Paper, pencil, whiteboard, textbook. Those are the tools you need if you want to go to school. But recently, you can add another one to the list: an iPad. Because the popular Apple tablet is not only useful for searching the Internet and watching videos, but it is also being used to make learning fun.

Scientists and psychologists now know that we learn better when we are enjoying ourselves, so recently software developers have made iPad applications that look like video games, but have strong educational content. One of the best examples of this new form of teaching is Futaba, a game in which up to four children try to recognize a spinning object, and then identify what it is. The game can be used to teach English, math, foreign languages, or just about anything, and students love it. Plus teachers can even make their own questions. The important thing is that children enjoy the game, and don’t even realize how much they are learning!

So the next time you have to choose between making your child study or letting them play a game, just remember… they could do both at once!