70+ Free Educational Games

Geography

Games are a fun way to learn states and state capitals. I have several games for these in case you want to mix it up. 4th grade covered states with optional state capitals for extra credit. We also have place mats at the dinner table with the globe and the United States capitals for a fun family trivia game.

• Name Countries of the World
• Name the U.S. States
• Name U.S. State Capitals
• State Capitals of USA Game
• Printable World Maps Free printable maps of the world’s countries. Each map is a blank outline, the better for quizzing students on cities, counties, and terrain!
• 50 States Detailed information about each of the 50 states including abbreviations and capital cities. Excellent for teaching U.S. geography!
• Where’s That U.S. State? This fun geography game times your students as it asks them to locate each state. How fast can your students locate each of the 50 states?

For more ideas on Geography, please follow my Pinterest Board: Geography Fun.

Science

This round up of great science websites, resources and games covers a wide range of topics from physical to life sciences. It’s meant to help support STEM (Science Technology Engineering and Math) interest in your child. I especially want to introduce girls to science. Research has shown that if girls don’t find science interesting by the end of elementary school, they will reject it forever. This is a shame since there are so many great jobs in the STEM fields, an area that is currently dominated by men.

And do boys have an edge over girls with regard to science and math? The research says absolutely not! Girls just need to realize that math and science are skills to be acquired NOT a genetic inclination or gift!

• Name Elements of Periodic Table
• Steve Spangler Science Experiments A searchable directory of easy and fun science experiments and science fair ideas.
• Water Cycle Diagram – Earthguide The interactive Earthguide Water Cycle Diagram provides a visual representation of the different parts of the water cycle, including precipitation, runoff, infiltration, evaporation, evapotranspiration, freezing and more.
•  B-EYE Give your students a different view of the world, literally! B-EYE shows your students what the world looks like through the eyes of a bee. You can zoom in and out to truly experience the effect of compound eyes on one’s vision.
• Life of Birds The website version of PBS’ Life of Birds is a great resource for learning about Earth’s most adaptable creatures.
• InnerBody An interactive guide to all systems of the human body including the digestive system, immune system, muscular system, respiratory system, skeletal system and more.
• Planet Size Comparison This super-cool website lets you pick two planets in our solar system and visually compare them. It’s great for a unit on space!
• Coral Reef PhotoBank Coral Reef Alliance’s photobank is a great resource if you’re doing a unit or center on marine ecosystems like coral reefs
• The Dino Directory View 3D models of five well-known dinosaurs, and learni about the origins of their names, how large they were, what they ate and when and where they lived.
• Infrared Zoo Gallery
  Use the Infrared Zoo Gallery to “see” the difference between warm-blooded and cold-blooded animals. It also allows you to study how well feathers, fur and blubber insulate different animals. Very cool!

For more ideas on Science, please follow my Pinterest Board: Science Fun.

Endangered Animals

Children have a natural empathy for animals. With more species than ever threatened with extinction, it’s so important to teach this generation of kids about the fragile state of our planet and ecosystems.

• ARKive The ultimate resource for breathtaking photos and videos of the world’s endangered species. Each entry also includes a description of the species (or region) and information about its range, habitat, biology, threats, conservation and more.
• Bagheera Learn about endangered and already-extinct species from around the world at Bagheera. Classroom activities and resources are also available for additional learning opportunities.
• eNature Use eNature’s Endangered and Threatened Species search engine to enter your zip code and learn about highly-threatened animals near you. There are also animal-related games, quizzes and other freebies available.
• Rainforest Heroes Learn about the rainforest and what students can do to help protect it. Rainforest Heroes also has a section for teaching ideas that include creative writing, spelling, reading, science, math and more, all relating to the topic of the rainforest or rainforest conservation.
• eSpecies Fact Sheets Electronic fact sheets, including photos, protection status, and info on how students can help, for over 50 endangered species.

Earthquake Science

• Earthquakes for Kids
  The U.S. Geological Survey website provides students with information about earthquakes. They can learn about the latest quakes, watch animations, get ideas for science fairs or play earthquake-related puzzles and games.
• Plate Tectonics Animations
  The University of California Berkeley’s plate tectonics animations demonstrate how the plates work, and the site includes information on the theories behind the motion, as information on the history of plate tectonics and animations of how plate tectonics shaped the world in the past!

History

You might not think of apps or games to learn history! Here is a great round up of resources to try at home or in a classroom.

• Mission U.S.
  Mission U.S. is home to two free, interactive, immersive U.S. history games. One focuses on the American Revolution, the other focuses on a slave’s quest for freedom, and both bring history to life around the student, giving events of the past an immediate and highly personal appeal.
• Online Hieroglyphics Translator
  Type in a phrase and see what it looks like when it’s translated to Egyptian Hieroglyphics. This is a cool activity to do if you’re covering Ancient Egypt.
• iCivics
  Free lesson plans and interactive games for learning civics. Some of the topics covered by materials at iCivics include citizenship and participation, separation of powers, branches of government and budgeting.
• The Underground Railroad
  Scholastic’s interactive Underground Railroad activity provides an in-depth and honest look at what life was like for slaves. It’s got audio, slideshows, videos, teacher’s guides and more.
• The Seattle Times: Martin Luther King Jr.
  An invaluable resource to teach the incredible story of Martin Luther King Jr. This website includes a biography, timeline, seven teaching exercises, a photo gallery, a quiz and more.
• Electoral College Calculator
  Teaching your students about the Electoral College? Using the Electoral College Calculator is a great activity to show how winning certain states can put a candidate on an easy path to the White House.
• Plimoth Plantation: Thanksgiving Interactive Activity
  Yes, it’s spelled “Plimoth”! Trust me, I double-, triple- and quadruple-checked! This fun, award-winning activity has students role-play as history detectives who investigate what actually happened at the first Thanksgiving.

For more ideas on History, please follow my Pinterest Board: Social Studies, Election for Kids, Best Historical Fiction for Kids.

English Language

Do you ever guess on how a word is pronounced and even if it’s wrong, it’s how you want to say the word forever? I do that. As the designated read aloud parent, I am still guessing at how some words are pronounced. I will be utilizing Forvo for assistance in the future!

There are other great games to get kids learning English Language skills.

• Fun Phonics Games
• Learning Games for Kids – Vocabulary
• Mad Glibs
• Grammar Ninja Game This fun game helps your students learn the different parts of speech! There are three levels of difficulty that can be assigned to your students.
• TVOKids: Spelling Bee Game This game plays just like a real spelling bee. Students hear the word and get one chance to spell it. They can have the word repeated and can also read a definition.
• Forvo Forvo is the world’s largest pronunciation dictionary.
• Vocabulary.com is dubbed one of the “50 Best Websites of 2012” by Time

For more ideas on Reading and Writing, please follow my Pinterest Board: Reading and Writing Fun, Sight Word Fun, and Reluctant Readers.

Keyboarding

Typing skills or keyboarding is a skill that is more important than ever. This game teaches touch typing. I also have a post on best sites and apps for learning keyboarding.

• Learning Games for Kids – Keyboarding
• Sky Chase – Keyboarding

Sign Language

If your child attends school with a classmate who is learning impaired, learning sign language is a helpful skill that might also be reinforced at school.

• Sign the Alphabet

Personal Finance For Kids

Games

• Bite Club: Save for retirement while running a vampire nightclub.

• FarmBlitz: Manage farm resources to build savings and survive financial emergencies.

• Financial Football: Give your financial knowledge a workout with the latest version of Financial Football, a fast-paced, NFL-themed video game developed by Visa.

• Financial Soccer: Financial Soccer is a fast-paced, multiple-choice question game, testing players’ knowledge of financial management skills as they advance down field and try to score goals.

• Groove Nation: Dance and budget on the road to L.A.

*Bonus: My 30 favorite game and scenario based learning programs

Turn-key lessons

• BizWorld: This nonprofit inspires children to be innovative leaders through the teaching of business, entrepreneurship and finance. (Lessons must be ordered online.)

• EconEdLink: EconEdLink is a leading source of online economic and personal finance lessons and resources for educators, students and afterschool providers.

• FEFE: Provides more than 25,000 educators nationwide with free, ready-to-teach classroom materials for grades 7-12.

• My Classroom Economy: The program has the same overall objectives for all grades — to instill basic financial responsibility and teach the value of delayed gratification.

• MyMoney.gov: MyMoney.gov is the U.S. government’s website dedicated to teaching all Americans the basics of financial education.

• NEFE: The nonprofit national foundation is dedicated to inspiring empowered financial decision making for individuals and families through every stage of life.

• PwC’s Earn Your Future: The curriculum is composed of easy to follow lesson plans accompanied by interactive handouts and dynamic multimedia components. The modules span grades 3-12.

• St. Louis Federal Reserve: Free classroom resources for K-16 educators to teach about money and banking, economics, personal finance and the Federal Reserve.

• The Griffith Foundation: Provides teachers with a classroom-ready product so teachers can spend less time preparing lesson plans and gathering material and more time teaching.

• VISA’s Practical Money Skills for Life: Educator-developed and educator-approved, the program has reached millions of students across the nation.

Sites to Teach Kids Foreign Languages

I use these sites to reinforce Foreign Language curriculum that we either do at home using a tutor or to help my child in middle school who is studying a foreign language.