Pulse Parenting

Mobile Apps Help Parents Support Kid’s Mental Health

Here’s a curated list of mobile apps designed to assist parents and children with mental-health support, grouped by the type of help they provide. I’ve included unique apps and avoided repeating any.

1) Education & Awareness

These apps help parents (and children) learn about emotional health, development, mindfulness, coping skills, self-regulation, etc.

  • Pulse Parenting – [Our Pulse Parenting App] A parent-focused educational app offering micro-lessons and practicing tips extracted from parenting books for building habbit to support children’s emotional regulation, CBT, DBT, and mindful parenting practices.
  • CDC’s Milestone Tracker – Helps track children’s developmental milestones (ages 2 months to 5 years) with illustrated checklists and tips for parents, which supports early awareness of emotional/behavioral development. CDC
  • The Happy Child – A parenting app offering research-based tips drawn from psychology, neuroscience and pediatrics to support raising emotionally well-adjusted children. Childhelp National Child Abuse Hotline+1
  • Kinedu – Focuses on the 0-6 years age range, providing creative, age-appropriate activities and tracking tools that support bonding and emotional development. Childhelp National Child Abuse Hotline

2) Coping Tools & Emotional Regulation

These apps help children (or parents with children) practice coping skills, manage emotions, build resilience.

  • MindShift CBT – Offers cognitive-behavioural tools for anxiety relief (mood tracking, thought journal, comfort zone challenges) suitable for older children/teens. Childhelp National Child Abuse Hotline
  • Calm – Popular mindfulness/meditation app, including a kids version with guided meditations, sleep stories, breathing exercises to help children relax and regulate inner state. C Spire Blog+1
  • Chill Panda – Tailored for children (~age 6-12) to help recognize emotions, practise breathing and calming games in a fun, interactive way. cypf.berkshirehealthcare.nhs.uk
  • Positive Penguins – An avatar-based tool for children/teens to learn about emotions, mindset shifts, simple meditations and tracking. Digital Authority Partners

3) Parent/Family Support & Monitoring

These apps help parents monitor or create supportive environments for children’s emotional well-being and digital use.

  • Qustodio – A comprehensive parental control & digital-well-being app: monitor screen time, apps, online activity — helpful for safeguarding digital environment which impacts mental health. Qustodio+1
  • Bark – Monitors children’s device/social media activity for potential signs of risk (cyberbullying, self-harm, unsafe content) and sends alerts to parents. Bark+1
  • Aura – Designed to give parents insights into their children’s online and mental-health behaviour (mood changes, subtle signs) using AI & analytics. Parents

4) General Well-being & Preventative Tools

These apps support overall mental wellness for children/teens (and indirectly parents), tracking moods, teaching mindfulness, or offering self-help.

  • MoodTools – Depression Aid – Although more general, includes mood tracking, thought-diary, self-assessment for older children/teens to support emotional health. Family & Children’s Services
  • Stop, Breathe & Think Kids – For children ages ~5-10: guided check-in on feelings and short mindfulness/meditation missions to reflect and calm. Digital Authority Partners

✅ Notes & Considerations

  • These apps do not replace professional mental-health diagnosis or therapy; they are complementary tools.
  • Always check age-appropriateness, privacy-policy, data handling, and subscription costs.
  • Emphasise the “parent + child together” approach: Some apps work best when a parent engages alongside the child.
  • Consider local relevance (language, regional availability) and what fits your audience’s context.