As much as we’d all like our kids to be playing outside all the time or exercising their creativity with arts and crafts, sometimes you just have to deal with rainy days and household chores. And that’s where computer games come in. Just like television, you wouldn’t want this to be an all-day activity, but there are plenty of games out there that not only keep kids busy but are educational and can make it fun to learn math, reading and other critical thinking skills. Some sites are particularly nice for parents and kids to play along together.
Below is a list five great free game websites for kids. They offer activities for a wide age range, so while some websites can be navigated by children independently, others provide an excuse for parents to sit with their children and to work on concepts ranging from simple arithmetic to sharing and the difference between fact and opinion.
PBS Kids (http://pbskids.org/)
As the mother of children aged 8 and down, this is my personal favorite. This site has a huge variety of games that are peopled by the characters from the most popular shows on PBS. The games are age appropriate for the shows viewers and often either teach some of the same lessons as the shows or use familiar elements from the show in puzzles. For example, teletubbies games lets young kids learn very basic technological hand-eye coordination skills, whereas Arthur teaches about the elements of a well-balanced meal and Zoom guides kids and adults through home Chemistry experiments, either virtual or in your kitchen.
Duckie Deck (http://duckiedeck.com/)
Although the game choices are fairly limited on this site, its user interface is easy to unique and easy to navigate. Aimed at kids ages 2 through 5, it lets parents choose from a list of skill sets that they would like to work on with their child. It then takes you directly to a game that fits your child’s age. Additionally, there are a lot of resources for parents including charts and activity reports to track your child’s progress in different areas.
Nick Jr. (http://www.nickjr.com/)
Similar to the PBS site, this one has games and activities that parallel Nick Jr. TV shows and there is sometimes less emphasis on the games’ educational aspects. One of the great things about this site however, is all of the printable activities, such as coloring pages and tooth-brushing reward charts.
San Diego Zoo for Kids (http://kids.sandiegozoo.org/)
Although this site has things like coloring pages geared for younger children, most of its activities are aimed at older children from about 8 to 12 years of age. The games teach about animal behavior and care as well as ecology and the human impact on animals in the wild. Although they might not interest all kids, the games are great if your child is interested in animals and is a great companion for summer trips to any zoo.
Suessville.com (http://www.seussville.com/)
The games are just a minor element to a site that is a tribute to everything Dr. Suess. Although independently the games here are not that impressive, they work along with the rest of the site as a nice companion to reading Dr. Suess books with your child. Besides giving some of the stories an interactive piece, the site provides background for each story and recommendations for further reading.
Sari Holtz is a mother of five and an associate editor at Consumer-Rankings.com, a website that provides comprehensive reviews of a range of items from the best web hosting services to the top online fax services.
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Great share! Thanks! We, too, would rather they play outside, etc., but yes, sometimes we need the computer games, too! 🙂
Thanks for this info — very helpful!
Wow! I am going to bookmark this to share for my grandson. Thanks for the great information! It is neat to keep up with the new things for young kids.