Learning while doing some fun activity is one of the most effective ways to get kids involved in the educational process without even realizing it’s happening.
The best part? You don’t need to spend lots of cash on expensive toys or materials to do so, either. From games to books, your child will learn more than you ever imagined possible as they’re having fun doing it!
According to EDUCAUSE, a growing amount of research reveals that game-based learning platforms “can generate a compelling dynamic that drives students to acquire competencies and abilities while they focus on the game.
From board games to computer-based learning skills and everything in between, your kids are sure to find something new that will keep them learning.
We’ve curated a list of the 20 best fun learning games to help your kids get smarter and have more fun.
Let’s get to it, shall we?
Math games
- Prodigy Math Game
Prodigy Math is a fun, fantasy-based math platform utilized by over 100 million students, instructors, and parents worldwide.
It is curriculum-aligned, with content covering every major arithmetic topic from first to eighth grade. Above all, Prodigy’s goal is to inspire every student to enjoy studying.
Your child will engage in mathematical battles against in-game characters after developing their unique math wizard, similar to some role-playing games. To win, they have to answer a series of math problems correctly.
The game also adjusts complexity to your child’s learning pace and grade level, assisting them in developing crucial math skills. Kids who use Prodigy are likely to improve their math skills by 60% on average.
Parents can track their child’s progress while they learn using the platform. If you love to give an extra boost to your child’s Prodigy experience, they offer a membership plan with some extra benefits for your child.
It’s an amazing math learning platform for kids aged 6 to 12, and it’s available on Apple App Store, Amazon App Store, and Google Play. Of course, you get all the in-game educational content at zero cost, but as I’ve mentioned, they offer a membership.
- Alien Addition
Alien Addition is a fun game for kids that teaches addition by having them shoot alien invaders with the power of addition. The aliens are seen beaming down numbers, and the player must choose two numbers that total up to the aliens’ number.
The game becomes quicker as you progress, making it an excellent way to learn addition while improving speed and accuracy.
Move your laser with the arrow keys and fire with the spacebar or by clicking the spaceship. Slow, regular, and high game levels are available. Set the numbers between 1 and 20 and begin playing.
- Buzzmath
Buzzmath is a middle school math game that follows the common core and TEKS standards. Your child will be entrusted with helping Alfred, an inventor, restore the population’s arithmetic knowledge to save Mathlantis, a chaotic and disorderly world.
On this quest, they will time-travel to visit legendary mathematicians, assist them in regaining lost knowledge and return Mathlantis to its original Glory.
However, this one comes at a cost. The monthly plan costs $20, its quarterly plan at $40, and the yearly plan costs $60. Plus, it’s only available on the web.
Art games
- Tate Kids
Tate is a collection of four art galleries in Liverpool, London, and Cornwall. Tate Kids, its children-focused project, allows kids to play free art games and quizzes, get art homework help, and share their ideas!
Along with engaging quizzes, kids get to help robots save great paintings in “Art Parts,” design their landscapes in “My Imaginary City,” and much more!
Whatever field of art your child is interested in, they will find something fascinating, informative, and creative!
- Start with Art
Set out on an adventure with your Art Guides, Furnace, Tickles, and Ruby, into the worlds of art, imagination, and visual learning!
The game takes your youngster through four basic art lessons:
- Art as language
- Message in art
- Line
- Shape
It also includes fun art projects that promote creativity, and critical thinking skills.
Each lesson is grounded on Creativity Express, an award-winning visual arts game developed by professional educators and former Disney animators.
This educational tool is free and available on Google Play, Amazon App Store, and Google Appstore.
- Colorfy
Do you have a kid that loves to play with colors? No worries!
Colorfy is a high-quality digital coloring book for children of all ages. Your kid will have access to thousands of photos to paint, which come in different shapes and designs like florals, mandalas, animals, gardens, patterns, famous paintings, and other artistic imagery.
This coloring game now contains a unique AR virtual gallery that allows your youngster to view how their artwork looks in real life!
Colorfy is suitable for kids at least four years old and can be found in Apple App Store and Google Play.
Health and physical education games
- Eat & Move-O-Matic
Eat & Move-O-Matic, created by the New Mexico State University Learning Games Lab, seeks to inspire children to learn and practice healthy and active lifestyles.
Children match items from a meal list with items from an activity list. It will let you know how long it takes to burn off the calories based on the type of food and activity combination you select.
For example, at 7.2 calories every minute, eating a medium-sized fruit with 27 calories will need four minutes of intense active video game play.
With 35 activities and 80 items, kids will learn new things about their favorite meals and learn healthy “Pro Tips.”
- Fooducate
Kids get interested in smartphone applications because they see adults use them. As a result, they only sometimes need flashy bells and whistles to participate, preferring to feel more mature when using an app. Fooducate can help with this.
This software was meant for a more sophisticated audience, but many older (6+) youngsters love using it due to the QR code scanning technology. Allow your kid to scan the barcodes of labeled food products on your next visit to your local grocery store.
The app provides a more accurate description of the nutritional composition of the items, as well as better choices. When equipped with the Fooducate app, your children will undoubtedly feel controlled by what they eat.
- GoNoodle
The goal of GoNoodle is to assist parents, and teachers get their children active by providing entertaining video content.
According to the app’s description, “your kids get active with 300+ videos featuring kid’s music, dancing, mindfulness, yoga, stretching, and more!”
GoNoodle offers the ideal video for throwing a dance party for your kids to keep them moving or making cleaning up around the home fun.
The app is free, but they do offer a premium version. You can find it on Apple App Store, Google Play, and Amazon Appstore.
Language and Spelling games
- HOMER
According to HOMER’s website, its “goal is to give the finest educational start possible for children by giving tailored, entertaining, and proven learning solutions.”
There are two products in its early learning program: Reading and Stories. HOMER Reading blends a child’s current reading ability with their interests to develop a customized learn-to-read approach.
On the flip side, HOMER curates stories they’ll enjoy, from classic to contemporary, based on your child’s interests.
Well, Homer isn’t just for kids. It is suitable for teenagers as well. In addition, they offer a 30-days free trial, so you can make an informed decision if it’s the best learning tool for your kid.
After that period, you’ll have to subscribe for $9.99 monthly. It’s available on the web, Apple App Store, Google Play, and Amazon Appstore.
- Spell Wizards
Spell Wizards is an interesting spelling game for primary school-aged kids to learn to spell while having a great time. The Spell Wizards app teaches kids how to spell words and helps them improve their oral skills.
It’s a spelling adventure that fosters play-based learning. This game allows kids to design spelling tests using their choice words, which is ideal for memorizing weekly spellings. This app is a fun way for students to learn to spell and provides spelling assistance.
Spell Wizards has been intended for kids aged 4-11 to sharpen their spelling skills. It is easy to access and use. In addition, teachers can use the app to support classroom learning by employing curriculum and custom spelling checklists.
Spell Wizards, available online as a web app, is an effective tool used by schools, teachers, and parents who want to boost spelling confidence in students through play, with the extra convenience of being able to follow their progress online.
- Spelling Shed
Spelling Shed is a fun spelling game for kids aged 5 to 11, providing early spelling practice at different skill levels. A team of primary school teachers created this nicely designed game.
It is designed with kids, teachers, and parents in mind to make spelling entertaining for students while remaining straightforward for adults to handle.
The game helps students learn to spell terms that are part of the National Curriculum. Spelling Shed used the ‘Open Dyslexic’ font to make their games dyslexic-friendly.
Children can select from three reading levels to practice spelling or enjoy the game. The practice rounds are divided into four levels.
Tech and Coding Games
- CodeMonkey
CodeMonkey is a fun, instructive game-based platform in which children may learn to code with no prior expertise.
Over 10 million students have learned to code through its award-winning lessons, which teach modern programming languages, coding skills, computational thinking, reasoning, and logic.
CodeMonkey provides a fun and engaging curriculum for schools, after-school groups, camps, and self-paced online courses for learning to code at home.
The Classroom Dashboard from CodeMonkey allows tutors to manage their students and includes student solutions, computerized grading, and curriculum administration tools.
CodeMonkey pricing starts from $6 monthly and they do offer a free trial.
- Qbotik
Qbotik is an iOS/Android software that teaches children about several fundamental aspects of robotics, such as rotation, torque, and motorized joints. The goal is to use a robotic arm to grab various cubes. As you go through the stages, you will encounter more complex tasks.
Numerous robot toys are available, but only a few genuinely capture the essence of robotics. Qbotik is an outlier. The game’s objective is to “rescue” cubes, with each level presenting progressively difficult tasks.
The game was created “as part of an NSF project for educational applications for STEM education.”
Degrees of motorized joints, gravity, torque, rotation and forces are all introduced in the game. It’s a terrific method to learn about real robotic systems while still having fun. Play this game to put your skills to the test.
- ScratchJr
Coding is the future, given the current state of things. Learning to write code at a young age is a terrific idea for any child. ScratchJr comes in handy for helping kids get started!
ScratchJr adopts computational thinking/coding for children aged 5-7 through interactive stories, games, and simple interfaces. Kids can make their characters and animations and then utilize programming pieces to continue the story. They can make the character dance, move and even change colors – whatever your child can imagine, they can achieve.
Scratch Jr, like Scratch, is a block-based programming language for younger children. Children drag and drop blocks in various configurations on both platforms to customize their stories and characters.
Scratch is a web-based application, while Scratch Jr is primarily offered as a tablet app. The Scratch Jr features also highlight young children’s social development.
Closing Thoughts
There are hundreds of fun learning games for kids to play. I hope this list has helped you find the perfect game your child can enjoy.
The best part about these games is that they don’t just help your kids learn, but they also have a ton of fun doing it!
