Top 10 Sites for Educational Games

There's no denying the appeal that online games have for kids. Despite the stigma games hold, many online educational games not only enhance the joy of learning, but also strengthen skill sets. The following are my favorite educational gaming sites on the web.

1. Funbrain- One of the most popular educational gaming sites around. Not only does this site cover a variety of subjects, it also caters to K-8th graders, and has nice teacher resources as well.
2. Game Classroom- Excellent, safe, teacher-approved, state-standard-aligned games for grades K-6. Also, lots of teacher resources,including videos, lesson plans, worksheets, and more.
3. Gameaquarium-  Great site for games for kids K-6 in all types of subjects. Videos, eBooks, and teacher resources can be found here as well.
4. Braineos- Nice site where games are based on flash cards. A registered user can include their own study lists and flash cards in the games.
5. Tucoola- Wonderful site for skill-building games for younger kids where parents can track their progress.
6. Tutpup- Cool site for math and spelling games where kids can compete with other kids online. Best of all, this site is COPPA compliant.
7. BrainNook- Innovative site that allows kids to play educational games for math and English in safe virtual worlds where they interact and compete with other kids. Teachers can sign up their classes via the teacher portal.
   
8. Clever Island- Offers fun educational games for kids 3-8 in a variety of subjects such as math, reading, spelling and more.
9. What2Learn- Excellent site for educational games where a teacher can track students progress through a paid account. Users can create custom-made games as well.
10. Abcya- Great site for elementary students that covers a wide variety of subjects. Also has educational apps for mobile devices.

David Kapuler is an educational consultant with more than 10 years of experience working in the K-12 environment. For more information about his work, contact him at dkapuler@gmail.com and read his blog at cyber-kap.blogspot.com.