6 Best App Design Softwares For Young Creators That Grow With Their Skills

Your child comes to you with a notebook full of drawings, excitedly explaining their idea for a new app. You see the spark, the creativity, the problem-solving mind at work, and you want to nurture it. But the path from a paper sketch to a working app can feel like a huge, expensive leap. This guide is about finding the right first step—the software that meets your child where they are today and can grow with them as their skills and ambitions expand.

From First Idea to Functional App Prototype

Has your child ever tried to build a new world with LEGOs, only to realize halfway through that the door is in the wrong place? App design is a lot like that. Before you build the whole thing with complex code, you create a model—a prototype—to see how it looks and feels. This is the magic bridge between a great idea and a final product.

For young creators, this step is everything. It makes their idea tangible and interactive without the frustration of writing perfect code. They can tap buttons, see screens change, and show their friends a working concept. The right software at this stage isn’t about creating a commercial-ready app; it’s about giving them a sandbox to test their vision, make mistakes, and build the confidence to take the next step.

MIT App Inventor: Block-Based First App Builder

Think back to those colorful, interlocking blocks your child used to learn the alphabet. MIT App Inventor uses that same intuitive, visual approach for coding. Instead of typing complex commands, kids snap together blocks of code to create functions, making it a perfect first step for understanding the logic behind an app.

This free, web-based tool is ideal for late elementary and middle schoolers (ages 10-14) who are ready to move beyond simple games. It’s less about pixel-perfect design and more about cause and effect: "When this button is clicked, play this sound." App Inventor builds a powerful foundation in computational thinking. It’s the training wheels that allow them to understand the core mechanics of app creation before they need to worry about the complexities of syntax.

Thunkable: Drag-and-Drop for iOS and Android

Your child has a great idea, and they want to share it with everyone, whether their friends have an iPhone or an Android. Thunkable is the answer. It takes the block-based coding concept from tools like App Inventor and puts it in a more modern, polished package that can build real apps for both major platforms from a single project.

Thunkable is a fantastic next step for kids and teens (ages 11-15) who want their creations to feel more "real." The interface is cleaner and the possibilities are more advanced, allowing them to integrate things like maps, cameras, and translation services. It’s like moving from a basic toolset to one with a few specialized power tools—it keeps them challenged and engaged as their ambitions grow, delaying the need for a much steeper learning curve.

Figma: Prototyping Tool for Young UI/UX Designers

Does your child spend more time customizing their phone’s home screen than playing games on it? Are they constantly critiquing the layout of websites and apps? You might have a budding User Interface (UI) or User Experience (UX) designer on your hands. For this kid, the journey starts with Figma.

Figma is a professional-grade design tool used by the biggest tech companies in the world, yet its free plan is incredibly generous and perfect for a young learner. It’s not about coding at all; it’s about the visual craft of app design. Here, your teen (ages 12+) can design every screen, button, and icon, then link them together to create a clickable prototype that looks and feels exactly like a finished app.

This is a tool they will never outgrow. Learning Figma is like learning to play the piano on a quality instrument—the skills they build are directly transferable to future school projects, internships, and even a career. It’s a powerful, real-world skill hiding inside an incredibly fun creative outlet.

Glide: Build Powerful Apps from a Spreadsheet

If your child is the one who organizes their collections in a binder or creates detailed charts for their sports team, Glide will feel like a superpower. It’s a brilliant tool that turns a simple Google Sheet into a powerful, data-driven app without a single line of code. The magic is in its simplicity: if you can make a spreadsheet, you can make an app.

This is the perfect platform for the pragmatic problem-solver (ages 11+) who wants to build something useful right now. They can create a homework tracker, a catalog for their book collection, or a simple directory for their club. Glide teaches them the fundamentals of database thinking—how information is structured, linked, and displayed—in the most practical way imaginable. It’s a direct line from organizing data to creating a functional tool.

Swift Playgrounds: Learn to Code Real iOS Apps

Your teen is ready for the real thing. They’ve mastered the logic of block coding, they understand design, and now they want to write the code that powers the apps on their iPhone or iPad. For the Apple ecosystem, the journey begins with Swift Playgrounds, an app for iPad and Mac created by Apple itself.

This is a significant step up, best suited for a motivated tween or teen (ages 13+). It teaches Swift, the modern programming language used by professional developers, through a series of engaging puzzles and interactive lessons. It’s the equivalent of moving from playing music by ear to learning formal music theory; it requires more patience but unlocks a much deeper level of understanding and capability. The skills learned here are not a simulation. They are the real, foundational skills needed to eventually use Xcode, the professional software for building and publishing apps to the App Store.

Adobe XD: A Great Figma Alternative for Prototyping

Perhaps your family is already familiar with Adobe’s creative tools, using Photoshop for art projects or Premiere for editing videos. If that’s the case, Adobe XD is an excellent entry point into the world of app design. It is Adobe’s direct answer to Figma, offering a powerful and intuitive platform for designing and prototyping app interfaces.

Just like Figma, XD is a professional tool with a free starter plan, making it accessible for any aspiring designer (ages 12+). The choice between the two often comes down to personal preference or prior experience. For a child already comfortable in the Adobe ecosystem, XD will feel like a natural extension of the tools they already know. It’s another fantastic option for learning a career-ready skill they won’t outgrow, focusing entirely on the visual and interactive aspects of app creation.

Choosing the Right Path for Your Young Developer

You don’t need to find the one perfect tool that will last a lifetime. The goal is to choose the one that matches their current mindset and gets them a quick, confidence-building win. Think about what drives your child right now.

• For the logical puzzle-solver (ages 10-14): Start with the block-based worlds of MIT App Inventor or Thunkable. The goal is to see their logic come to life.
• For the visual artist and designer (ages 12+): Dive into the professional design tools Figma or Adobe XD. The goal is to create something beautiful and intuitive to use.
• For the practical organizer (ages 11+): Let them turn data into an app with Glide. The goal is to build a useful tool that solves a real-world problem.
• For the aspiring professional coder (ages 13+): Begin the journey of learning a real language with Swift Playgrounds. The goal is to understand how software is truly built.

Remember, most of these platforms are free to start. The most important investment you can make is your encouragement. Let them explore, let them get stuck, and let them celebrate the moment their first button actually does something. That’s a feeling they’ll never forget.

Ultimately, the best app design software isn’t the one with the most features; it’s the one that gets your child excited to create. The goal isn’t just to teach them how to code or design, but to nurture their ability to see a problem, imagine a solution, and build it with their own hands. That’s a skill that will serve them long after the technology has changed.