Educational online games can be a solution to the age old question of "Mom, I'm Bored!"
My children love to play outside. During the summertime they enjoy playing in the backyard, or riding their bikes, or swimming in a friend's pool. But being outside in 100 degree temperatures for such long periods of time isn't necessarily good for them. So when I have them come inside, such as during the hottest time of the day (and in North Texas, that's quite a few hours on most summer days), I don't want them to get board.
Of course, there are always good books they can read, or I can read aloud to them, which they love. But since they also love playing on the computer, this summer I'm going to be suggesting they spend some of their time playing online games.
Now, I know that sounds like the Lazy Mom's way out, but these aren't just any online games. They're fun—yet very educational—games that might actually help my kids retain some of their math skills during our break from homeschooling over the summer.
Katie @ Perfectly Cloudy told me about this site a few weeks ago, and when I checked it out, I was so impressed! It was so not what I had expected.
Most educational online games I've seen are poorly designed, slow, or both. These games are well-done, fast paced, and what's really cool is that the kids can "compete" online with other kids (either in public or private competitions).
The games review math facts, states and capitals, synonyms/antonyms, homophones, spelling, and parts of speech—but in an arcade style.
So this summer, when my kids come inside and tell me, "Mom, I'm bored!" I just might say, "Go play on the computer."
And I won't feel guilty about it at all. Kids learn while playing these online educational games.
For more fun "Mom, I'm Bored!" ideas, check out Rocks In My Dryer.
Oh man, I got sucked in to having to practice my addition skills! Love that site, and I'll definitely have to show it to my kids!
Great idea! Thanks for the great sites. =0) I'm bookmarking them right away.
Thanks for the neat website. It sounds like my boys will love these!
Great site, that is a new one to me, thanks!
Thanks for the site! Going to add this one to my kids' favorites. (hubby is a computer geek and has put together older computers for each of my older 4 kids–they can only play computer software or what is in their internet favorites–no internet surfing allowed!).
great games – thank you!!!
Ooh, thanks for the site link! My kids would love it!
And mom, don't forget to play Freerice. com – to avoid youw own bored moments!
🙂 how cool! the first time someone linked to me! thanks for the shout out!
Great post… my kids are just now having "computer time" and this is a better option than disney.com.
Thanks!
This looks like a great site! Thanks for sharing!
Through Google, I found this post via an old WFMW post. Thanks for the website recommendation. It's exactly what I was looking for for our "30 minutes of educational computer time" that my kids will get this summer.