If you’re a parent or a teacher looking for resources to help your kids take their education a notch higher, you don’t have to look too far. There are lots of great free learning websites for kids to keep them entertained and educated.
Here are some of the best free educational websites for kids that they will want to keep returning to, keeping them out your hair and ensuring they use their computer time productively.
1. BrainPOP
BrainPOP tackles every subject from math to music with humorous animated movies. It breaks down even the most complex concepts into easy-to-understand chunks and uses relatable, real-life scenarios as examples.
The videos come with relevant interactive quizzes, activities, and games that help drive each concept home. Kids are sure to love Moby, the funny robot who appears in the videos.
The website is subscription based, but there’s some interesting free stuff as well. Don’t miss the daily spotlight feature that teaches children about various timely and relevant topics, from U.S. presidents to cyberbullying to American Indians.
2. DOGO News
It’s good to help kids stay informed about the goings-on in their world, but regular newspapers may not be the ideal way to do that. Child-safe news websites are much better, and DOGO News is one of them. The site doesn’t skirt around the facts or talk down to children but makes it easy for them to understand.
DOGO News brings news and other non-fictional content for kids. You can filter stories based on categories (science, sports, entertainment, etc.) or grades that the material is suitable for.
3. Funology
Want to limit your child’s screen time? Keep them occupied and entertained with offline activities from Funology. The website may be designed as an idea toolbox for parents and teachers, but there’s no reason it can’t double up as an online laboratory and playground for the kids themselves.
Funology has instruction sets to help kids to try their hand at science experiments, arts and crafts projects, and even magic tricks. It also has plenty of games, jokes, and trivia that you can stock up on for later.
The site includes breakfast, lunch, and dinner recipes, and they come with quirky names and descriptions to entice little chefs. Now, who wouldn’t want to snack on melon rainbow salad, a leprechaun’s favorite dish?
4. BBC Bitesize
While BBC Bitesize is aimed at the UK curriculum, it’s perfect for children around the world of any age. It has lessons, games, and resources for all the common school subjects: History, Math, English, Science, and more.
BBC Bitesize also has topical learning to help children understand the news and educate them about the world generally, like how to spot fake news or how to prepare for getting exam results.
5. Funbrain
Games are one language that every kid seems to understand without needing to learn it. Funology makes full use of this fact to help children master math, spelling, reading, and more.
Funbrain has hundreds of interactive games designed to educate and entertain kids. Some popular books and comics, such as Diary of a Wimpy Kid and Brewster Rockit, are available as free reads on Funbrain.
If you have a preschooler, head to the Playground section for games that will teach your little one mouse and keyboard manipulation. Bright colors, funny graphics and games, and a safe online environment make FunBrain the perfect online playground for kids.
6. National Geographic Kids
Like its magazine counterpart, the interactive National Geographic Kids website gets children excited and curious about the world around them. The website’s home page is a mosaic of colorful, clickable content designed to appeal to young minds. Stunning photos and videos of a wide variety of places, flora, and fauna keep both kids and adults hooked.
National Geographic Kids uses cool materials like facts, games, quizzes, and polls to teach young explorers various concepts related to geography, natural science, archaeology, and more.
7. Scratch
Coding is one of the best tech skills that you can encourage your kids to take up. But you won’t have much success getting them to explore it if you don’t make programming fun. Leave that job to Scratch—a web app that teaches coding with visual tools and an easy-to-use interface.
The website teaches coding via a “cause and effect” approach. You click on various color-coded instructions to see their impact on cute animal sprites. For example, by clicking on a specific button, you can make a sprite move 20 spaces to the left.
Scratch ensures that your child’s introduction to programming is far from boring. They can create and share animations, games, and interactive stories, learning to reason and think creatively along the way.
If this takes your child’s fancy, here are the best coding apps for teaching programming to kids.
8. Science Bob
Award-winning educator Bob Pflugfelder (aka Science Bob) is on a mission to make science fun for kids. He explains various scientific concepts using video demos of experiments.
Kids won’t find any “don’t try this at home” warnings playing spoilsport. They get detailed instructions to recreate the experiments—an approach that fosters a hands-on approach to science.
Kids can satisfy their curiosity about stuff like “why do we cry when we chop onions?” and “why do our toes get wrinkled in the tub?” via the Q&A section.
9. Rich Kid Smart Kid
Like it or not, money often makes our world go around, and learning how to handle it is a vital skill to have. Give your kids a head start toward financial literacy by teaching them some key concepts about money. Rich Kid Smart Kid (RKSK) does all the work for you.
RKSK uses free interactive games to explain ideas like cash flow, saving, investing, and business. Two adorable cartoon characters, Reno and Toki, are in charge of guiding the kids through the website.
10. Mission US
As much as kids dread math, they seem to dread history even more. What if they had a chance to “be there” when the events from our collective past unfolded? Wouldn’t they want to learn more about those times? The folks at sites like MissionUS certainly think so.
With its collection of free video games, MissionUS gives kids a way to immerse themselves as protagonists in US history. They can choose from different missions to complete. Each mission introduces them to a different time and aspect of history, like the Boston massacre and the anti-slavery movement.
Get More Edutainment With Math Games
Hopefully, these websites can not only solve your kid’s cries about being bored but also teach them a thing or two along the way.
If you’d like some more edutainment to keep your little ones occupied, check out these cool and fun math games for kids.
Image Credits: Production Perig/Shutterstock
Read the full article: 10 Awesome Educational Websites for Kids Worth Bookmarking
