top of page

Websites your kids will love (that won’t make parents cringe)!

When my kids want screen time, I just send them to this page. It's full of easy-to-use, clean, age-appropriate sites that might just teach them a thing or two.

​

If you're looking for non-screen ideas, check out the projects for kids page.

 

Do you have an idea you’d like to see added here? If so, please send me a message on the 'contact' page.

​

​

gravity-lab.png

Gravity Lab

Powered by the National Science & Technology Medals Foundation, this site invites viewers to "create your universe" to see how celestial bodies warp the fabric of space-time and interact with each other. My 11-year-old has been fascinated with it for weeks.

kinderart.com.jpg

Kinder Art Club

This site is for your budding artists! Led by a daughter/mother team, it features hundreds of free art lessons, with printable instructions and YouTube video lesson plans. Younger kids will need help with this one, but older kids can run with it all on their own. 

colossal-questions.jpg

Colossal Questions

This show answers all of kids' most pressing questions and is very educational. My kids love it, and do actually learn a lot from it. I love that it's also available on many viewing platforms including Peacock, YouTube, AmazonPrime and AppleTV. 

santa-tracker-google.jpg

Google Santa Tracker

Google's Santa Tracker is top-notch. Not only can you track Santa's journey as Christmas approaches, but you can explore and play a ton of games all December long. I especially appreciate the coding games that are included on the site. And the visuals are all just too adorable to miss!

edjing.PNG

Edjing

Ok, so this is an app, but you can link to it from this website. Got a kid that loves to mix their own music tracks? Download this DJ app to gain access to an extensive music library and pro mixing tools that will have your kids' heads bopping in no time.

SolarSystemScope.JPG

Solar System Scope

The 1st graders are in love with this website, and so am I. It's an interactive site that allows you to explore all the planets and the solar system in real time.

 

Download the app to locate constellations in the  night sky on your mobile device.

DreamBox.JPG

DreamBox

My son's third grade class is begging to play this at home. While 'playing' in DreamBox, K-8th grade students are immersed in a world where learning is fun — leveling up from one interactive game to the next and collecting data for their teachers as they play.

 

Check out the free trial if you don't have access through your school.

ABC-Ya.PNG

ABCya!

Built by teachers, this site is full of [free] fun educational games that are organized by subject and grade/age level.

 

My eight-year-old is an avid fan, and loves to jump into it during remote school breaks. My six-year-old has now joined into the mix and loves it as well.

mo-willems.jpg

MO WILLEMS

My youngest LOVES children's book author Mo Willems. He likes to join Mo in his studio while Mo talks about writing and illustrating books in his 15 episodes of "Lunch Doodles" on YouTube. To learn more about Mo (including fun little games and downloadable activities), visit The Kennedy Center website.

denverzoo.jpg

DZTV: DENVER ZOO

Denver Zoo re-opened to the public in 2020 with several new restrictions --check the website before you go for the latest rules. If you're not up for going to the zoo in-person, check out these fun virtual safaris from home. Find them on the zoo website, or on the Denver Zoo YouTube channel.

Khanacademy.png

KHAN ACADEMY

My kids all love math, but my 11-year-old probably enjoys this site the most. It allows you to work at your own pace, leveling up as you go. Although we use it almost exclusively for math, the site also offers grammar, science, history and more. Plus, it's run by a great non-profit organization (who you can donate to, if you wish).

Scratch.png

SCRATCH

Scratch teaches kids basic programming within an online community. My kids all love looking at other people's projects, and have fun coding and sharing their own interactive creations.

 

This site is designed and maintained by the Lifelong Kindergarten group at the MIT Media Lab: 
https://scratch.mit.edu/

ArtForKids.png

ART FOR KIDS

My six-year-old found videos of this artistic family on YouTube Kids and surprised me by drawing a very impressive sketch of a doctor.

​

In addition to lots of fun step-by-step drawing videos, you’ll also find  painting and origami lessons for kids on this site, or on their YouTube channel.

Louvre.png

LOUVRE

What parent hasn't dreamed of visiting the Louvre? Check out these online virtual tours and immerse you and your kids in some amazing exhibits. 

​

If you're hungry for more, download the "VR – Mona Lisa” App here to bring Leonardo's masterpiece to life.

Digipuzzle.png

DIGIPUZZLE

I admit it. I got a little sidetracked playing some of these games, myself! There are tons of puzzles, word searches, coding and math games. They're geared towards kids, but let's face it, we can all use a little mindless 'brain game' time.

Incredibox.png

INCREDIBOX

This site lets kids customize their music and their musicians to create unique sound tracks. To get started, click the "web version," then select your avatar. From there, you might want to view the tutorial to help you get started (click the hamburger button, then the "?" help button).

AmericasTestKitchen.png

AMERICA'S TEST KITCHEN - KIDS

For your budding chef, the kids section of America's Test Kitchen contains great activities and recipes that you and your kiddos can try out. There's even a trivia section to test your cooking knowledge!

GoNoodle.png

GONOODLE

Getting my kids to move has become much more of a challenge during stay-at-home orders. This site has super cute free videos that will encourage your kiddos to get up and move their bodies!

StoryOnline.png

STORYLINE ONLINE

Famous people reading books to my kids -- I love it! This site features a great collection of books, all animated and all read by a celebrity. Each book lists a suggested age range and also offers supplemental materials, in case you're feeling ambitious. All totally free -- a great find!

Spy-Kids.png

SPY KIDS

What kid doesn’t dream of being a spy kid? For all of your spy kids looking to decode secret missions and messages, check out the CIA kids section. Go to cia.gov and click the tab for “spy kids.”

Google-3d.png

GOOGLE 3D

Check out the new feature in Google - type an animal's name e.g. “tiger” in the search box, then find the section (right under Wikipedia’s entry) that says “Meet a life-sized tiger up close” and press ‘View in 3D.’ This opens your camera, showing a virtual tiger in your house! There are lots of other animals you can see as well, plus you can take pictures of yourself posing with all of them.

Ntl-Geographic-Kids.png

NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC

This site contains games, videos and scientific information from a kiddo perspective. Kids will learn some interesting trivia facts while “playing” fun games and puzzles.

Prodigy.png

PRODIGY

A super fun math learning game with wizards and spells, where kids have to solve math problems in order to move to the next level. This game is especially fun if you have multiple kids that love math, since they can be in the same level and ‘world’ and play together.

Google-Arts-pic.png

GOOGLE ARTS & CULTURE

View content from over 2000 leading museums and archives who have partnered with the Google Cultural Institute to bring the world’s treasures online.

WHO-Parenting.png

WHO.INT

The WHO website has several great parenting tips and resources for COVID-19, but they're a little hard to find. Here is the link to the parenting page. One great item is the children’s book at the top of this page, titled "My Hero Is You. How kids can fight COVID-19!" This is a book written to help kids understand the coronavirus and how to deal with it. My favorite line is "I need you to be my hero."

Hoffman-Academy.png

HOFFMAN ACADEMY

If you have a piano/keyboard and a child with interest, this is an affordable online option for piano lessons. The instructor is great with relating music to things kids love, and all the music lessons are posted on-line for free. So far, my kids are LOVING it and begging to do more. To join the premium account, it’s roughly $20/month for the first child, $10/month more per extra kid. Other price points are available as well.

bottom of page