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The Internet is a huge place, home to thousands of resources. With the help of the internet, children can connect with friends, research school projects and learn more about the world. However, it can also be a big, scary place, with inappropriate content and people who will prey on children’s innocence.
One way to help protect your child from online dangers is to monitor the sites they visit. The following are fun, kid-friendly websites your kids can try:
1. PBS Kids
PBS Kids is a game-based learning website that helps children learn reading, vocabulary, math and science in an engaging way. Most activities are in exciting game formats that will surely entertain young ones. PBS can also be used in school. The site is certified Smart Board compatible and can be used with interactive whiteboards for teachers and tutors in day care programs.
2. Curious World
Curious World is an amazing kid-friendly application that features school-appropriate content, videos, games and books to engage your young child’s mind. Parents are encouraged to create a profile for their child while the app chooses recommended content in the form of videos, games and books.
Curious World helps children improve skills by focusing in these eight primary learning areas:
- Creative expression
- Language and literacy
- Mathematics
- Science
- Family and community
- Executive function
- Social and emotional
- Health and well-being
3. NASA Kids Club
Travel to space with your young astronaut in NASA Kids Club. The site includes a lot of fun activities for exploring and learning more about space and beyond. The site lets children gather facts, watch videos and play games about planets, stars and the solar system. Children can explore our galaxy, learn more about the journey to Mars or visit collections of famous astronauts and their expeditions
4. Khan Academy
Khan Academy is an educational platform featuring videos, micro-lectures, tutorials and pretests that make for a great customized learning experience. Children are encouraged to sign up using their parents' email and choose what subjects they would like to learn first (math, science, economics and finance, arts and humanities, computing). Khan Academy is available in many languages and can be used by people all around the world.
5. Animal Jam (National Geographic Kids)
In collaboration with National Geographic Kids, Animal Jam is a virtual world game, set in the land of Jamaa where kids can play games, meet new friends and learn amazing facts about plants and animals. Kids can create their own animal characters, dress them up and design their own dens. The multiplayer world lets children team up during the game’s adventures, establish groups and connect with players from other parts of the world. The game’s primary goal is to inspire children to explore and protect nature by cultivating a love for science.
6. Fun Brain
Fun Brain is a great educational entertainment site that uses interactive games to coach learning for children. It also includes learning aids for parents and teachers who tutor kids at home or in school. The site has options to filter different types of content according to age for better comprehension and connection. Parents can use the site to buy books and comics or try reading games with their children that will help improve their vocabulary and grammar skills (examples of reading games include: the translator alligator, word turtle and scramble-saurus).
7. Sesame Street
Help your kids grow smarter, stronger and kinder with Sesame Street’s Tool Kits. Activities in the site help make learning fun and also teach kids good values aimed to help them grow into kind, conscientious human beings. Featuring the characters from the popular "Sesame Street" kids' show, kids can learn more about the alphabet, animals and fairy tales. The site is safe even for pre-readers and toddlers who will enjoy song and dance Sesame videos with their parents.
8. Friver
Friver offers an expansive collection of adventure, puzzle, sports, action and flash games that will entertain your tween and young one. Aside from the frequent parody games and movie/TV-themed games, Friver is frequently updated with new kid-friendly games that are safe and fun to play. Popular games include dress-ups, race games and cooking mini games.
9. Switch Zoo
Capture your child’s imagination by playing Switch Zoo. In this game, children can create new creatures by combining different parts of an animal’s body (example: putting a cat’s head with a horse’s body and a dog’s tail). You can also change the animal’s habitat and create a new one based on the environment you chose. This game teaches a lot about animals and their habitats, incorporating fun by allowing kids to experiment and create weird animal combinations.
10. Disney Family
Grin and prepare these Cheshire Cat cupcakes from @Disney_Family before they disappear.https://t.co/TNCkP2qIri
— Disney (@Disney) May 24, 2016
Disney Family is a fun DIY site for children interested in creative crafts and cooking. The site has a collection of simple DIY projects for kids and parents wanting some creativity in their bonding time. Simple projects include recycling broken crayons to make tie-dye Mickey crayons, old cookie jars to a Dory-inspired mason jar craft, and organizing a Star Wars-themed movie night. This site has all the amazing DIY projects your child needs.
Armela Escalon is a blogger, content marketer and editor at Scoopfed. Her works have been published in various blogs, websites and magazines on the Web. Email her at armelaescalona@scoopfed.com.
