean is an app that allows the user to track their mood by clicking on different “bean emojis” each day that reflect different moods. When the user opens the app, they can click on the date on the calendar and then click on a range of emotions represented by the bean emojis. The user needs to select the emoji that they feel best represents their overall mood for the day. The bean will then pop up on the calendar so that the user can see how they were feeling each day in the month in one easy visual.
Instagram is a fun tool for sharing classic or quirky looking photos instantly. The app has many different filter effects to choose from, allowing users to make their photos more unique and interesting. Instagram archives pictures like a blog space, where users can see the collection of all their photos, and can also follow photo streams of other users. Instagram can be linked to Twitter, Tumblr, Facebook and other social networking accounts, as well, with settings that allow users to select exactly where to post each photo. Captured photos can be saved to the device rather than shared, and accounts cana be set to private as to not publish photos openly to the web. While the simple interface makes Instagram easy enough to use for ages 6 and up, we only recommend allowing young children to use the app in junction with an account managed by a parent or guardian.
Pinterest is a free content sharing social website where users can post images, recipes, poems, craft projects, and other creative ideas on “pinboards.” Users thematically organize their posts, or “pins,” to create a visually stimulating representation of their interests. Users often use pinboards to plan their weddings, decorate their homes, and organize their favorite recipes. Users can also browse pinboards to discover new things and get inspiration from people who share similar interests.
Pokémon GO is an augmented reality (or more accurately, a GPS location-based) game for iPhone and Android mobile devices. Part of the popular Japanese media franchise, Pokémon GO puts the player in the role of a trainer who captures, trains, and battles Pokémon — “pocket monsters” — for sport. The augmented reality (AR) nature of Pokémon GO means that the game world is a player’s actual environment. Developed by Niantic, the studio formerly part of Google and responsible for the popular underground AR game Ingress, Pokémon GO uses a device’s GPS location and camera to place Pokémon in real world places, and Pokéstops and Gyms (where players power up, level up, and battle those creatures) over actual places of interest.
Last.fm is a music streaming service that allows users to listen to their favorite songs, while discovering new artists through a comprehensive recommendation function called “autoscrobbler.” Last.fm builds a detailed profile of each user’s musical taste by recording details of the songs the user listens to. Users establish a library of favorite artists and genres, and can then stream music through Last.fm’s radio feature. Last.fm recommends music based on a user’s listening pattern, and provides information about the band and their current tour schedules.
