Not enough people are willing to actually pay for apps. Piracy, especially on Android, is extremely high. The few kids who don't pirate apps are constantly emailing me asking for the app to be free because they have a device but their parents don't let them buy anything.
Apple and Google are recently getting very tough and starting to regulate all apps that have children as their target audience, which is obviously a good thing. However, it seems they still haven't made much progress in actually promoting apps for kids.
To give you an idea of how few people are actually paying up front for kids apps: My PlayHome is currently ranking at 20 in the USA Paid iPad kids category. That means only 19 apps in the entire app store are selling specifically to kids using the upfront paid model on iPad are more successful than this. How many USA daily sales is My PlayHome getting on iPad? Around 50.
Until something changes, and it probably won't, even though the demand for quality, non-exploitative kids apps is out there, the big money somehow isn't.
Is this a "long tail" issue? Granted 20th isnt that long but perhaps sales are concentrated at the top few spots?
50/day is still great. about $72k/year gross. THats not huge, but thats still quite a bit
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The first three games are: Simon says, a memory game where the images are drawings that my daughters made themselves (I am planning to open a 'Custom app for your child' section where you can have drawings by your own children put into the game) and a altered version of 'Shades and Hues - a game of color gradients' that I created for my wife last year (published on the Android appstore with ads currently, my children love it, so I'll create a no-ads version under the 'Dutch Dad' brand for children. An updated version of the first version is here: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.nkcss.shad... (was taken down a while because I had no privacy policy link, has 1000+ installs), so I created a new version: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.nkcss.shad... that has a different menu, but works mostly the same (10+ installs)).
- The Endless Alphabet/Endless Reader/etc. series of games.
- Toca Life games and other games by Toca Boca
- Lego Juniors for toddlers, Lego Harry Potter/Star Wars/etc. for 4+ year olds
- The My PlayHome apps mentioned in another comment
- PBS Kids Games app
- Elmo Loves ABCs
There are also ad-free apps that come with a bunch of games and have a monthly subscription fee. I generally avoid these because I wouldn't pay $80/yr for a full AAA game, let alone a collection of Flash-like games, but if that's what it takes for the company to be sustainable without resorting to shady tactics who am I to judge. One I recommend in this space is Starfall.
"W.H.O. Says Limited or No Screen Time for Children Under 5" https://www.nytimes.com/2019/04/24/health/screen-time-kids.h...
Other good options for this age group is the Peekaboo-series from Night & Day Studios and Petting Zoo from Fox & Sheep.
If you're looking for something more educational, take a look at Khan Academy Kids which starts at around age 2. Fantastic and completely free.
There are duple animals waving when you touch them and happy music.
The bricks assemble themselves in those games.
Disclaimer: I work for the developer of the platform, Fingerprint Digital Inc.
However, as an app developer it's super tough to make any money if you aren't the top 10 paid kids apps or games. The market is not huge.
For my own kids, I've resorted to drawing apps. Simple calligraphy apps with very few options can keep a toddler busy for a while. Plus you can draw and have them guess, pictionary style.
Check out Zen Brush 2 and also Khan Academy Kids.