The best story app for imaginative kids (2026)
Full disclosure: we make one of these apps, so yes, we're biased. Here's what we'd actually pick for a child who never stops inventing, including the ones that aren't ours. Short version: the best apps for imaginative kids let the child do the imagining. The question is how much of the making they want to do themselves.
| App | Best for | Price | Who does the imagining |
|---|---|---|---|
| Branchlings (ours) | steering a painted story with their own ideas | From $9.99/month; sample stories free to read, no free trial | Your child decides what happens; AI writes and paints it |
| StoryJumper | writing their own picture book, then printing it | Free to make online; printed paperback $14.99, hardcover $27.99 (up to 16 pages) | Your child writes every word, with art from its library or their own drawings |
| Book Creator | making books with their own drawings, photos and voice on an iPad | $3.99 once for the iPad app | Your child does all of it: words, drawings, photos, voice |
| ScratchJr | 5- to 7-year-olds who'd like to program their own story | Free | Your child, in code blocks and their own drawings |
| Toca Boca World | open-ended pretend play, no reading needed | Free to start; extra places and packs $0.99–$4.99 | Your child, through play; nothing written down |
Three ways an app can feed an imagination
They make it. A blank book they fill with their own words, pictures and voice. The most creative option, and the most work: young children usually need a grown-up to type.
They steer it. Your child supplies the ideas and the decisions, and the app does the writing and painting. Good for kids whose ideas come faster than they can write or draw them.
They play it. Open-ended worlds and toys where the story lives in their heads. Brilliant for pretend play, though nothing gets written down.
1. Branchlings ours
- Best for
- steering a painted story with their own ideas
- Price
- From $9.99/month; sample stories free to read, no free trial
- Who does the imagining
- Your child decides what happens; AI writes and paints it
This is ours. Branchlings is for the child whose ideas outrun their pencil. They dream up the story in their own words ("we find a unicorn at the beach who lost her shoes"), pick where it happens and who comes along, then decide what happens at every fork. When none of the choices is right, they tap My idea! and send the story somewhere nobody planned.
Branchlings writes it at their reading level and paints every page, in the style they choose, with characters they can keep for the next adventure.
What it won't do: let them write or draw it themselves. The AI does the words and pictures; your child does the deciding. If you want them holding the pencil, pick StoryJumper or Book Creator. And it costs $9.99 a month or more, with no free trial, so read the free sample stories first.
2. StoryJumper
- Best for
- writing their own picture book, then printing it
- Price
- Free to make online; printed paperback $14.99, hardcover $27.99 (up to 16 pages)
- Who does the imagining
- Your child writes every word, with art from its library or their own drawings
A web tool for making real picture books. Your child types the story, builds the pages from StoryJumper's scenes and props (or draws on paper and uploads a photo), and can record themselves reading it aloud. Making books is free, with no ads, and you can order a printed copy if one turns out to be a masterpiece.
The catch: it runs in a web browser on a computer or iPad, not as a phone app, and there's no drawing tool inside it. Younger children will need help with the typing. Books are private unless you choose otherwise, and for under-13s only a parent can make one public.
3. Book Creator
- Best for
- making books with their own drawings, photos and voice on an iPad
- Price
- $3.99 once for the iPad app
- Who does the imagining
- Your child does all of it: words, drawings, photos, voice
On an iPad, Book Creator is a blank book. Your child writes, draws with the pen tool, adds photos, records their voice on each page and even makes comics. It works offline, with no account and no ads, for $3.99 once.
The catch: the iPad app keeps books on that iPad only, so back them up, and the online version is built for teachers' classrooms rather than families at home.
4. ScratchJr
- Best for
- 5- to 7-year-olds who'd like to program their own story
- Price
- Free
- Who does the imagining
- Your child, in code blocks and their own drawings
Free, with no ads and nothing to buy, created by the MIT Media Lab and Tufts University. Children snap together picture blocks to make characters move, talk and change scenes: a story they program, with characters they can draw in its paint editor.
The catch: it takes a grown-up to get started, projects stop at four scenes, and the iPad app hasn't been updated since November 2023. It still works well, but it's not changing.
5. Toca Boca World
- Best for
- open-ended pretend play, no reading needed
- Price
- Free to start; extra places and packs $0.99–$4.99
- Who does the imagining
- Your child, through play; nothing written down
A huge digital dollhouse: characters, homes and places to act out any story your child invents, whether or not they can read yet. It's single-player, with no chat and no third-party ads, and Toca Boca is in PRIVO's COPPA Safe Harbor program.
The catch: there's no story at the end to read back, and the world grows through paid packs ($0.99–$4.99 each). Reviewers mention the steady nudge to buy more.
Our pick
If your child's ideas outrun their writing and they mostly want to see what happens next, try Branchlings: their ideas, painted. If they want to make the thing themselves, start with StoryJumper (free) or Book Creator ($3.99) and help with the typing.
If they're five to seven and love a puzzle, ScratchJr is free and brilliant. For pure pretend play, Toca Boca World.
What we'd do today
- Ask your child to tell you a story tonight, out loud, before any app. Notice whether they want to make it, or to see what happens.
- If they want to make it: open StoryJumper on a computer and type their story together. It's free.
- If they want to steer it: read our free sample story together and let them pick at each fork.
- Write down their three best inventions. They're the start of tomorrow's story, in any app.
Questions
- Do AI story apps stifle children's imagination?
- It depends who's doing the imagining. An app that writes a whole story from a grown-up's prompt hands the imagining to the AI. Branchlings is built the other way around: the story waits for your child at every fork, and the best ones start with their own ideas. If you want to be sure they do all of the creating, a make-it-yourself tool like StoryJumper or Book Creator is the purest choice.
- What's the best free app for kids who love making up stories?
- StoryJumper is free to use online, and ScratchJr is free on tablets and Chromebooks. Toca Boca World is free to start, with paid packs.
- Can my child share the stories they make?
- In StoryJumper, books are private unless you choose otherwise, and for under-13s only a parent can make one public. Book Creator for iPad keeps books on the iPad. Branchlings has nothing public: stories stay on your family's shelf.
- Is Branchlings free?
- Branchlings is free to download, with in-app purchases. You can read the sample stories before you choose a plan. Painting your character and new stories come with a plan, from $9.99 a month, and there's no free trial.
Try Branchlings
Your child dreams up the story and picks what happens at every fork, and Branchlings writes and paints it. Free to download, with in-app purchases. You can read the sample stories before you choose a plan. Painting your character and new stories come with a plan. Plans start at $9.99 a month, and there's no free trial. For iPhone and iPad in the US.
We checked prices and features for every app here in October 2026. Apps change fast, so double-check on each app's own site before you buy. Names of other apps are trademarks of their owners and are used here only to identify them; we're not connected with any of them.