Best Educational Websites and Apps for Kids
Educational Websites and Learning Apps to Excite Your Kids!
We all know that children love to indulge in technology-heavy hobbies like watching television and playing video games. Getting the children to play outside, ride bikes, play sports, and generally get active can sometimes be a bit of a challenge, especially when the weather isn't ideal or there is a global pandemic on our hands. Beyond this, getting the kiddies to get excited about studying and learning can be particularly tough, even more so from home when students aren't in a school-setting with their friends.
For these reasons, we will be diving into a variety of websites and apps that make the learning process all the more engaging and exciting, ensuring that children have a lot more fun while they’re learning.
Optimum’s Picks:
Scholastic:
The site was created by the same publishers as the same-named magazines you'll often find in schools. They contain a variety of activities by grade-level, starting as low as pre-k all the way up to high school.
PBS Kids
The educational shows on PBS all have their own designated sections of the website. You can find sing-a-long songs, sorting and counting games, and videos
Sesame Street
Younger children will love this site, as it features video clips and games that help them to learn letters, animal sounds, rhymes, colors, and more.
ABC Mouse
This might be one of the most comprehensive learning websites for children. Kids can read or listen to books and music, play games, color, and move up in learning levels created by teachers and experts. The cool thing about this is the website monitors your child's progress. The site offers a free one-month trial and then a $9.95 per month subscription fee after that.
Adventure Academy
This app is owned by Age of Learning, the company that also created ABC Mouse. It immerses children in a virtual academy of sorts, where they can learn, discover, and play. It's most suited for children between the ages of 8-13, allowing them to dive into subjects like social studies, language arts, math and science. This app is fun because it allows kids to earn coins, play with friends, make new ones, personalize avatars and create "homes." Just like ABC Mouse, the first month is free then the monthly subscription after that is $9.99.
CoolMath
They advertise themselves as "an amusement park of math and more." Kids have access to games featuring addition, subtraction, multiplication, division, decimals, money, and more. It's best suited for kids 13 and older. CoolMath4Kids, their sister site, is suitable for children ages 3 through 12.
TIME for Kids
From the publishers of TIME magazine, the site is filled with interesting articles, photos, and videos about the environment, entertainment, health, politics, sports, and more. It isn't quite as interactive as some of the sites on here, but it does cover current events and news in a kid-friendly way.
National Geographic Kids
Kids can learn fascinating animal facts, watch animal webcams, see and share natural pictures, learn about different nations, conduct science experiments, and do so much more within the site. There is even a "Little Kids" section that is better suited for the smaller Dora the Explorers within your home!
ReadingIQ
This app is the equivalent of having your very own personal library, right at your fingertips! Kids ages 2 through 12 are able to access over 7,000 books, including ones from Disney, National Geographic, Highlights, Boxcar Children, and more. Kids can sift through picture books, chapter books, graphic novels, as well as fun joke and song books. These selections are available on computers, tablets and phones. Like some of the other sites and apps listed, parents can track their child's progress. You get a free 30-day trial, then must pay $7.99 a month after that.
How Stuff Works
Is your child one of the curious one's eager to receive an answer about some of life's most existential and abstract questions? Like, "How did we get here?" and "Why is the sky blue?" If this sounds like your kid, send them over to How Stuff Works. Their articles delve into topics like cars, culture, entertainment, science, money, technology, as well as a variety of other topics. They even incorporate games, quizzes, and videos to make the learning experience a bit more engaging.
Curious World
This site helps prepare kids for kindergarten. Your small kiddies have the ability to not only learn math and reading, but social skills as well! What makes Curious World even cooler is that you can customize virtual flashcards to suit your child's age and subject area of interest.
Fun Brain
This site is perfect for children in preschool through Grade 8. It helps make developing math, reading, and literacy skills more enjoyable. If you try it out, be sure to check out Math Baseball and Grammar Gorillas! If that's not exciting enough, kids can even read books, anytime, anywhere.
Old Farmer’s Almanac for Kids
This interactive gem includes riddles, puzzles, a question of the day, history facts, sky and weather conditions to review with your children.
Learning Games for Kids
The name of the site pretty much speaks for itself. Learning Games for Kids has a variety of games that teach children about any and every subject. They've got word, spelling, social studies, vocabulary, science, literature, keyboarding, and the list continues… If you want your child to embark on a learning adventure, this site has got you covered!
BrainPOP
The site's impressive animations truly bring learning concepts to life, it's great for individuals to use at home or even to utilize in a classroom setting. Kids can learn about historical events, science, the stock market, and more! All thanks to a robot and his friends.
You’ve Got Our Support!
We sincerely hope that this article proved useful for introducing your child to fun and exciting ways to learn new things, or to simply sharpen their understanding of already known subjects and concepts! If your child does end up utilizing these apps and websites, perhaps liking them a little too much - you might find yourself in need of a speedier Internet package (A pretty good problem to have, if you ask us!) And as you may have guessed, we're happy to help you and your family! We're big advocates for education, family time, enjoyable learning, and of course, quick Internet!