Dyslexia-friendly learning games, and other helps

Every game in the Kids Learning Arcade has the same helps: Easier reading for children with dyslexia, and helps for listening, moving, attention, sight and hearing. A grown-up turns them on once, and they stay on in every game on that device.

Updated October 2026.

Easier reading, for dyslexia

What it does: wider spaces between letters, words and lines; bigger text; short lines that start on the left; no slanted or all-capital words; dark gray text on a soft cream page; and a plain font. The letter tiles in Spell the Picture keep their school shapes (a one-story a and g), and b, d, p and q stay the plain classroom shapes, because those games teach what letters look like.

Why spacing: in a study of dyslexic children, extra-large spacing between letters let them read faster and with about half the errors, without any practice (Zorzi and others, 2012, in PNAS). Some later studies found a smaller effect, so think of it as a help that suits many children, not all. The British Dyslexia Association's style guide asks for the same things: generous letter, word and line spacing, left-aligned text, no italics, and a cream or soft background.

Why not a special font: fonts made for dyslexia, like OpenDyslexic and Dyslexie, did not make children read faster or more accurately than an ordinary clear font (Wery and Diliberto, 2017; Kuster and others, 2018, both in Annals of Dyslexia). Many families still like them, so you can pick OpenDyslexic. We start with Lexend, a plain, wide font that looks like a school book, because the spacing is what does the work.

The other helps

Read it to me. Tap any words on the screen to hear them, each word lit up as it is said. The voice can be Normal or Slower. For children who are still learning to read, or who read better while they listen.
Bigger buttons, tap only. Larger buttons and more space between them, and a press always counts as a tap, so nothing has to be dragged. For small or unsteady hands.
More time. Hints wait twice as long before they show. No game ever has a timer that runs out on a child.
Less motion. Things change in place instead of sliding or turning. It comes on by itself when the phone's Reduce motion setting is on.
Quiet sounds. No chimes; the voice still talks. For children who find sounds too much.
Clearer contrast, bigger text. Black on white, bigger words, thick outlines on the button in use, and vowels underlined as well as colored. For low vision. It comes on by itself with the phone's Increase contrast setting.
Show what is said. On at first. Every word the voice says shows at the bottom of the screen, with the sound on or off, so every game can be played on mute and a grown-up can read the words out. Videos in Watch turn on YouTube's captions where they have them. It also helps children who are deaf or hard of hearing. In Spell the Picture's Tricky level the word is captioned only with the sound off, so it stays a listening game.

Always on, for everyone: nothing depends on color alone (picked buttons show a check, the word you're on shows a bigger dot), every button has a name a screen reader can say, and the games work with a keyboard (in Spell the Picture, type the letters).

Record your own voice

The games can talk in your voice. Record the letter names, the letter sounds, the cheers and "All done!" once, a few minutes in all, and every game says them in your voice. The recordings stay on this phone and are never sent anywhere.

Record my voice

How to turn them on

A grown-up does this. If the lock at the top right of a game is closed, hold it for 3 seconds and answer the sum to open it.
On the arcade home, the Helps switches are in the "Helps for every child" box. In a game, open For grown-ups under the game.
Tap a help to turn it on. It says On with a check, and the page changes right away. Tap it again to turn it off.
Helps are remembered on this phone or tablet and work in every game. Tap the lock again before you hand it over.

You can also try them right here:

Helps, not therapy

These helps make the games easier to use. They are not a test, a diagnosis or a treatment for dyslexia or anything else. If reading, hearing, seeing or moving is hard for your child, talk with their teacher, a reading specialist or your doctor. They can check and plan help that fits your child.

Questions parents ask

What is the best font for children with dyslexia?

No font has been shown to make dyslexic children read better. Studies of OpenDyslexic and Dyslexie found no gain in speed or accuracy over a clear ordinary font. What did help in a study of dyslexic children was extra space between letters and words. So Easier reading adds the spacing, and the font is your child's choice.

Is OpenDyslexic good for kids with dyslexia?

Many children and families like it, and it does no harm, but research has not found that it improves reading. You can pick it under Easier reading. We start with Lexend, a plain font that looks like a school book, with the same extra spacing.

How do I turn on Easier reading?

Open the lock at the top right if it is closed (hold it 3 seconds and answer the sum). On the arcade home, use the Helps switches; in a game, open For grown-ups under the game. Tap Easier reading so it says On. It is remembered on that device and works in every game.

Can these games diagnose or treat dyslexia?

No. The helps make the games easier to use; they are not a test, a diagnosis or a therapy. If reading is hard for your child, talk with their teacher or a reading specialist, who can check and plan help that fits.

Do the helps cost anything or need an account?

No. They are free, need no sign-in, and are kept only on your device. Nothing about your child is recorded.

Sources

Zorzi M, Barbiero C, Facoetti A, et al. Extra-large letter spacing improves reading in dyslexia. PNAS, 2012; 109(28): 11455 to 11459.
Wery JJ, Diliberto JA. The effect of a specialized dyslexia font, OpenDyslexic, on reading rate and accuracy. Annals of Dyslexia, 2017; 67(2): 114 to 127.
Kuster SM, van Weerdenburg M, Gompel M, Bosman AMT. Dyslexie font does not benefit reading in children with or without dyslexia. Annals of Dyslexia, 2018; 68(1): 25 to 42.
British Dyslexia Association. Dyslexia Style Guide, 2023.
Fonts: Lexend and OpenDyslexic, both under the SIL Open Font License, served from this site.