Children love playing games online. Whether you like it or not, the chances are that your child will want to play games anyway.
After all, according to CNET, 97 percent of children are gamers. Centre of Media and Child Health further reports that kids between the age of 5 and 8 spend at least 42 minutes every day playing games.
Rather than trying to take the aspect out of your child’s routine, you can instead ensure that your kid plays games that are educational in nature as well. While mainstream games like Counter-Strike and FIFA help improve their hand-eye coordination, strategy and mind games can help in enhancing their cognitive thinking.
Rather than investing in standalone games, it is much easier to use kid-friendly gaming websites. Such websites feature parental control, age-specific games, and a variety of options to ensure that your child doesn’t get bored.
Here are some of the best gaming websites for kids that will help them in learning new things.
1. MiniMe
AirG MiniMe is a subscription-based kid-friendly website that offers both educational games and videos for children of different ages. The different games and videos play an integral role in improving the cognitive skills and general knowledge of children.
The platform is tailored made for children because it doesn’t have hidden purchases or ads. Hence, parents can rest easy knowing that their children will not be exposed to anything they shouldn’t be.
Additionally, the games included featuring varying difficulty, which makes it a likely choice for children regardless of their age. Some games included are Basketball Master, Connect the Dots, Count Faster, and World of Words.
The platform also offers educational games like learning languages or learning how to count that is bound to be helpful for young children.
All in all, MiniMe is an excellent website for kids and parents looking for a solution that works on-the-go.
2. Sesame Street
For those of you who are looking for a gaming website for young children and toddlers, Sesame Street is a perfect choice. After all, the platform features a cartoon that is often very popular among the little ones.
Sesame Street website has over a hundred video clips from the show. Hence, it serves as a great distraction when your children are bored.
Apart from this, the games offered on the website are all educational in nature. Some help children in learning letters and alphabets while others help in identifying colors and animal sounds.
For parents who find that their children aren’t able to retain such things when taught from storybooks, you might want to give Sesame Street a try. The interactive gameplay and the familiar faces might do the trick.
3. Scholastic
Scholastic is one website that is a tad different from the type of sites on this list. Even though the other sites feature educational games, they are not in the same league as Scholastic.
Why?
Well, this is because Scholastic is one platform that is actively sought by educators and parents as a resource in school. The educational website features activities and games which are divided as per the grade level of children.
You will find activities bifurcated for pre-K students, all the way up to middle and high school. There are also resources and tips and tricks available for teachers and parents.
4. National Geographic Kids
There might have been a time when encyclopedias and books were sought only for the information regarding the wildlife. The children of today are visual beings that prefer both entertainment and knowledge to be given to them via visual media.
National Geographic is one channel that is a great resource for both children and adults. Its website for kids, National Geographic Kids, makes learning even more fun with various interactive science, adventure, and action games.
The platform has fun geography quizzes and puzzle games to boost the focus and memory of children. Some of its best games include On the Trail of Captain John Smith, Wildest Weather, and The Underground Railroad.
You can also use the website to explore different animals and learn more about them.
5. PBS Kids
Channel PBS offers many educational shows for children. There is also a kid-friendly website of the channel that has various simple games, additional videos, and sing-a-long rhymes and songs.
The different characters that PBS is famous for are present on the website and are used as a tool to teach new things to children.
However, one problem with the platform is that it is only suitable for pre-schoolers. Children above this age group will find the games too easy and repetitive.
6. BBC Schools: Games
Just like PBS is a hit children’s website in the US, BBC Schools are quite popular in the UK. However, one con of this website is that it solely functions in the UK. Therefore, any of you who don’t reside in the country won’t be able to access this free educational website.
For those of you who can, you will find a platform full of a variety of things. BBC Schools offers interactive digital games, educational content, and learning activities for children across ages.
Some subjects found on the site include history, music, maths, literacy, and art. To make it easy for parents to find the right game for their children, the platform has divided its offering as per the age group of the user.
Young children might find the website attractive due to its extensive use of cartoon graphics. And parents and teachers will find it perfect because of the content of the activities. So, it is a win-win!
Ending Remarks
Each of these six gaming websites offers fun games and educational resources for children that can help them in learning new things.
We can’t pick a sole winner from the six websites—each offer engaging games for children. We suggest you try each of them out and see which website your little one likes the best. And let us all know too, in the comments below.
Strike a balance between mainstream entertaining games and educational websites. Good luck!
Author bio
Andrea Bell is a blogger by choice. She loves to discover the world around her. She likes to share her discoveries, experiences and express herself through her blogs. You can find her on Twitter:@IM_AndreaBell