It’s the age-old question: “To let the children have screen time or not let them have screen time?”. Ok, maybe it’s not age-old. But it’s extremely relevant right now at a time when most of us are navigating the new waters of online learning and homeschooling. In my house some days we totally kill it at the homeschooling thing, other days not so much. Those not-so-good days are when the devices get called in as backup. I researched high and low and found 11 fun and free educational websites for kids. You know, so we can let them have screen time without feeling guilty about it!
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To be honest, my boys are handling the homeschooling thing pretty well. But when we start butting heads then it’s in everyone’s best interest to shift gears. Letting them play games makes them happy. Games that are educational make me happy.
I like that a lot of these websites don’t require any kind of sign-up. You can just click a game and start playing. Most also offer some sort of membership perks, but there’s absolutely loads of free stuff here. Like, more than you could possibly get through in your child’s academic career. It’s good to have options!
(Edited: I’ve done even more research and found an additional 16 fun websites for kids to help with their online learning. Including 7 free websites for kindergarten students. With a total of 27 websites, you’ll definitely find what you’re looking for here!)
If you need more learn-from-home resources, you should check out these posts too:
17 Easy Science Experiments For Kids Using Household Items
13 Ideas for Teaching Elementary Math Using Games
Free Educational Websites for Kids
And just so you know, I have personally checked out and tested these websites. I wouldn’t recommend something for children that I had not vetted. 🙂
1. Math Playground
Grades: 1-6
Games involving a variety of math skills.
2. Typing Club
Grades: 3 and up
A simple but effective tool for learning how to type properly.
3. Highlights for Kids
Grades: 1-6
Crafts, game, puzzles, science questions, recipes, podcasts & stories, jokes & quizzes. I used to get this in magazine format when I was a kid. Now all the same content is on their website for kids!
4. Boukili
Grades: Pre K-2
An app for reading illustrated french books. We downloaded this one to give it a try, I’d say it’s good for pre-primary to grade 2. I like that that the app asks some reading comprehension questions after the story is done. My boys attend French school, so this is going to be really helpful during these homeschooling days!
5. World Geography Games
Grades: 4-9
Test knowledge of countries, capital cities, flags and more. This site would be more suited for older kids who already have a general knowledge of geography. Maybe starting from age 10-12 ish. (Confession, I was all smug and tried out a game thinking of course I know all the countries in Europe, yikes I really don’t!)
6. Funbrain
Grades: K-8
A variety of games for learning reading, math and general knowledge.
7. Fuel the Brain
Grades: K-3
Fun games, activities and printables for learning letters and simple math. There is a free and premium version. There’s a cool feature where kids can design their own mini-book too! We might give that a try.
8. Arcademics
Grades: 1-6
An abundance of games mainly for learning math skills but a few for language and geography as well.
9. ABCYA
Grades: Pre K-6
Games of strategy and skill as well as math and language. This website might be my favourite. The graphics are a little more sophisticated than the other sites. So the kiddos might think they are just playing a fun game, but there’s lots of learning in there!
10. Kids National Geographic
Grades: 1-8
Games, quizzes, videos, animal & science info. There is so much to explore of this website. All about specific animals or species plus some sections on space and history too.
11. Nasa Kids Club
Grades: K-4
Cool info and games about NASA and its missions with some space knowledge thrown in.
12. Funterra
Grades: K-6
My 9 year spent a couple of hours testing this site out for me, and he wanted to share his rave review! He found a couple of games that he could have played all day, that tested out his math and spacial awareness skills. There are so many fun games and interesting videos on this site and the quality seems to be a little more sophisticated than some of the other free sites we checked. (Nothing wrong with simplicity though! But for an older kid, the more polished graphics are really appealing.) Highly recommend that you check out Funterra!
These are the best of the best educational websites for kids that I could find. There are literally a bajillion resources out there but some of them require special sign-in codes or a paid membership. I know when I need something to keep the kids entertained, I’m not taking the time to sign up for squat. I need an activity or game that they can play right away. That’s what the sites above provide!
Now I dug a little deeper to find some great free websites for kindergarten age kids too!
Best Websites for Kindergarten Students
1. Sesame Street
Games, videos & art for kiddos who love big bird!
2. Starfall
Letter and number games & activities. It is ad-free which is so nice! There is a free version and a paid upgrade.
3. Storyline Online
Story books read aloud by celebrities including Harry the Dirty Dog read by Betty White. 😀
4. Turtle Diary
Grades: K-5
Games & activities for numbers, letters, art & experiments. There’s a cool worksheet generator tool too so you can personalize their learning!
5. Splash Learn
Grades: Pre K-5
You have to sign up, but it’s free. Math & reading games.
6. Funbrain Jr.
There are some great printables on this site. I couldn’t test out the games because I was required to download them. But this is a good site for the age-appropriate printables alone!
7. Teach Your Monster to Read
Grades: K-2
Disclaimer: while the learning level is about a K-2, I actually found that playing the game was not super intuitive. You would need to help your child figure it out. But it’s a fun game with cool graphics and it’s free! (Although a sign-up is required)
Fun Websites for Kids
There are definitely still elements of learning and education in all of these websites too. They are just less structured than some of the other educational websites for kids that I found above.
1. Magic Tree – Mission Game
Grades: 4-8
Complete missions based on the Magic Tree House Kids Series of Books.
2. Science Bob
Grades: 4-9
Science experiments and fair ideas.
3. Explore.org
Grades: Pre K-12
Live webcams of animals all around the world. It’s really cool!
4. Tate Kids
Grades: 2-6
Art & creativity with craft ideas, games & quizzes.
5. What Was There?
Grades: 3-12
Search for a city or location and the site ties in with Google Maps to show you what historical buildings used to be in those locations! It’s really interesting!
6. Met Kids
Grades: 2-8
Kids can explore and discover history and art.
7. Scratch
Grades: 3-9
Code and create interactive stories, games and animations.
8. Crypto Club
Grades: 3-12
Learn about ciphers and cryptography through games, challenges and activities. Really cool stuff!
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That’s a total of 26 kids educational websites! There are so many great sites in this list, I can’t wait to show my kids the live webcams of jellyfish! lol
Now if you’re looking for an educational activity that more done-for-you, subscriptions boxes for kids might be right up your alley!
Educational Subscription Boxes
1. Superpower Academy
A stem & social emotional box with monthly missions.
2. Think Outside
Promotes exploration outdoors with monthly themes and guided activities.
3. KiwiCo
Tools for creative learning. There is a variety of box options based on age groups. My boys have gotten these in the past and loved them. They have a project and ideas for more learning as well as other resources in them.
Let me know in the comments if you have any other recommendations for educational websites or resources for kids!
Happy learning!
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26 Free educational websites for kids to help them learn literacy, math, science, art and problem solving. Fun websites for kids to make at-home learning a breeze! Some of the best websites for kindergarten students to practice letters and numbers. The best resources for free online learning for kids.
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