TECH BYTE: Smartphone Apps for Summer Slide

CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. (WDEF) — We’re in the middle of summer. And with the kids out school, you need to keep them busy, and out of trouble.

Some smartphone apps can help.

Just because your kids aren’t in school, doesn’t mean they can’t be learning outside of the classroom!

That’s where tech comes in.

The free Geocaching app is what AT&T’s Laurie Starcher uses with her kids.

It’s known as the world’s largest treasure hunting community.

“You’re finding little trinkets and they’re really learning ways to read a map and how to use coordinates. So that’s really fun to do,” Starcher said.

The Heads Up! app is like Charades for your phone.

Starcher says it’s easy to play the game.

“There’s a word that comes across,” Starcher said. “You put the phone on top of your head, right? And where it comes across and you’re asking different clues to guess what it is. It’s really fun. My kids have done it while waiting in line at restaurants.”

The app even works great if you’re on vacation, and in a long line for a ride at a theme park.

It doesn’t hurt to have a little something to make the time go by faster for both you and your kids.

Roblox is another fun app for using your imagination.

Creators call it “the ultimate virtual universe, that lets you create, share experiences with friends, and be anything you can imagine.”

There are millions of those experiences to choose from if your kid is up for an epic adventure.

The app is recommended for ages 12 and up.

Let’s also not forget Wordle, which blew up last year.

The game is challenging, and something you can play as a whole family.

You get six tries to guess a hidden five letter word.

Each time you guess, the tiles will show different colors, so you can see how close you are to guessing the correct word.

There’s a new puzzle each day, so you won’t get the same word twice.

You can play different versions of Wordle on your phone, and a computer.

All of these games can help keep kids busy, while still using their brain, and learning something new at the same time.

You can find all of these free game apps, and plenty more of them, in your phone’s app store.