Monday, March 5, 2012

Top Educational Websites for Kids

Technology is pretty amazing!  There are lots of wonderful ways to help our child practice the skills they are learning in school.  Often times with some of these great educational sites our children don't even know that they are learning at the same time!
It's also a great way to motivate kids to do their homework,
have them do their reading and math first and for a reward they can play an educational game...tricky!

A friend of mine asked me for some recommendations on some other educational websites,
so you know me, I went crazy and found a bunch.

I spent many hours digging through cyberspace to find and test out the following educational game sites.  I spent about an hour a site digging and finding the best parts. Also I have spent time teaching grades K-6 so I have used my knowledge to determine the validity the games on these great sites.

Just bookmark this page, and every time you want to use a new site you can come here to find it quickly.


1. Starfall.com 

This site has lots of great language arts games. It takes a fun game like this snowman game and has words that it helps your child sound out. There are lots of seasonal games as well as early reading, phonics, as well as reading practice for 1st and 2nd graders.

2. PBSkids.org  

Hello! Don't you just love this site! There is SO much on here.  Your child can pick his/her favorite show and play a bunch of learning games for that show.  Right now M. loves playing the Curious George games, although the T.V. show is a little young for her, the games are right on her level. (I wish I would have known more about this site when I was a teacher, there are very specific games you could play and coordinate with the theme you are learning.) The game shown is called Present Time, you choose a gift, go to the store, decorate the wrapping paper, and give it away, it's great!  We also love the SuperWhy Spelling games, they are too difficult for her to do on her own, but they are well done and give lots of helps and rewards.

3. ABCya.com


Here's a wonderful site c/o one of my readers! This site is great because it's split up into grades K-5 so there's no guess work there! I spent a lot of time on this site trying to find the best games to tell you about.  I think my favorite K game would be the Pirate Marble game which is great for learning addition, and connect the dots. For 1st grade it would be the foul shot where you can practice math facts to earn basketballs to shoot a foul shot, the math can go up to a 4th or 5th grade level. There are also telling time games and learning coin games as well. For 2nd grade my favorite would be the fun typing game here too! 3rd grade fave would be Pop the Words which letters fall and you can make words out of them to pop the letters. My 4th grade fave is division drag race which you race others in dividing numbers and go faster when you answer them correctly.  My 5th grade fave is the U.S. Map and World Map puzzles.  There are also fun seasonal and holiday games for each grade level when you scroll to the bottom of each grade levels page.  Too much info?? Sorry, this site was just really fun to explore!

4. Cookie.com

Well after I posted this list on Monday I found an phenomenal site on Wednesday!  I can't believe I've never been to this site.  It has hundreds of educational games, for literacy, math and science.  It also has learning videos on subjects like the plant life cycle, frog life cycle, the 5 senses, and more with review games you can play afterward. It has lesson plans, tons of free printable worksheets, arts and crafts coloring pages, and a cute blog.  What a great resource!  My only complaint would be that the games are all narrated with a robotic voice, but other than that it's golden!

5. Scholastic.com

Wo this is another great site.  It has games from books like The Magic School Bus (which is oozing with science fun!), Clifford, WordGirl and more.  This site is has games for kids ages 3-7 and another section for kids ages 8-12.
Fun fun fun!

6. Funschool.com

There is also a lot to this site as well. Pictured here are the ABC games which are for practicing letter recognition. There are also lots of other harder games that are also educational. Check it out it's a pretty good site.


7. Sheppardsoftware.com

Thanks to Jane and the Jitterbugs for telling me about this site! I am so excited about it! This site has lots of learning games for kids of ALL ages.  It's very tutorial centered which is good for learning a new concept. I also love the Kids Corner which you can explore lots of science centered ideas, such as the Four Seasons (as shown in the picture).  You can paint using movable parts like rain clouds which are actually raining!  Fun fun fun site!

8. NationalGeographic.com

I know I'm crazy but I keep finding more and more sites! This site has a bunch of games that are all science related.  They are all pretty fun.  Some of them like Animal Jam require an e-mail address and some personal info about your child, just FYI. They also have a bunch of geography games, adventure games,  action games, puzzles and quizzes, games for young children, and all of the games really are science related.  They also have science experiments, videos, and interactive information about animals and countries. The more I kept digging, the more I found that was well done and educational. I thought this was a pretty cool site, and had tons of educational value!

9. Highlightskids.com

Here's another new great site that I found.  I feel like I'm on a treasure hunt!  Highlights is a classic magazine that has been around for years. They are very well known for their hidden puzzles in their magazines. On their site for kids they have stories that you can have read to you and tons of games, their specialty is hidden picture games which you can click and the hidden image appears.  This is another great site if you are learning a theme for the week and you would like to practice newly learned skills.


10. Funbrain.com

There are reading games on here as well as fun simple counting games. There also some difficult reading and math games on the main game page. There is a lot to choose from on this site.


11. Qubo.com

This site has a bunch of educational games that are also quite fun for kids. It has games for Babar, Jane and the Dragon, Zoola Patrol (great science games), and Vitamix.

12. Shnoozles.com 
Shnoozles has lots of fun and simple preschool games, this main page would be fun for kids to navigate on.

13. Jayzeebear.com
This site is a little old school but it is still really fun for preschoolers.

14.Weatherchannel.com

This has some puzzles, word searches, and mazes for older children. It seems like they stop putting money into this site, because it has an add for Clouding with a Chance of Meatballs in 2009. But it is an alright resource.

15. KidsKnowIt.com
This site has some good science and nature games.
16. Switchzoo.com
This site has some fun animal games that you can switch animals around to look silly.

17. Exploratorium.com
This site has some fun games that explore expressions, proportions, and emotions.

18. Juliasrainbowcorner.com  This site is is also a little old school but it has some fun games for young children.

Well I hope that gives you some new ideas! 
Do you know about a cool and educational website for kids?
Let me know and I'll add it to this growing list!
P.S. I'm not endorsed in any way by any of these websites.

45 comments:

  1. Thanks for all the links to these great sites for kids! I didn't know about half of these sites. I'm going to Pin It! Thanks again!

    ReplyDelete
  2. this is a great resource! some of them we use, but a lot of them are new! i pinned this to my teaching w/technology board! are you on pinterest?

    also, i'd love it if you linked this up to my party on tuesday!

    ReplyDelete
  3. Great list.. I have a couple to offer, http://www.sheppardsoftware.com/ this website is AWSOME.... and is good for a good range of ages. Animals, Language Arts, Health, Science... hours and HOURS of educational fun.

    Also, http://www.abcya.com/ covers grades K-5 math, letters numbers and such.

    Such a great post. Thanks.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Jane! Thanks so much for these two sites, I have spent since the time you posted this comment until now reviewing theses sites and adding them to my list. They are AMAZING! Thanks!
      -Kate

      Delete
  4. Thanks so much for the new sites. Another site you may be interested in is garfield.com (huge learning site), also go to professorgarfield.org, many phonemic activites students can play on the computer or smart board.:)

    ReplyDelete
  5. Have you seen some of the videos from UntamedScience.com? They're pretty great for K-12 (middle school in particular).

    ReplyDelete
  6. Cookie.com was one of my best finds ever! {thank you pinterest!} I am excited to check some of these other ones out. Thanks for sharing!

    ReplyDelete
  7. Thank you,
    I too had not heard of half of these sites. My husband is a IT guy so my kids are really into computers (6-11y) so I try to keep them on fun sites they can benefit from. I thought I would share a few more.

    www.AdaptedMind.com (math 1st-6th), www.SpellingCity.com, www.MathIsFun.com,www.gamesk12.com/educational, www.IXL.com, www.bbc.co.uk/cbbc/games (CBBC is BBC's kids TV), www.HowStuffWorks.com,
    My personal favorite is www.Zoodles.com (parent controlled,progress/activity reports,free super save video emails for kids but only parent approved family & friends that are set up in the parent account can send/receive the emails. Parents & the approved Adults you add can make videos of themselves reading stories to the kids via a window in the "books" that the child can click on and even "turn pages" and follow along. MUST SEE! The basic site is free but the enhanced version is paid. Android App as well!

    I hope these sites are usefull

    ReplyDelete
  8. Thank you so much! My kids love what we have looked at so far. I have re-pinned you onto my finished projects/review. I look forward to checking out the rest of your website.

    ReplyDelete
  9. This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.

    ReplyDelete
  10. thank u so much

    regards

    alekhya
    http://bankexam9.com

    ReplyDelete
  11. Great list! Have a look @ this educational virtual world
    http://www.poraora.com/
    Its targeted towards children 5-12 yrs and it's free!

    ReplyDelete
  12. Here from Pinterest ... great list! One of our favorites is www.coolmath-games.com.

    ReplyDelete
  13. wonderful information, I had come to know about your blog from my friend nandu , hyderabad,i have read atleast 7 posts of yours by now, and let me tell you, your website gives the best and the most interesting information. This is just the kind of information that i had been looking for, i'm already your rss reader now and i would regularly watch out for the new posts, once again hats off to you! Thanks a ton once again, Regards, http://bankexam9/t


    regards

    http://bankexam9.blogspot.in

    ReplyDelete
  14. wonderful information, I had come to know about your blog from my friend nandu , hyderabad,i have read atleast 7 posts of yours by now, and let me tell you, your website gives the best and the most interesting information. This is just the kind of information that i had been looking for, i'm already your rss reader now and i would regularly watch out for the new posts, once again hats off to you! Thanks a ton once again, Regards, http://bankexam9/t
    regards
    http://bankexam9.blogspot.in

    ReplyDelete
  15. Thank you so much for putting these together.
    I put a link to your site on my class website and kindergarden blog!!!

    http://www.santeesd.net//Domain/560

    http://kinderworldway.blogspot.com/

    Jaimie Knudson
    Kindergarten Teacher

    ReplyDelete
  16. Thank you sharing your best information , i put the 0ne game and enjoy with lot
    TOP Free MMORPG Online Games with amazing gameplay! Have fun

    ReplyDelete
  17. Found you via Pinterest! I have a 4th grader, Kindergartener, and preschooler so i'm always on the lookout for new websites. We do 1 and 2 everyday, but i'm glad I've got some new ones for them to explore. Thank you for compiling this list!

    ReplyDelete
  18. you can also check out http://www.brainpopjr.com for grade K-3 and http://www.brainpop.com for grades 3 and up. Great website with education videos. It has free videos but not all are free some you have to subscribe for but you can try out a free trial. It's great! It also includes a quiz with each video and activities.

    ReplyDelete
  19. Interactive Learning Sites for Education is an awesome website with all subjects.

    nteractivesites.weebly.com/

    ReplyDelete
  20. Try http://www.makemegenius.com .It has huge no. free science videos for kids alongwith lot of other good stuff.

    ReplyDelete
  21. Great post. Many of them we use, but we will be checking out the others. Thanks for sharing this.

    ReplyDelete
  22. Wow! Thanks for all of the very cool websites you've researched for us! I'm a new homeschooling mom to a very energetic (ADHD) 6 year old and I'm always looking for good sites where he can play games and not even realize that he's actually learning something! I can't wait to check all of these sites out with him :)

    ReplyDelete
  23. Great post. A lot of these websites are new to me. I will add a few more, I think these make great additions to this list:
    Oxford Owl: for their great Free ebooks for kids. Kinooze Facts for Kids for their daily news & interesting facts written for kids. And Tinkerlab: for their art and science activities for kids.

    ReplyDelete
  24. I use brainpop.com, spellingcity.com, and seseamestreet.com with my students as well. IXL math is excellent, also.

    ReplyDelete
  25. Terrific! Have you had a chance to look at http://powermylearning.com yet? Thousands of educational games, free, and classified by Common Core standards by teachers who work with us!

    ReplyDelete
  26. Thanks for adding all the links into a single blog post. Soe of the games are een new for me. Keep adding such educational and most fun games in your blog

    ReplyDelete
  27. This comment has been removed by the author.

    ReplyDelete
  28. The individuals not reading your blogs stuff are missing out much qualitative contents.

    ReplyDelete
  29. I found this blog worthy to read and thank for giving the lists of educational websites that are for kids, I will be having a look at them soon.
    http://www.collegerunway.com

    ReplyDelete
  30. Its really good to have all the lists of educational websites that are so applicable to have in our kids for their learning. These are all good websites that we have to consider for the study of our kids.

    custom essay writing service reviews.

    ReplyDelete
  31. www.crekid.com - Crekid.com is a free Drawing, Writing, and Story Making Website for Children, that promotes Creative Thinking and Self Expression.

    ReplyDelete
  32. www.lrnshop.com
    www.lrn.ir
    www.mohtavaonline.ir

    ReplyDelete
  33. Hello Guys i am megha mathur and i am offering personally escorts service for you with In call and Out call, service is
    Hyderabad Escorts,
    Independent Hyderabad Escorts

    ReplyDelete
  34. I even heard of a teacher getting chastised for calling her stations “centers” because the children would view it as play if they were called centers. What? Other pendulum swings are phonics vs whole language, timed math facts vs none, the list goes on and on. technology in education articles

    ReplyDelete
  35. No doubt your kids love having fun, but incorporating education with that fun is a great way to get your kids to learn important lessons while having a great time too.If you are considering purchasing some games for your kids, why not consider some educational ones for them.

    http://kidslearninghub.com

    ReplyDelete
  36. Hello! We've got a wonderful new channel that's a great way of teaching kids online!

    Things That Go TV! is a channel for children (2 to 6 years) to discover and explore the world around them. Introduced by Reggie the Roo, Things That Go TV! profiles scenes from the park, road, building site, waterways and illustrates anything that moves including tractors & trucks, cars & bicycles, boats & trains and diggers!

    We hope you enjoy the channel - it would be great if you could support us by sharing one of our videos or giving our page a like! Thank you and as Reggie would say, "Hoo Roo".

    https://www.youtube.com/user/ThingsThatGoTV

    ReplyDelete
  37. http://pobblepath.com This site has activities, poems and stories for little ones

    ReplyDelete
  38. Thank you so much! I have been looking for a few games for my kiddos to earn with good behavior.

    ReplyDelete
  39. Undoubtedly your kids love having fun, but incorporating education with that fun is a great way to get your kids to learn important lessons while having a great time too.If you are considering purchasing some games for your kids, why not consider some educational ones for them. Thanks for sharing this interesting post.
    Online Games

    ReplyDelete
  40. Great list, I love Highlights! Sharing this to K12's Pinterest for others to refer to and please check out Learningliftoff.com for more educational content! ~Sarah

    ReplyDelete
  41. The quality of your articles and contents is great.New Zealand Language Centres

    ReplyDelete

Thanks for your great comments!