Parents' Guide to PBS Kids Games

PBS Kids Games Poster Image

Common Sense Media Review

Christy Matte By Christy Matte , based on child development research. How do we rate?

age 3+

Free fun with familiar characters and learning games.

Parents Need to Know

Why Age 3+?

Any Positive Content?

Parent and Kid Reviews

age 3+

Based on 7 parent reviews

age 3+

Based on 2 kid reviews

Privacy Rating Pass

  • Personal information is not sold or rented to third parties.
  • Personal information is not shared for third-party marketing.
  • Personalised advertising is not displayed.
  • Data are not collected by third-parties for their own purposes.
  • User's information is not used to track and target advertisements on other third-party websites or services.
  • Data profiles are not created and used for personalised advertisements.

What's It About?

PBS KIDS GAMES includes more than 25 games with popular PBS Kids characters. Kids can help Elmo sneak past chicken guards to find the cookies, team up with Super Why to sort out the jumbled books, join some Dinosaur Train friends as they race down the river collecting bugs, help a mama rhino and the Wild Kratts team protect the baby rhino, and imagine a choose-your-own-adventure-style story with Daniel Tiger. There's plenty to do for kids with a range of interests and abilities, including pattern and shape matching, racing, strategy, music, and more.

Is It Any Good?

Our review:
Parents say ( 7 ):
Kids say ( 2 ):

This mini-game collection will entertain and hopefully educate preschoolers for hours on end with some of their favorite animated TV personalities. For kids who are familiar with the PBS Kids website, PBS Kids Games isn't going to offer a lot of surprises: The games are all ported over from the website. But kids will care more that the mini-games are varied, giving a bit of time to each of the many popular characters in the PBS Kids family. Parents can appreciate that the content is kid-friendly and always has an educational message built in. Sometimes the educational content is a bit heavy-handed, and sometimes it's not explicit enough, but the overall effect is positive. It's definitely a great choice for preschoolers, especially since the whole thing is free.

Talk to Your Kids About ...

  • Families can talk about why some types of screen time are "better" than others. What do you like about PBS Kids Games? Would you choose this over other apps?

  • Talk about commercial brands in games. Which characters do you recognize in the games? Do you think the games are more fun because you recognize the characters? Would you still want to play if they were completely new to you?

App Details

Did we miss something on diversity?

Research shows a connection between kids' healthy self-esteem and positive portrayals in media. That's why we've added a new "Diverse Representations" section to our reviews that will be rolling out on an ongoing basis. You can help us help kids by

PBS Kids Games Poster Image

You May Also Like...

Common Sense Media's unbiased ratings are created by expert reviewers and aren't influenced by the product's creators or by any of our funders, affiliates, or partners.

See how we rate