I've spent countless of hours reading over iPad app reviews online, searching for educational apps that my children would enjoy. I've read pages of comments in the iTunes store before purchasing an app. In the end I've wasted a good amount of money purchasing apps that my children disliked. I've found that word of mouth, between friends and neighbors, has been the most successful route. If your kids enjoyed the app, perhaps mine would too.

This is just that.

Below is a list of the best educational iPad apps for preschool. There are no affiliate links or sponsored material, it's just word of mouth from my house to yours after many hit and misses and hours of research.

Preschool Age Apps:

1.  Intro to Letters $4.99

"Learn to trace letters, read, write and record letter sounds. Based on the proven methodology of Montessorri." Quite possibly the best early letter recognition app out there. It avoids any cheesy animation. Well worth the $4.99 (cheaper then an alphabet book) and came highly recommended by several friends.

2.  Montessori Crosswords $2.99

After falling in love with "Intro to Letters" (see above description) we downloaded Crosswords for our preschooler. This app specializes in phonics and word building, and is so simple to use but is entertaining that sometimes I even find my 7-year-old crossword fan playing along. (Note: you can complete crosswords in uppercase, lowercase and cursive which my 2nd grader loves). The interactive animation in-between puzzles is super creative. This app is prefect for the preschool child and above.

3. SUPER WHY! $2.99

My preschooler is a big fan of this PBS series and this app is like virtually playing along with the show. Besides practicing the alphabet, spelling, writing and reading this app does a great job at teaching rhyming too. The graphics & sound are terrific.

4. Park Math $1.99

A perfect app for an intro to math. The activities are open ended so that your child can go from one activity to another at their own pace. Which is nice especially since most math apps require you to finish one activity/level before moving on. "If 3 ducks climb up, how many will be at the top?" is a sample question, you touch each duck to move up the slide and figure out elementary addition problems. The animation is engaging and enjoyable.

5. Bugs and Buttons $2.99

Is there anything better than counting realistic roaches, ants and bees flying across your screen? No. This apps teaches counting, patterns, alphabet and includes fun games like "catch'em", "tic-tac-toe" and "button sorting". My preschool princess who loves gruesome things just adores this app so much so that she doesn't realize she is learning along the way. Some of the coolest graphics too.

6. Drawing Pad $1.99

This is an app that makes all the preschoolers around my kiddo stop and watch. For $1.99 it's cheaper then a box of markers but has a lot more mediums: paint brush, colored pencil, crayon, marker, stamper, pencil. The strokes are all very realistic. It also includes different colored papers and loads of stickers. I think this is one of those apps that I downloaded for free and quickly upgraded to the paid version. Well worth it.

7. PBS KIDS Free

This free app includes 1,000 videos of your favorite PBS KIDS television shows. You need a wifi or 3G connection. It's safe and easy to browse. More free apps from PBS KIDS can be found here, however we haven't had the time to test them out.

8. Princess Pony Matching Memory Cards $0.99

Once upon a time, this app was free and I downloaded it. With that said I would pay a dollar for this app now because it does what is says. It matches horses, unicorns, princesses and castles (everything my preschooler loves). It's super simple and very sweet.

9. ABC Coloring Book Free

A picture to color for every letter of the alphabet. It's free, no ads and works great.

10. Animal Fun Free

Super simple animal flash cards with sound effects. It's free, no ads and works great.

And. Just for fun....

Easy-Bake Treats (Free) Oh my Gosh, my preschooler could spend hours on this app, baking and decorating desserts.

Toilet Buddy (Free) For adults, endless trivia to keep you busy while on the loo. Developed by my brother. :)

Am I missing any (must have) educational preschool-apps that I should know about? Please tell me. Tomorrow I will list my favorite educational apps for the elementary school age kiddos. The list is double in size. (ADDED: here is the list of our elementary apps)