Free Games Online for Kids
by: C.Holding
“I’m bored.” “There’s nothing to do!”
“Can I play a game, please?”
Sometimes, I wish I had the know how and the talent to design computer-based games for kids. Or just in general:) My 3 year old daughter LOVES to play games on the computer. My 12 year old isn’t as “into” it as she was when she was younger, but still enjoys playing games online every once in awhile.
I especially enjoy sites that incorporate learning into their games. Some of the sites need me to help navigate the entire time, while others are easy enough for the kids to do most of the gaming on their own. Though I have a great time playing the games with them, I also really like that their 15 minutes of learning fun also = my 15 minute break! (read: cleaning time ;} )
Here is a list of sites that our family (and friends) enjoy:
- This site can be really fun for your child, especially if your child watches Nickelodeon. He/She is bound to be excited to play games using some of their favorite characters
- We rate this site as a 7/10
- Beware the advertisements
- Make sure to click on Games & Activities – Online Games
- Ages:Infant-Preschool
- We LOVE this site!
- Offers more than games but the games are enough to keep us going back
- This site has some pretty basic games that are fun and engaging for the younger children
- Make sure to click Play Games
- I would say this is for older kids because my 3 year old doesn’t like it but my nephew did
- Beware this site does have games that include weapons and is not for everyone
- I was a bit confused at first because there is so much content but once you start clicking through you should find some interesting games
- My daughter really likes “Make-up Mania” which seemed pretty boring to me
www.scholastic.com/kids/stacks/games/
- This is another TOP site for us.
- GREAT for us:)
- If you buy books from Scholastic (usually from your childs’ school) your child might find a game that has characters from their favorite books!
- I like how the games have ratings.
- We haven’t found a ton of games on here that we enjoy, but we still think its worth checking out
- Some interative learning games
- We LOVE this site!
- Very engaging
- Fun way to learn through games
- Pretty neat site
- Has games in different languages (My 3 year old LOVES a game that is in Chinese- Maybe she will learn to count in Chinese! How cool would that be?)
- There are alot of games
- Both my 12 year old and 3 year old like this site
www.PrimaryGames.com/games.htm
- I like how they list the games and show what kind (java, flash, download) it is.
- Have well known games
- You may not like to wait for the games that you can download
- You can play for free or have a paid membership
- My children play for free so I can not vouch for the paid part but it looks cool
- There is a filtered chat feature if you feel comfortable with it
- Haven’t played at very much as it is a new find but could become the next favorite:)
- This site has ALOT of educational games.
- PreK-6th grade
- Pretty nifty site / Great concept
- I like how the games are sorted by subjects that the children playing are learning in
- I think they are still working to get this site more user friendly
- This is a GREAT site
- Very fun and engaging
- Elmo is even there:)
Please keep in mind that I did not go into great detail about these programs, but they made the list~ so they must be cool (to us atleast ;P )
One thing that I have found when you are looking for sites for kids, is to be cautious about what you click on. This might sound like a no-brainer but you would be surprised at what some people come up with for their domain names. If you do not look very carefully you could be typing in what looks like a VERY common site, and be off by one letter. That could lead you into a place you are definitely not looking for while searching for kids games.
If you know of other free game sites for kids that you think we should check out, please pass the name/link on. Thank you!
Excellent blog post, I look forward to reading more.