Free Children's Games

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2009-11-27T08:06:00.001-05:00

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Merriam-Webster's Word Central

2008-09-24T20:45:00.001-04:00

Merriam Webster's Word Central is a great place to introduce young children to using a dictionary and thesaurus. There is also a way to search for rhyming words (did you know that there is no word in the English language that rhymes with "month?")

The site also has some fun word games, will allow your child to discover new words with a "Daily Buzzword" and lets children submit their own fun words. Some funny examples of submitted words are:

grufton - a grumpy engineer or mechanic
hapbee - happy even if you are doing something you didn't want to do or didn't wish for
yetzagurpledink - a strangely delectable drink made from ice cream, marshmallows and grapes with grape soda added

and many more!

Check out Merriam-Webster's Word Central at http://www.wordcentral.com

Build A Bear Workshop

2007-12-27T17:09:00.001-05:00

Build-A-Bear Workshop has a great selection of fun and educational free children's games and printables on their website. Your child can also send customizable "Bear Hug" e-cards to family and friends.

Games include a flash-card game that helps children practice their math skills and a concentration-like game that shows bears dressed in outfits from around the world.

Build-A-Bear Workshop is one of my kid's favorite places to go, and the website is one of there favorites on the web. My son sends e-cards to all our family and friends for every special occasion and holiday.

Check it out here: http://www.buildabear.com

ClubCaveKidz.com and ItchTheCaveman.com -- Community and Free Online Games for Kids

2007-12-17T21:02:00.001-05:00

Great Green Gobs Inc, a social-community design company, has launched two new sites that feature free games online for kids: ItchTheCaveman.com and ClubCaveKidz.com

ItchTheCaveman.com provides free online games for kids, coloring pages, comics and other interactive pages for kids. Users can create their own profiles under a "My Page" category, which allows them to post pictures, create their own blog, invite friends, change their page layout, etc. -- all of which is monitored to provide against improper behavior.

ClubCaveKidz.com also has free online games and provides much of the same content as ItchTheCaveman.com, but does not allow for user interaction, in the event parents do not want their children in a community environment.

Among the things a kid can do:

Download coloring book pages
Subscribe to eComic Books
Create a Blog
Upload pictures (all of which are monitored to protect against inappropriate behavior
Dress a Caveman
Read "Itch the Caveman" comic strips
Purchase branded "CaveKidz" products (t-shirts, mugs, etc.)
... and much more

Parents can be assured that we protect against improper behavior because we monitor, review and authorize any pictures submitted, as well as user profiles and comments.

NORAD Tracks Santa

2007-12-13T10:16:00.001-05:00

The North American Aerospace Defense Command will be tracking Santa's progress once again this year. Their website, noradsanta.org began tracking his progress on Devember 1st. Children and families can find a new kid-friendly game or activity every day until December 24th. And starting at 1:00 am PST on December 24th, you'll be able to track Santa's trip in real time. You can download Google Earth and add the NORAD Tracks Santa iGoogle gadget to your iGoogle page anytime, but make sure to come back to noradsanta.org on December 24th to download the special Santa Tracking file for an enhanced 3D Santa-tracking experience.

Be sure to check every day to track Santa's progress!

Check it out here: Norad Tracks Santa

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Seussville University

2007-12-10T21:16:00.001-05:00

Seussville University is a great online resource for kids of all ages to learn about math, Reading, Reasoning and Science with their favorite Dr. Seuss characters.

	Horton the Elephant hosts the reading area, where children will learn concepts such as letter recognition, the sounds of letters, and rhyming words.
	Yertle the Turtle hosts the math area, where children will learn to recognize numerals and number words, to count, and to do simple addition.
	The Lorax hosts the science area, where children will be introduced to animal categories, basic astronomy, and ecology.
	Sam-I-Am hosts the reasoning area, where children will compare size, number, patterns, and directions and learn about opposites.

This is a wonderful site, but can experience some slow load times. Be patient the first time you open it, and you may have to download the Adobe Shockwave you don't already have it.

FamilyFun: Fun stuff for Kids, Parents

2007-11-08T21:01:00.001-05:00

The Family Fun web site is a great place for kids and parents to find crafts, games and ideas for parties and play groups. Right now, there is a Thanksgiving theme with some wonderful ideas for spending time with your kids for the holidays. Check it out here: FamilyFun: Fun stuff for Kids, Parents - and More Family Fun

The website is based on the popular Disney magazine Family Fun.

Lunchables.com

2007-11-03T23:52:00.002-04:00

My kids love this page! My son found the link to Lunchables.com on the box of his favorite lunch and now he plays games like Gear Up Garage, Delicious Delivery and a Transformers themed puzzle. The site, of course, has plenty of advertisements pushing their Lunchables product, but hey, it's free! They also have pseudo public-service announcements encouraging kids to get up and play for an hour a day.

Check it out here: http://www.lunchables.com

SchoolExpress.com

2007-10-11T10:15:00.001-04:00

This great site has loads of free games, downloadable worksheets, stories and Ebooks. Great resource for the elementary age child and homeschool parents.

Check it out here:

SchoolExpress.com - free lesson plans, free worksheets, free software, online math, educational store, homeschool

Free Children's Games - Scholastic Kids

2007-10-03T22:31:00.001-04:00

Scholastic Kids has a huge selection of free children's games on the Internet. There are also a ton of free downloads, puzzles and polls for kids.

All of your children's favorite characters from Scholastic's large selection of kid's literature are here, including:

Captain Underpants
Goosebumps
Guardian's of Ga’Hoole
Marvel Superheroes
The Gatekeepers
Deltora
Magic School Bus
and yes, even everyone's favorite wizard, Harry Potter

You can even read excerpts from many of the books. I know Goosebumps is a favorite in my house, so check that one out!

Check out the site here

While you're there, check out their online store.

LA Kids Learning Via Video Games

2007-10-03T21:43:00.001-04:00

The educational and development value is coming to the attention of educators across the country. According to this article, schools in Los Angeles County have contracted with Star Inc. to bring video games in the class room.

The program takes games like DDR, Mario Kart, and the Pokemon card game and twists them into tools for teaching PE, team building, and positive gamesmanship

Great idea. Using games in a positive manner will help get a teacher's lesson across and keep them interested in the classroom.

Education: LA Kids Learning Via Video Games - Kotaku

Action gets gamers off the couch

2007-10-03T16:57:00.001-04:00

Apparently, mainstream medicine is finally realizing that gaming can have some physical benefits as well as mental. Starting with the Dance Dance Revolution craze, games are getting more interactive and can actually help get kids more active.

My six year old son has Mario Dance Party and Wii Sports. I can attest to the fact that both can be serious workouts!

Now, I just need to find some free children's games for my PC!

newsobserver.com | Action gets gamers off the couch

Free Children's Games

2007-09-28T14:22:00.000-04:00

Luckily for us, there are now plenty of sites out there that have great free children's games that will help your child learn and grow. Some of my kids favorite sites are:

http://www.starfall.com/
This site is great for young children. There are plenty of activities that keep my six year old and my two year old interested. Games vary from matching, to concentration-type games (we unexpectedly found out that my 2 year old little girl is a master at this. I need to research what that means) to activities that test and improve math, reading and shape and color recognition. There is no cost for the site, but there are ads.

http://www.playhousedisney.com/
All of Playhouse Disney's sites focus on the characters on their hit television shows that play to preschoolers across the nation. At first glance, this looks more like a play site and a time waster, but we noticed that some of the better games are teaching something. One of my favorites is Manners with Max. Max will go through different scenarios and teach your child how to display the proper manners in each situation (answering the phone, eating at the table, etc.) There are also a lot of activities that allow your child to color and animate pictures on the screen or print out coloring pages to color on their own. Make sure you restrict access to the printer on this one, because my kids can go through a lot of ink and paper if I'm not paying attention.

http://www.nickjr.com/
If your little one enjoys Dora the Explorer or her cousin Diego, this is the site for him/her. Similar to the Playhouse Disney site, there are many learning, reading and coloring activities all surround the Nick Jr. universe.

http://www.cartoonnetwork.com/
Not much learning going on here. You may want to restrict this site. The games can be fun, be they can also be gross and time-wasters. Save this one for the pre-teen or teenage years.

http://www.pfgoldfish.com/
Sometimes you can find the best sites in the strangest places. The Pepperidge Farm site was built to promote their tasty Goldfish snacks, but in the process, they created some pretty good games for kids. Definitely worth a look if your kids like Goldfish.

Some other sites that have great product-related free childrens games are: http://www.poptarts.com/, http://www.capncrunch.com/, http://www.fisherprice.com/ and http://www.lego.com

I'm sure there are hundreds of sites that I missed, and I'll post more soon. Any suggestions?