Best Educational Websites for Kids: Top Picks for Learning and Fun
The best educational websites for kids are so fun that children don’t even realize they’re learning! These platforms typically offer lots of ways to support kids’ classroom learning, and even help them get ready for their first day at school.
Below we’re going to round up the best options for your children to enjoy, including free learning websites for kids and a look at some of the most popular platforms.
Contents:
The Best Educational Websites for Kids
Khan Academy
Credit: khanacademy.org
- Cost: Free
- For Ages: Pre-Kindergarteners to College Students
Khan Academy is a non-profit platform that offers learners, teachers, and parents a vast library of standards-aligned lessons, videos, articles, and practice questions. You can find everything here from pre-Kindergarten math activities all the way through to college-level programming lessons—and everything in between.
Whether you’d like an introduction to philosophy for your third grader, some science practice questions for your ninth grader, or an internet safety lesson for the whole family, you’ll find an amazing array of resources on the Khan Academy website. All of the content is geared towards kids and designed to be immersive—plus, the personalized learning model means that children can learn at their own pace, without pressure.
Starfall Education
Credit: starfall.com
- Cost: Free basic access, subscription required to access all content
- For Ages: Kindergarteners to Grade Five
This educational website offers games-based learning for kindergarteners to fifth graders and features plenty of resources for parents and teachers to help support children’s learning, too. The focus is very much on fun and accessibility, and it’s quick and easy to get started with the platform.
Starfall was originally developed by teachers and has been operating for over twenty years. It’s founded on the belief that play, exploration, and positive reinforcement are the keys to engaging and motivating kids to learn. As well as helping children develop their reading skills, the platform also provides lessons and resources in languages, arts, and math.
PBS Education
Credit: pbslearningmedia.org
- Cost: Free
- For Ages: Pre-Kindergarteners to Grade Twelve
Although designed for teachers, this is one of those free educational websites that are super useful for parents and kids, too. The platform offers a wide range of curated and curriculum-aligned lesson plans, interactive activities, and resources on topics including English, maths, science, art, the social sciences, engineering and technology, health and physical education, and world languages.
Topical collections focused on specific learning objectives can also be found on the platform, to help really get your child interested and engaged in a subject. These collections include American Sign Language, the US History Collection, and Election Central.
LogicLike
Credit: logiclike.com
- Cost: Free basic access, subscription required to access all content
- For Ages: Kindergarteners to Grade Five
LogicLike is an engaging educational platform designed for children from kindergarten to fifth grade. This website offers a variety of logic puzzles and games that help develop critical thinking and problem-solving skills in a fun and interactive way. With a focus on logical reasoning, the platform provides resources for both parents and teachers to support children’s learning journeys.
LogicLike is developed by a team of educators and experts in child development, ensuring that the content is both educational and enjoyable. The platform aims to make learning an adventure, encouraging kids to explore different types of puzzles and challenges that stimulate their minds. From math problems to language puzzles, LogicLike covers a broad spectrum of educational topics that keep children engaged and motivated.
Unlock your child’s potential with LogicLike. Start their journey towards better logical reasoning and problem-solving skills today by signing up for free!
Funbrain
Credit: funbrain.com
- Cost: Free
- For Ages: Kindergarteners to Grade Eight
The great thing about educational games is that kids are so busy having a blast that they don’t even notice how much they’re learning at the same time! The popular education platform Funbrain hosts a huge range of vibrant games designed specifically to be age-appropriate and support kids’ learning. As well as games, you’ll also find videos, worksheets, and stories on the site, and a math zone and virtual playground for younger children.
Funbrain offers lots of opportunities to support your child’s reading, with a library of online kid-friendly books including Diary of a Wimpy Kid, My Father’s Dragon, The Cat That Broke the Internet’s Back, and Judy Moody Predicts the Future.
ABCYa! Learning Games and Apps
Credit: abcya.com
- Cost: Free, or subscribe to unlock additional content
- For Ages: Pre-Kindergarteners to Grade Six+
ABCYa! is one of the top platforms for educational games and apps, and has been featured in The New York Times, Scholastic, and Parents. You’ll find over three hundred games on the site, all of which have been designed by parents and teachers, and underpinned by the idea that kids learn better when they’re having fun. All of the games are categorized by subject and age, with topics available including math, pattern recognition, typing, and much more.
Kids will love apps such as Create a Car, Donut Drop, and Word Bingo, which are effective ways to solidify school learning and introduce new subjects. Although there is plenty of free content to enjoy, to unlock all the platform’s apps and games you’ll need to purchase a subscription, which starts at $9.99 a month.
National Geographic Kids
Credit: kids.nationalgeographic.com
- Cost: Free
- For Ages: Pre-Kindergarteners to Grade Eight
Educational websites don’t get much more exciting than National Geographic Kids! Your child will relish exploring the extensive array of resources about countries, cultures, habitats, and animals which include interactive games and maps, articles, video clips, and Homework Help. The latter is a great way to support children with their school projects or research.
The best thing about this platform is that the resources available are continually expanding, so kids will always find new content to delve into. The site is friendly, engaging, user-friendly, and designed to be entertaining, making learning about the world around them a breeze.
Read also: Mastering Milestones: What Do Kids Learn in Kindergarten?
Sesame Street Pre-School Games
Credit: sesamestreet.org
- Cost: Free
- For Ages: Pre-School
The Sesame Street show has been entertaining young kids and helping them learn for generations, and its online platform, packed with games for pre-schoolers, is continuing the tradition. On the site, kids will find podcasts, games, interactive activities, and much more, all designed to enhance their learning and boost their well-being.
Parents love the fact that they can create their own playlists of videos and games for their kids to navigate, and the podcasts make for educating entertainment even on the go. As well as plenty of content designed to help kids get started with math and reading, there are sections on emotional well-being, autism, and even financial education, all geared specifically to the needs of very young children.
CoolMath4Kids
Credit: coolmath4kids.com
- Cost: Free
- For Ages: Grades One to Twelve
For kids needing a quick refresher on a math topic they’ve already studied, or an introduction to a new math subject, CoolMath4Kids could be really helpful. The platform boasts loads of math games, activities, quizzes, and brain teasers, and the content covers addition, subtraction, multiplication, division, and fractions.
The site developed back in 1994, remains committed to making math enjoyable and fun—and even cool—and over the years has helped millions of visitors get to grips with the subject. The printable flashcards available are also a great resource for kids studying for a test or exam.
PBS Games
Credit: pbskids.org/games
- Cost: Free
- For Ages: Pre-Kindergarten to Grade Twelve
A veritable treasure trove of educational resources for kids of all ages, PBS Games covers an extensive range of topics from science and math to reading support to world languages to health. The site is extremely user-friendly and searchable by grade and subject, with content also helpfully linked to national and state standards, so you can see exactly how each activity will support your kid’s school learning.
The variety of resource types will keep kids engaged; they can discover videos, lessons, audio recordings, images, games, and other materials on the platform to pique their interest. As a parent, you can curate content for your child, to create a unique learning experience that’s most suitable for them.
ABCmouse
Credit: pbskids.org/games
- Cost: $16.50 a month, free thirty-day trial period available
- For Ages: Kindergarteners to Grade Two
An eye-popping ten thousand educational activities can be found on ABCmouse including puzzles, games, read-to-me books, songs, and loads more. Subjects covered are reading, math, science, and art and colors and the site has been certified as kid-safe by Coppa, for parental peace of mind.
The platform deploys a step-by-step learning path model that guides and motivates children as they move through the levels, with the rewards system providing further encouragement. Even the most reluctant of learners will be keen to engage with the site’s content. Parents appreciate that there are no distracting ads or external links on the ABCmouse website—and the Adventure Academy offers further learning adventures for older kids who are ready to move on.
Mystery Science
Credit: mysteryscience.com
- Cost: $119 a year for home use
- For Ages: Kindergarteners to Grade Five
Especially useful for those homeschooling their kids, the Mystery Science platform offers a comprehensive and complete standards-aligned curriculum, designed to teach each subject in full. However, its resources can also be used to support school learning or as a refresher course. Mystery Science really stands out with its innovative approach designed to get kids excited by and engaged in science; it’s all about engaging investigations, fun experiments, and both written and 3D assessments.
Each lesson comprises a combination of hands-on learning tasks and assessments, along with videos and e-books that can be used to continue learning. Shorter videos paired with writing prompts are available, too, as mini-lessons, for ultimate flexibility and adaptability.
TED Talks for Kids
Credit: ted.com/playlists
- Cost: Free
- For Ages: Kindergarteners to Grade Twelve
TED Talks have long been known for their ability to inspire, engage, and educate, and there’s a whole TED Talk platform specifically geared to kids. The subjects of the talks are dizzyingly varied, and whether you’d like to give your kid a grounding in a new subject or simply open their minds to something entirely unexpected, you’ll find it on this site.
Some of the highlights on TED Talks for Kids include A Performance of Mathemagic, which sees mathemagician Arthur Benjamin have a race with calculators to solve a math problem and tackle a brain-busting mental equation, Hands-On Science with Squishy Circuits, and Underwater Astonishments.
Art for Kids Hub on Youtube
Credit: youtube.com/user/ArtforKidsHub
- Cost: Free
- For Ages: Kindergarteners+
Kids will love Youtube’s Art for Kids Hub, for its huge range of how-to videos, guiding them through creating everything from painting a Mother’s Day bouquet to sketching a fun cartoon character. Each video is full of positive energy, and designed to get kids excited about art and confident to try out new techniques. Videos follow a simple, kids’-pace, step-by-step format, with one of the host’s kids usually joining in the lesson, too. Budding artists that are ready for a challenge will find harder videos to try.
Whether you’d like to get your kid interested in art, are looking for a rainy day activity, or are seeking some how-to art videos that you can enjoy as a family, the Art for Kids Hub could be the perfect platform.
How Stuff Works
Credit: howstuffworks.com
- Cost: Free
- For Ages: Grade 8+
Kids ask the best questions. As parents, we’re regularly caught out by inquiries such as ‘Why are deserts hot?’, ‘What causes certain smells?’ and ‘What’s a subpoena?’ Happily, help is at hand with the brilliant educational website which has in-depth answers to all these questions and hundreds more! The content is largely geared towards older kids, and covers a wide range of subjects from science to engineering, from ethics to culture, and from history to legal systems.
As well as the entertaining articles, kids will also enjoy the videos, crosswords, riddles, puzzles, and quizzes, to help consolidate what they’ve learned and encourage them to keep learning.
And as for why deserts are hot? It has to do with several factors, the key of which is the low specific heat capacity of rock and sand, meaning they retain little heat during the day, causing temperatures to rise quickly once the sun rises.
Scholastic
Credit: resource-bank.scholastic.co.uk
- Cost: Free
- For Ages: Pre-Kindergarteners to Grade Six
The Scholastic website is packed full of resources for parents to help their kids learn at home, with the aim of developing key skills, boosting their understanding, and reaching their full potential. Topics and areas of learning are clearly organized, allowing parents to easily find the right content for their child.
As well as educational games, standalone worksheets, and arts and crafts projects, Scholastic offers a comprehensive library of resources to help children get ready for school for the first time, designed to build self-esteem and essential skills. Reading lists and book activity packs are also a useful addition, to help expand kids’ classroom learning or at-home studies.
Old Farmer’s Almanac for Kids
Credit: almanac.com
- Cost: Free
- For Ages: Grade Two+
An educational platform with a difference, the Old Farmer’s Almanac for Kids is focused on the natural world and our interactions with it. Children will enjoy finding out about things like moon phases, and what to look out for in the night sky month-by-month, how to get started growing their own fruit and vegetables, and exploring the many kid-friendly recipes.
This site is a wonderful way to help kids reconnect with the world around them, and understand how natural cycles fundamentally affect the foods we grow and eat. The Old Farmer’s Almanac has been regularly published since 1792 and, in its new digital format, is set to keep going for the foreseeable future.
Gus on the Go
Credit: gusonthego.com
- Cost: $3.99
- For Ages: Pre-Kindergartener and Kindergartener
Young children can dive into a fun adventure learning Spanish, French, Greek, Hebrew, or one of the platform’s other thirty available languages, via the Gus on the Go app. Ten interactive lessons for each language include vocabulary reviews and exciting games to keep kids’ attention on their learning. While the app costs $3.99, the Ingush version, as an endangered language, is free. This is part of the company’s drive to protect vulnerable languages and promote language diversity.
Parents highly rate the educational, intuitive, and interactive nature of the app, reporting that their kids have enjoyed learning via the platform and have been keen to discover more. On the Gus on the Go website, you’ll also find a library of free printables, to further help your child as they gain proficiency in a new language.
Daria — World Music for Children
Credit: dariamusic.com
- Cost: Free, with additional resources available to purchase
- For Ages: Pre-Kindergartener+
This award-winning website is all about making exploring and playing music fun for kids of all ages, from kindergarten to elementary school to middle school and upward! On the platform, children can discover interesting instruments from around the world, and not only have the opportunity to hear how they sound but even make their own versions at home. These include didgeridoos from Australia, box drums from Latin America, and shekeres from Africa.
Daria — World Music for Children may be particularly helpful for bilingual kids or those who are learning another language, as there are many songs on the platform with lyrics in both English and Spanish, Hebrew, Zulu, Yiddish, Arabic, and Quechua.
StoryPlace
Credit: storyplace.org
- Cost: Free
- For Ages: Pre-Schooler
Want to help your pre-schooler start their learning to read adventure? Check out the StoryPlace website to find stories and activities they’ll love, helpfully arranged by theme. The site aims to act as a virtual library for children and, as well as all the fun content on offer for kids, parents can find plenty of information here on early literacy.
To give you an idea of how the platform works, say you choose the Pet theme for your child. They’ll have access to an online story to enjoy, and a related activity, video, and reading list, to keep the learning and exploring going.
To ensure your child’s safety while they explore these educational resources, consider using the Findmykids app. It allows you to monitor their online activity and keep track of their whereabouts, giving you peace of mind. Download Findmykids today and keep your child’s learning journey safe and secure!
More Educational Websites for Kids
Kaspars Grinvalds/Shutterstock.com
Looking for more educational inspiration for your little learners? These websites are also all worth checking out:
- Night Zookeeper, from $9.92 a month. Free trial available.
- Brainscape, some free content, subscription is required to unlock all content, which costs from $9.99 a month.
- Quizlet, limited version free, subscriptions cost from $7.99 a month.
- CodeWizardsHQ, $149 per course.
- LeapFrog, $7.99 a month, free trial available.
- SplashLearn, from $7.99 a month.
- TIME for Kids, free.
- Nick Jr, free.
- Exploratorium, free.
- CoolMath, free.
- DOGOnews, free.
- Monterey Bay Aquarium Learning from Home, free.
Get Set for Happy Little (and Big!) Learners
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The best educational websites are immersive and fuse fun activities with high-quality learning, combining games, videos, interactivities, and more. Whether you want to support your kid’s in-class learning, give them an introduction to a new topic, inspire them, or simply offer them some educational entertainment, use the list above to find the right platform. When kids are motivated, engaged, and having fun, they not only learn more effectively—but are keen to learn more.
Is there a particular educational platform or website your kids use that you’ve been really impressed with? Are there any your child loves that don’t feature in our list? We’d be interested to know about them—drop us a line in the comments box below.
FAQs
Which website is best for kids’ learning?
While the best educational website for your child will depend on their age, needs, and preferences, some of the most popular are Khan Academy, Starfall Education, and ABCYa!
Which website is best for learning for free?
There are many free educational websites out there, including Sesame Street, PBS Kids, Starfall, and National Geographic Kids. All of these platforms are completely free to use.
What is similar to ABCMouse but free?
Khan Academy is a similar platform to ABCMouse, but parents and kids can access its content for free. PBS Education is also a good alternative to Khan Academy.
Is Khan Academy Kids free?
All of the content, including lessons, videos, and resources on the Khan Academy platform is totally free to access and use.
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