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 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 awesome and free educational websites for kids. You know, so we can let them have screen time without feeling guilty about it! Win!
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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 teach math skills 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!
If you need more learn-from-home resources, you should check out these posts too:
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11 of the Best Free Educational Websites for Kids
1. Math Playground
Games involving a variety of math skill for grades 1-6. I enjoyed the drift boss game, it was surprisingly difficult!
2. Typing Club
A simple but effective tool for learning how to type properly. I tested it out (I learned to type in high school) and it was very satisfying to score 100% on everything! Haha!
3. Highlights for Kids
I used to love this magazine as a kid! Now they have a lot of similar content on their website.
4. Boukili
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
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
A variety of games for learning reading, math and general knowledge. Search through activities suitable for grades P-8.
7. Fuel the Brain
Fun games for learning for levels p-3. 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
For grades 1-6. An abundance of games mainly for learning math skills but a few for language and geography as well.
9. ABCYA
This one might be my favourite. The graphics are a little more sophisticated than the other sites. They have games of strategy and skill as well as math and language. So the kiddos might think they are just playing a fun game, but there’s lots of learning in there! Suitable for grades pre-primary to 6. (And adults too, I liked the Alan’s Pizza game, Shhh!)
10. Kids National Geographic
There are great quizzes and videos on the kids National Geographic website. And there’s LOTS of them! All about specific animals or species.
11. Nasa Kids Club
Cool info and games about NASA and its missions with some space knowledge thrown in.
These are the best of the best free 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 these sites provide!
Let me know in the comments if you have any other recommendations for free educational websites for kids!
Happy learning!
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