33 of the best educational websites for children
Polly Logan-Banks
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Let little ones have fun and learn at the same time online. From science and nature through to maths and literacy, here are some of the best educational websites for your kids.
1. BBC Bitesize
The BBC’s Bitesize website is a real favourite with parents in our forum. It covers all areas of the curriculum, ranging from primary school level up to GCSE exams.
It’s free to use and includes animations, revision flashcards and interactive sections to help your kids learn.
2. Oxford Owl
Oxford Owl is aimed at children aged three to 11 years old and is free to use.
It helps children learn reading and maths, and there are also top tips for parents to help your child with their learning. The site also features hundreds of free ebooks.
3. National Geographic Kids
National Geographic Kids is great for children aged six to 13 years old.
It has stunning images, interactive games and colouring books, and it's a lovely site for children to learn more about animals, wildlife and the world around them.
It's free to use, but you can also subscribe to the monthly magazine with prices starting at £35 for a year.
4. Shaun’s Game Academy
Shaun's Game Academy is aimed at primary school children and above. Based on Aardman Animations' Shaun the Sheep character, it lets children design their own game, learn how to code and even win prizes.
5. Top Marks
Top Marks is aimed at children aged three to 18 years old and is an independent educational website for kids, parents and teachers.
It’s free to use and links through to useful online resources for subjects including maths, science and languages.
6. CBeebies
CBeebies has some great learning games, quizzes and a huge selection of topics to explore. You'll find educational games, fun quizzes, activity ideas, and even easy recipes for your kids to try!
Highly engaging and beautifully designed.
7. Funology
One for the parents to explore. Funology offers parents a great selection of kids' recipes, science experiments, magic tricks to try, games to play, as well as clever jokes and trivia.
This is the perfect website for mums and dads to consult while trying to occupy children during the school holidays (apart from Netmums, of course!)
8. Education City
Education City is aimed at children aged from three to 12 years old. It's designed for teachers, but has plenty of resources for parents, too.
You'll find interactive games to teach children about maths, English and science, plus downloadable worksheets that are ideal for home education.
The website offers a free 21-day trial, plus some resources that are always free. Subscription is aimed mostly at teachers, and prices vary depending on the number of children.
9. BBC History for Kids
From famous battles to ancient wars, kids can learn all about the history of Britain, as well as other countries on this fun website.
BBC History for Kids also teaches kids about historical figures, such as Shakespeare, Napoleon Bonaparte and Martin Luther King.
They'll be mini historians in no time!
10. Boomerang
Boomerang is a highly engaging, fun and fast website, featuring kids' favourites such as Scooby-Doo and Tom and Jerry. The 'Create' section has a great selection of crafts and recipes for children to try, as well as some free colouring in pages.
11. Beano
Beano.com says its mission is 'to make rebellious, funny entertainment' – and this is exactly what the site offers. Jam-packed with videos, games, quizzes and interactive stuff to help imaginations run riot and keep kids giggling.
12. Sesame Street
The highly interactive Sesame Street site is a fun, safe, and educational place for kids to play and learn.
Parents can set up playlists of videos and games that even pre-readers can navigate through. Downloadable podcasts allow parents to take shows on the road, or just watch them later.
13. Guinness World Record for Kids
Inspire them to become a record breaker with a visit to the Guinness World Record for Kids website.
Learn about existing records held and watch interviews and videos capturing all those weird and wonderful records from around the world.
14. Nasa Kids' Club
If your little one loves space, then they'll love Nasa Kids' Club.
They'll be able to find out how much they'd weigh in space, test their roving skills on Mars and complete other space-related activities.
15. History For Kids
Let kids brush up on their global history knowledge with this easy-to-navigate website.
History For Kids is a collection of short, funny poems for children, based on stories from days gone by – the California Gold Rush, the Boston Tea Party, Ancient Greece, Vikings, and lots more!
16. TEDEd
Created by the people who make TED talks, the TEDEd site features free videos across a range of subjects, including Business, Health, Science, Psychology and more. You can filter the site depending on your child's age, ranging from primary school to university level.
17. Kids' Black History
Kids' Black History is a YouTube channel that's free to watch and it aims to cover aspects of Black history that are missed out of the national curriculum. There are videos on everything, from history to geography and languages.
18. Natural History Museum
The Natural History Museum has a whole load of free educational resources on their site, including their try this at home section with activities for kids. Endless fun!
19. Tate Kids
The Tate has a bunch of educational resources for children on their Tate Kids website, including creative arts activities, games and quizzes available for free.
20. DK Find Out!
DK Find Out has resources on a huge range of subjects for kids, from computer coding and sports, to traditional subjects like English, maths and history.
21. BabyTV
From educational games to songs, rhymes and puzzles, BabyTV is the perfect way to entertain (and educate) toddlers and littler ones.
There's a monthly subscription fee that depends upon which platform your child will be viewing on – Kindle, iPad, etc. –and what features you plan to use.
22. PBS Kids
PBS Kids has a wide selection of educational games from Curious George, Elmo and other popular kids' shows.
There's a separate site for parents, too, with plenty of tips and ideas to help with playtime.
23. Oak National Academy
Oak National Academy is an online free classroom, with almost 10,000 free video lessons, resources and activities, covering most subjects ranging from reception to year 11.
24. Nickelodeon
Nickelodeon offers fun games and the chance to catch up on your favourite cartoon characters.
Yes, there are SpongeBob games!
25. Phonics Play
Phonics Play usually charges a small amount (currently £6 per year). You can sign up for a free trial with full access to the site for two weeks, and there are some free resources available on the site without needing to register.
The site is packed with games aiming to help your child improve with phonics, with six phase levels available.
26. FuseSchool
The FuseSchool YouTube channel has videos split across four courses: chemistry, biology, maths and physics. It's aimed at older children aged 13 to 16, so it's a great resource if you're helping a teenager study for their GCSEs!
27. LearnEnglish Kids
Developed by the British Council, LearnEnglish Kids is primarily designed for kids and parents for whom English is a second language.
However, there are loads of fun games and resources which are great for any kids looking to brush up on their language skills.
28. Mattel Playroom
The Mattel Playroom features fun printable activities and online games featuring some of your kids' favourite brands, from Thomas and Friends to Barbie.
Perhaps more entertainment than education, but there's plenty to keep your kids occupied, including loads of printable colouring pages.
29. Booktrust
If you want to do more reading with your child but don't know where to start, Booktrust is a UK site full of resources and activities as well as recommend reading lists.
Plus, they're the UK's largest reading charity, aiming to reach families across the country with books and resources – and you can donate if you'd like to get involved.
30. Cool Math 4 Kids
Cool Math 4 Kids does exactly what it says on the tin! The interactive games are designed to make learning maths fun, from basic addition and subtraction, to fractions and tricky brain teasers.
It's a US site (hence 'math' instead of 'maths'), but no matter where you are in the world, 2 + 2 still equals 4!
31. Cosmic Kids
Cosmic Kids is a paid-for site that offers yoga videos and mindfulness resources designed specially for kids.
It's not cheap – at £7.78 a month or £50.56 a year – but there's a free two-week trial you can use.
Alternatively, there's a YouTube channel where you can view highlights from many of their videos.
32. IXL
Another paid-for site, IXL is an award-winning personalised education site with thousands of maths and English activities for kids from reception to year 13.
If you pay monthly, it costs £7.99 a month for English or Maths, or £12.99 a month for both (this works out to about £95 a year for one, or £155 a year for both).
If you pay annually, it costs £59 a year for one, or £99 a year for both.
There is a 30-day money back guarantee.
33. I'm a Puzzle
This one’s for all the puzzle fanatics!
I’m a Puzzle is home to a variety of brilliant jigsaw puzzles and games. Here, you’ll find thousands of online picture puzzles and the best part is… they’re completely free to play.
Kids will love learning about everything from animals and art to space and sports.
You can even upload your own photos, so your child can have fun putting together a picture of themselves, or of the whole family.
What's more, puzzles are great for developing memory and problem-solving skills, making them a fantastic learning tool for little ones.
Whether your child has already started school or they're still a toddler or pre-schooler, it's never too early to start some home education with them!
Thanks to the internet, there are more resources than ever out there to help you supplement your child's education. Scroll through our gallery above for 33 of the best educational websites to browse with your child.
If your kids are school age, you can use these websites to help them with their learning at home, or to help with any homework or projects they're working on. And if they're not yet at school, you can start with some early years websites to help them with some of the basics.
Plus, playing on a website will make learning feel fun for the kids! If they've got an iPad, you could even browse some of these educational websites on there so that it feels more like a game.
There are different educational websites that cater to different ages, and there are specific sites for different school subjects, too. So there'll be a site out there to suit different children based on their different needs.
Websites for English
If your child particularly needs help with English, phonics or reading, there are plenty of sites out there which cater specifically to teaching English. You can try Oxford Owl, which specialises in reading and maths, or Starfall which helps children to learn the alphabet and start reading.
Websites for Maths
If your child needs more help with maths, you can try Cool Math 4 Kids which has puzzles and brain teasers which make maths fun!
Websites for Science
For science sites for kids, you can try Nasa Kids' Club for all things space. For computer science education, try Shaun's Game Academy, which teaches kids to code by creating a Shaun the Sheep game.
Websites for History
If you're looking for history sites, try BBC History for kids which covers all kinds of historical events and historical figures. Meanwhile, History For Kids has a collection of short, funny poems for children based on historical tales.
Websites for Geography
For geography education, you can try National Geographic Kids for all kinds of animal and wildlife lessons!
Websites for all subjects
If you're looking for a site which covers a bunch of different subjects, there are loads out there. You can try Education City or the BBC’s Bitesize website to tackle a wide range of subjects.
Meanwhile, the CBeebies website also has recipes and arts and crafts, in addition to traditional subjects. And you can try BabyTV for really little ones!
And websites aren't the only place you can go to help your child's education!
If you're looking for extra lessons for your kids – either during term time or in the school holidays – check out our listings of tutors near you.
You can also buy books to help your child's learning at home. We like this phonics starter pack of books – perfect for little ones about to start school. See more details here at Amazon.
Maths a problem? Why not boost your child's skills by practising for 10 minutes a day? We like 10 Minutes Maths a Day, see more details here at Amazon.
Looking for more games and activities to help your child's learning? Check out our articles below or exchange education ideas with fellow parents in the forum.
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