Fun and Free Educational Websites for Kids

Last updated on May 24th, 2020 at 12:47 am

Parents, most of us now have our kids home from school for the foreseeable future. Here are some ways to keep them busy and learning–first, Scholastic has set up a ‘Learn From Home’ website with four categories: PreK and Kindergarten, Grades 1 and 2, Grades 3 through 5, and Grades 6 and up. Each section is ready to go with one week of content for students, and there are 15 additional that will be ready soon.

Access the New York Public Library (books, research materials, and more) from anywhere, anytime. Details here.

We also like these educational sites–

Math:
play.prodigygame.com
khanacademy.org
coolmath.com
xtramath.org

Reading:
Author JK Rowling has launched an online Harry Potter hub. Listen to the audio book version of “Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone,” read articles, do puzzles, watch videos, and more.
squigglepark.com
growingbookbybook.com/online-literacy-resources/
storylineonline.net — Storyline Online features videos of celebrated actors reading children’s books alongside creatively produced illustrations.
Audible Stories — For as long as schools are closed, kids can stream a large collection of stories, in six different languages. All stories are free to stream on your desktop, laptop, phone or tablet.

Science:
Cincinnati Zoo is hosting a Home Safari Facebook Live every weekday at 3 pm Eastern time. They will highlight one of their animals and include an activity children can do from home.
STEM activities from NASA’s JPL (Jet Propulsion Laboratories).
Live Animal Cams: San Diego Zoo, Houston Zoo, Smithsonian Zoo Elephants, Georgia Aquarium Beluga Whales
mysterydoug.com
kids.nationalgeographic.com
The Happy Scientist Robert Krampt has earth science fun and videos.
Mystery Science (Mystery Science is free while school is closed)
Great Lakes Science Center — Every weekday, the science center will post new STEM content to its YouTube channel.

Writing: typingclub.com

Social Studies/History:
Ancestry.com is offering free lesson plans and printables for grades K through 12
historyforkids.net
BBC History for Kids
Thank you to W ilkening Consulting for curating this collection of American History resources. We’re happy to share these additional fun learning opportunities below:

Ah-Tah-Thi-Ki Museum (Seminole)
Chesapeake Bay Maritime Museum (scroll down to “classroom resources”)
Historic New England
- Family Ties Online
Litchfield Historical Society
Monticello (Thomas Jefferson)
- Digital Classroom (searchable by grade)
- Slavery at Monticello (mobile app; includes videos, audio, and visuals)
Mount Vernon (George Washington)
- Lesson plans (searchable by grade)
- Be Washington (app-based game)
National Museum of African American History and Culture
National Museum of American History (Smithsonian Institution)
- *Our Story: American History Stories and Activities You Can Do Together!
- Kids: Things To Do At Home
National Museum of the American Indian
National Park Service
- Teaching with Historic Places
Newport Historical Society (RI)
- Lesson plans and resources
- Virtual tour
Ohio History Connection (searchable by grade; updated daily)
Old Salem
- Online “field trip” platform, created in response to COVID-19 closures
Smithsonian Institution
- History Explorer (searchable by grade)
Tenement Museum (searchable by grade)

Virtual Field Trips:

Over 30 Virtual Field Trips are linked in this document.
Statue of Liberty field trip
15 virtual field trips including the White House, NASA Mount Everest, and The National Gallery of Art.
More virtual field trips are here.

150+ Enrichment Activities for Children

More:
FirstPalette.com — Arts and Crafts with free printables
TwistyNoodle — free coloring pages and worksheets
CrayolaExperience is offering free activities to do at home.
Watch “Snack Chat” with Cookie Monster every Tuesday on YouTube and Facebook. Kids will learn about eating healthy, and washing their hands!
4-H STEM Lab
Metropolitan Museum of Art Lesson plans and #metkids
MoMA (Museum of Modern Art)
Denver Art Museum Creativity Resource
Norman Rockwell Museum (grades K – 12)
Boston Children’s Museum is sharing 100 Ways to Play and its Beyond the Chalkboard website with hundreds of free activities.
Rosetta Stone is offering a free 3-month subscription of Rosetta Stone for Students to parents and guardians of K-12 students.
Outschool.com — Live online classes for ages three to 18 are now free.
Lunch Doodles with Kennedy Center Artist-in-Residence Mo Willems is happening daily!
Printables from Carson Dellosa Education — reading, language arts, math, social studies, science, and more.
GreatSchools.org printable worksheets
My Little Sous – Free Kitchen Academy kit
edHelper (free while schools are closed)
Kahoot is now free.
starfall.com
abcya.com
PBSKids.org
KidsDiscover.com
highlightskids.com
Funbrain.com
wonderopolis.org
Smithsonian for Kids
The Smithsonian Institution has access to millions of digital resources from across the Smithsonian’s museums, research centers, libraries, archives, and more.
The Smithsonian Learning Lab has pre-packaged collections that contain lessons, activities, and recommended resources made by Smithsonian educators
GoNoodle.com
RangerRick.com — Get free access to Ranger Rick online and the digital editions of its magazines through June 30th, 2020
The Extramarks learning app will be free through April 30th.
newsela.com (free while schools are closed)
brainpop.com (BrainPOP is free while schools are closed)
boomlearning.com (Boom Learning is free while schools are closed)
abcmouse.com (ABCMouse is free for 30 days)