Free online educational games & activities for kids
Image adapted from: Math-Drills, Disney Family
The school holidays are upon us and that, coupled with the Circuit Breaker measures, means that the young ones have been away from school for a fair bit of time. Getting a break from schoolwork is a must, but if you’d like to give your kid a little brain boost to keep their minds active, check out these free online educational games & activities.
While educational in nature, these incorporate an extra element of fun into the mix. So don’t worry, they aren’t the typical assessment papers that kids bolt at the sight of. With things like 3D paper crafting and wildlife documentaries in store, expect to have some brain-tinkering fun with your little one.
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Image adapted from: Friendzy, Friendzy
Learning about math, science and English aren’t all there is to the growing years and Friendzy carries a handful of activities to help with your child’s emotional growth. These pastel-coloured worksheets cover everything from colouring to matching emotions to encourage children to express themselves, share what they’re grateful for and ultimately, develop social-emotional intelligence.
Suitable for: 5-8 years old
Image adapted from: Disney Family, Disney Family
While Disney is known for their timeless movies, young fans of the show might be glad to know that they’ve got movie-themed colouring pages on their Disney Family website as well. Kids can channel their inner Picasso with templates of Disney Princesses, Toy Story and Star Wars, exciting to make some of us holler Yoda lay hee hoo.
Suitable for: 4-8 years old
Image adapted from: Math-Drills, Math-Drills
Math-drills, with its 50,000 math worksheets, is essentially an endless supply of online educational games & activities for kids to try out. Conventional math problem aside, they spice things up with holiday-themed enrichment papers to keep things fresh and relevant.
From Christmas to Valentine’s Day-themed worksheets, these creatively adapted problems make brushing up mathematical skills interesting, rather than dreadful. Whoever said math problems were dull?
Suitable for: 7 years and above
Connect the dots and astronomy puzzle
Image credit: Print & Play, Print & Play
With handy filters for age groups and activity types, HP’s Print & Play makes finding suitable educational games & activities for your kids exceptionally easy. Connect-the-dots and picture puzzles await young ones aged 2-4, while mind-stretching Sudoku puzzles are in store for older kids aged 8 and above.
Suitable for: 2 years and above
Introduce your kid to the world of alphabets and vocabulary with Fun Learning For Kids. Made for preschoolers, the site has printable board games to train literacy skills among other colourful learning materials such as math game activities.
Image credit: Fun Learning For Kids
With this, boredom will be the least of your worries these stay-home days. Aside from free printables, they’ve also got an assortment of digital Google Slides activities for kindergarteners and art and science project ideas that you can experiment with with your kid.
Suitable for: 3-8 years old
For kids struggling with school on a day-to-day basis, Education.com offers plenty of learning materials to get them up to speed before school reopens. Essentially an online home-based learning kit, this resource is a Hermonie’s bag of materials that’ll last you through stay-home days and beyond.
Counting game and Geography worksheet
Image credit: Education.com, Education.com
There are handy filters you can use to sift out exactly what you need from their bank of 24,000 printable learning materials. Expect topics from pop culture and events to subjects like fine arts and math. If worksheets don’t fit the bill, there are also hundreds of interactive, educational online games available.
While there’s a limit to the number of resources you can access each month, some of the materials are now freely accessible in light of school closures. Otherwise, heavy users of the site can subscribe to their Premium membership from USD$5/month (~S$7/month).
Suitable for: 3-12 years old
From scenic sunrise landscapes to aquatic wildlife, UHU’s Handicraft for Children has plenty of 3D paper craft templates for kids to get busy creating a mini-nature enclave right at home.
Most templates available are perfect for preschool kids to hone their fine motor skills. But for an extra challenge, those with flair can also try out their more advanced templates of space shuttles and more.
Suitable for: 3-12 years old
Free online materials with Scholastic
Image credit: Scholastic
Most parents might know Scholastic as the publishing house with plenty of children’s books. But if you’re looking for online learning materials for kids, they’ve got a wealth of those available as well, from downloadable activity sheets to online lessons.
Poetry, cursive handwriting templates and comic strips are among some of the printouts kids can occupy themselves with. They’ve also got a handful of math, science and language worksheets to give your kids a head start in those areas as well.
Suitable for: 3-12 years old
Learn about Brazil through quizzes and puzzles
Image credit: Kidzone
With country-specific worksheets on history and geography, Kidzone will take young minds on a trip around the world, without leaving home. Kids can pick a country, explore their historical timeline, climate and other fun facts. To commit those new knowledge to memory, complementary activities such as crossword puzzles, word search and colouring templates are used to wrap up the session.
Suitable for: 7-12 years old
Template for learning proper hygiene
Image credit: Badanamu
Created by designers, animators and musicians from Seoul and California, Badanamu has a bunch of adorable printed cartoon materials kids are bound to be drawn to. Taking on a multi-sensory approach, the resource pack has worksheets with an accompanying catchy song to keep the kids engrossed throughout the session.
Screenshot from Nemie Matching Activity’s music video
Image adapted from: Badanamu
Suitable for: 3-7 years old
For the kid that is fascinated with animals, take a virtual trip to the Singapore Zoo with their Learning With Us resource. Observe animals like tigers and orangutans go about their daily lives via video footage, then put this knowledge to good use with activity packs with prompt questions about each animal.
Suitable for: 3-12 years old
Explore the terrain of Mars
Image credit: Access Mars
30 Virtual Field Trips is the perfect antidote for those with kids getting cabin fever from staying home all day. The site may be simple but has a much-needed compilation of VR footage of attractions around the world that both kids and adults alike can check out. Immerse yourself in “travel” by visiting far-flung destinations such as The Great Wall of China, The Louvre and even Mars.
Suitable for: 7 years and above
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While the National Libraries are closed during this period, NLB Overdrive has a treasure trove of books for kids to delve into instead. Popular hits among children like Percy Jackson, Diary of a Wimpy Kid and Artemis Fowl are all available in digital form for free.
Those with an NLB account can borrow up to 16 of these books and loan them for 7-21 days. For more similar resources, check out our article on websites with free online books.
Suitable for: all ages
Learn coding with Angry Birds
Image credit: Code
Off the bat, coding might seem like a dry topic but Code makes use of gamification to give your children an easily digestible introductory course.
Open your kid’s eyes to the basics of computer science with their interactive activities such as digital game-making, animation and even website coding. With these lessons centered around popular games like Angry Birds and Minecraft, sessions here are sure to feel more like playtime rather than homework.
Suitable for: 4-18 years old
Sesame street free online education materials
Chock full of activities, Sesame Street’s Caring For Each Other offers plenty of games, cartoons and digital painting for young ones to channel their energy and creativity towards. Preschoolers can learn how to make a taco dish with the Cookie Monster or pick up math by counting sheep with Count Von Count.
An added feature sweet as a cookie is their library of family activity ideas from cooking to arts and crafts, to help parents and kids bond and stay positive at home together.
Suitable for: 3-10 years old
Image credit: The Kennedy Centre
Lunch Doodles by Mo Williams is a drawing tutorial for kids, very much similar to the old Kid’s Central TV show, Art Factory. Young ones with an interest in art will have a ball of a time with this 15-episode series, featuring drawings of animals like cats, pigs and elephants.
While organic shapes can be tough for kids to grasp, Williams breaks it down with basic shapes that kids are familiar with using circles, triangles and zig-zag lines – even complete beginners will be able to follow through!
Suitable for: 3-10 years old
Audible’s free online materials
Image adapted from: Audible, Audible
Check out the audiobook hype with Audible. Typically priced at USD$14.95 (~S$21/month) for a regular membership, their children’s books of various languages are now free for all to use during these coronavirus times. Tune into their Littlest Listeners collection for books for toddlers like the Ugly Duckling and Wheels On The Bus.
P.S. Despite being labelled as “children’s books’, they carry books that kids and adults alike will enjoy – including the Harry Potter series and Mary Shelly’s Frankenstein.
Suitable for: 3 years and above
Image credit: National Geographic Kids
There are plenty of documentaries we can watch online these days on sites like Netflix, but for something tailor-made for kids, tune in to National Geographic Kids.
Have your kid soar over Washington’s nature parks through the eyes of an eagle or dive into the deep with dolphins and sharks. We might not be able to head out as often now, but a kid’s curious mind sure can wander here instead.
Suitable for: 7-12 years old
Learn how to count small numbers
Image credit: Khan Academy
Most 21st century students struggling with homework would’ve heard of Khan Academy. But many of us are unaware that their bank of tutorials is an extensive one, with lessons for kids as young as 2 years old.
For the uninitiated, their video tutorials are fuss-free and use a chalkboard-style, but break down even the most complicated of math, science and economics problems into the simplest of forms.
Image adapted from: Khan Academy
Academia isn’t all there is too – kids enthralled by animated movies also have to check out Pixar In A Box, their behind-the-scenes series introducing how Pixar animators make their films from scratch. Who knows, your little one might just be inspired to join the animation industry in the future!
Suitable for: 2-14 years old
Space has fascinated many of us when we were kids and if your little one has big dreams of becoming an astronaut, the Science Centre has got just the thing. Every Friday from now till the end of May 2020, their Facebook page will feature a video podcast – a.k.a. vodcast – every fortnight discussing space-related topics. On alternate fortnights, there’ll be a live stargazing session for viewers to spot faraway galaxies.
Schedule
Video podcast 4.30PM on 29th May
Stargazing: 8PM on 22nd May
Suitable for: 7 years and above
All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy, but if you snooze you lose too. So check out these free online educational games and activities to have a bit of both, for a brain boost while having fun. After all, your kid might find a passion for a subject – be it for math or animation – while trying out these printable worksheets or exploring these websites.
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