Alphablocks, How to Write

Review by eFreeware

If you have a child at the stage where they are just starting to hold a pencil with purpose, this app is built for exactly that moment. Alphablocks and Numberblocks, How to Write comes from Blue Zoo, the studio behind the CBeebies shows, and it turns handwriting practice into a journey with the characters children already know. At $3.99 with no ads and no in-app purchases, it is a straightforward purchase rather than something that keeps asking for money.

What it gives you is a structured path through the movements that come before letters and numbers, then the tracing itself. The characters from the shows guide the child along, and the developer says the activities were designed with literacy educators. For a parent who wants a calm, focused alternative to free apps full of interruptions, that combination is the main draw.

Tracing letters with familiar characters

The core of the app is tracing practice. Children work through pre-writing lines first, which build the fine motor control that letter formation depends on, then move to pre-letter lines that repeat the key movement inside each letter and numeral. From there they trace actual letters and the digits 0 through 9, with a rhyme attached to each one to help the movement stick in memory.

The rhymes are the detail I find most interesting. Handwriting is repetitive by nature, and a short rhyme gives a child something to say while their hand is moving, which is a common technique in early years teaching. The developer describes the whole experience as scaffolded, and the sequence from generic lines to pre-letter lines to full letter formation supports that description.

The framing is a gentle adventure rather than a drill. Each Alphablock and Numberblock is trying to find its way home, and completing the writing work moves that story forward. At the end, the child customizes the home with a surprise, which gives the sessions a destination instead of leaving them as isolated exercises.

How the letter families are organized

Within each family, the simplest letters come first, so a child builds confidence before meeting the harder forms. That ordering matters more than it might sound, because letters with similar strokes reinforce each other when they are practiced together.

The app also covers numerals 0 to 9 alongside the alphabet, so the same tracing skills carry over to number formation. A parent can work through one family at a time or let the child move at their own pace.

What you pay and what you get

This is a paid app at $3.99. There are no ads and no in-app purchases, so the experience stays uninterrupted once it is installed. The developer states that the app is COPPA and GDPR-K compliant and that personal information is never shared with third parties or sold.

For a children's app, that combination is worth weighing against free alternatives. You pay once. The absence of ads also means the writing practice is not broken up by interruptions, which matters when the goal is sustained attention on a fine motor task.

The age and stage it fits

The app is rated Everyone and is clearly aimed at early learners, roughly the preschool and early elementary years when handwriting is first being introduced. Children who already write fluently will find the pre-writing and pre-letter stages beneath them.

It suits parents who want a structured, character-led introduction to letter and number formation, and who prefer paying once rather than using a free app. If your child responds to the Alphablocks and Numberblocks shows, the familiar faces are likely to make the practice more inviting. The 3.2 average from 77 ratings suggests opinions are mixed, which is worth noting before you buy.

A note on the ratings and updates

The app has been installed over 10,000 times and holds a 3.2 average from 77 ratings, with a small number of written reviews. That is a modest sample, and the average sits below what you might expect from a well-known children's brand, so it is reasonable to read the score as a signal that the app does not land equally well for every family.

It came out in December 2021 and was last updated in August 2026, most recently to updated API levels. The most recent change listed is updated API levels, which describes a technical update rather than new content.

A focused tool for early handwriting

Alphablocks and Numberblocks, How to Write does one job: it gives young children a scaffolded path through the strokes and shapes that lead to writing letters and numbers. The letter families, the rhymes and the character journey all serve that single purpose, and the ad-free, paid model keeps the experience clean.

It is best suited to parents of children who are just beginning to form letters, especially those who already know the characters from the shows. The $3.99 price is a one-time cost with nothing further to buy, and the privacy commitments are stated plainly. If you want a calm, structured handwriting app for an early learner, this is a reasonable candidate to consider.

What's new in version 1.3.2

Updated API levels