Family Fun On The Cheap : Smart Kids

Before the school year started, I thought it important to find some ways to help them refresh themselves on what they've learned in school the past year, so I went hunting for some great educational sites.  My requirements were that they were free and actually taught them something, and of course their requirements were that they were fun and entertaining to do and look at. Keep in mind, I have three children, one going in to preschool, one going in to 4th grade, and one going in to 5th, so the only thing I'm not looking for is teen sites- but you could easily get your teen onto some SAT prep site with study guides and the like.

Preschool Age:
Speakaboos This site offers classic stories like nursery rhymes that kids can listen to and watch for free online. You do need to register to get full access, but then they'll allow you to download the stories, record your own and enter contests. They have games and coloring pages, etc. for the kids that go along with each story to keep the kids on track.
This site is good for teaching language skills and comprehension, as well as morality tales if you'd want to talk to them about the meaning of the stories.

The Kidz Page This doesn't have a very smooth look, so it will be obvious that all the games lean toward the educational side, but it does have logic puzzles, math games, printables, word games, music games, etc. for all grade school age kids. This is more of what I'd expect to see my kids actually do at school (again, the graphic quality), but that's what makes me kind of like it- and the kids can all find something to do there. There is no registration required, and though they do have ads on site, they label them as such, so there is no confusion. I can even tell my preschooler the difference between the ads and the game links, so she doesn't accidentally click on one thinking it's something cool to do.

FunBrain My kids really like this one- they've seen it in school, so you know it has plenty of educational games to offer. They even have mad libs junior on site! My kids can find out about new books in the reading section, along with math games, grammar and more. This one is best for probably 2-4th grades, but all the kids really enjoy it. There's no sign up, just click and play.

All in all, there are ways to keep your kids up on what they've learned in school without spending a dime online. I believe it's really important to give them as many learning opportunities as you can, and make sure that when they're younger that they can have fun doing it so that when they're older, they're more apt to keep wanting to learn. Have fun and feel good letting your kids play online!Technorati Tags: free for kids