35+ Educational Games and Games Resources
by Fernando Gomez
35+ Educational Games and Games Resources
1. XP Math is
a good place to find math games, math videos, math worksheets, and
math e-books. The games section of XP
Math offers games for basic arithmetic, algebra, geometry, and
probability. Create an account on XP Math and you can keep track of your
scores.
2. Word Twist is an online
version of the popular board game, Boggle. Word Twist comes in two
versions a four by four grid and a five by five grid. The purpose
of Word Twist is to identify as many words as possible using the
letters in the grid.
3. Super
Text Twist is a simple word game similar to Word Twist which
asks plays to identify words from a set of jumbled letters. The Super
Text Twist game be played online or downloaded for use
offline.
4. Parade of Games
in Powerpoint was developed by faculty at the University of Wisconsin at Whitewater. Parade of Games in
Powerpoint provides teachers with games and game templates for
classroom use. The games and game templates are available for
download in Powerpoint format. Some of the games and game templates
that teachers can find on Parade of Games in
Powerpoint include Bingo, Jeopardy, and scavenger hunts.
5. Arcademic Skill
Builders offers a collection of twenty-one quality games for
sharpening math and language arts skills. All of the games can be
played online and six of the games are even enabled for play using
a Nintendo Wii remote.
6. The Problem
Site is loaded with great games for students. Some of the games
are traditional "hang-man" style games, some of the games are
traditional games with a
twist, and some of the games are completely new. Each game is
designed to help students develop problem solving skills. The games
are categorized as word games, math games, or strategy games.
7. Ghost
Blasters is designed to help students learn to multiply and
divide quickly in their heads. To play Ghost Blasters select a
multiple of which each "bad" ghost will have a value that is a
multiple of that which you chose. Students then use their mouse to
blast every "bad" ghost. For example, if I select "5" at the
beginning then all bad ghosts will display a multiple of 5. I then
have to blast all of the bad ghosts to gain points, but if I blast
a "good" ghost (a ghost that does not have a multiple of 5) I lose
points.
8. Learning
Games for Kids offers games for mathematics as well as many
other content areas. Most of the games on Learning
Games for Kids can be played directly on the website although
some do link out to other sources.
9. Learn
With Math Games is a site that I like because it offers online
games as well as PDF templates for games that teachers and students
can play in their classrooms. Learn With Math
Games is organized by grade level and by mathematics topic.
10. Gamequarium
developed by Diana Dell
(a great person to follow on Twitter by the way) offers an
excellent catalog of mathematics games and video demonstrations of
mathematics functions.
11. Primary
Games offers a collection of mathematics games as well as games
for other content areas. You can grab some of the games on Primary Games and embed
them into your own blog or website.
12. Grammar
Ninja is a fun game for students to play as they develop a
working knowledge of the parts of speech. Grammar Ninja has three
levels for students to work through. As long as you answer
questions correctly, they continue through the game, but answer
incorrectly and the words explode.
13. Mad Libs
offers a widget that
you can install on your blog to allow visitors to play Mad Libs.
I've always thought that having a "fun element" on your classroom
blog is a good way to keep students actively visiting the blog
without prompting from you. If you're an English teacher, the Mad
Libs widget might be something to consider adding to your blog.
14. the World Food Programme's
website offers students a large selection of educational online
games and activities. The games are categorized by age group. Some
of the games, like Food
Force, are about world hunger while other games are more
general in nature.
15. Taking it Global, an
organization for youth interested in global issues, has a small
games section that includes a game based on the flags of the world.
Flags of the World
asks students to match flags to their respective countries. After
matching each flag to its country students can click the "learn
more" link to find more information about that country.
16. Shape It
Up is one of many good educational games and activities on Kinetic City. Shape It Up is
an activity that would be good for use in an elementary school
Earth Science lesson. The activity presents students with "before"
and "after" images of a piece of Earth. Students then have to
select the force nature and the span of time it took to create the
"after" picture. If students choose incorrectly, Shape It Up will
tell the student and they can choose again.
17. The Houghton Mifflin Company produces Grammar Blast.
Grammar
Blast offers 35 interactive grammar activities for students in
grades two through five.
18. The Grammar
Practice Park produced by Harcourt School Publishers provides
12 games for students in grades three, four, and five.
19. The British Council's Learn English website offers
69
interactive activities for learning the rules of grammar. The
activities are not listed by grade level so you will have to
preview them to determine which activities are best suited for your
students.
20. Scholastic Inc. has a page for elementary age students called
Maggie's
Learning Adventures. On Maggie's
Learning Adventures visitors will find five grammar activities
as well as activities for learning Spanish, Math, and Science.
21. The BBC's
Skillswise website is a great resource for a wide variety of
content areas. On the grammar and
spelling page there are 21 activities suitable for students of
middle school and high school age.
22. Playing History is a
collection of 128 games related to topics in US and World History
as well as civics and geography. The games come from a variety of
sources across the web. Feedback on every game and suggestions for
future additions are welcomed by the hosts of the site. Visitors to
Playing History can search
for games by using the tag cloud, by using the search box, or just
browse through the entire list.
23. Think About
History is a fun trivia game on History.com. The object of the
game is to cross the playing board by correctly answering a
sequence of history trivia questions. The game has multiple levels
that get progressively more difficult throughout the game. The
questions on Think About
History are a mix of video-based and text-based questions. The
game can be played as an individual game or a two player game.
24. Fling the
Teacher is a website containing 68 history quiz games. All of
the quizzes have at least fifteen questions and a few of the games
have more than 100 questions. The average is 30-45 questions per
quiz. Prior to starting each quiz game students can create their
own custom game character.
25. Scavenger
Hunt Through History is a game designed to be played by
students in junction with Freedom:
A History of US produced by PBS. Freedom:
A History of US contains is an overview of US history
containing videos, documents, and pictures. In addition to the
resources previously mentioned, their are quizzes for students to
test their knowledge.
26. National
Geographic Kids has a wide variety of games, puzzles, and
activities for students of elementary school age. National
Geographic Kids has nine games specifically for developing
geography skills.
27. Learning
Together offers four activities for learning about the
geography of the United States. Learning Together also offers a
game about world geography and a game about European geography.
28. Owl
and Mouse Educational Software offers nine, free, interactive
maps for students. The maps cover every continent except
Antarctica.
29. Traveler
IQ Challenge has 14 interactive geography games. The activities
can be embedded in a blog or website.
30. Geosense is a fun way to
use and improve your knowledge of world geography. Players can play
against the computer or challenge another player. Geosense can be played anonymously
or you can register and have your scores recorded for you. There
are four Geosense maps (US,
World, Europe, or advanced) that players can select from.
31. Smarty Games features
games for developing basic mathematics and reading skills. There
are six mathematics games covering basic addition, subtraction,
multiplication, and division. The reading section has two alphabet
games and nine animated stories. In addition to the mathematics and
reading activities, Smarty
Games offers activities for learning to read a clock, puzzles,
mazes, coloring activities.
32. Planet In
Action is a fun website that features three games based on
Google Earth. All three games utilize Google Earth imagery and
navigation. The three games are Ships, Places, and Moon Lander. In
"Places" you navigate, from a helicopter view, five popular places
including the Grand Canyon. In "Ships" you become the captain of a
fleet of ships to navigate famous ports of call. And in "Moon
Lander" you take control of the Apollo 11 moon lander and guide the
"Eagle" to touch-down.
33. The National Center for Education Statistics hosts a collection
of games and tools for students. Dare to
Compare is a quiz section of Kids' Zone where students can test
their knowledge of civics, economics, history, geography,
mathematics, and science. After taking each quiz the students are
shown the correct answers. Dare to
Compare also allows students to see the national and
international average rate of correct answers.
34. Brain
Bashers offers visitors a nice selection of word games, logic
games, and puzzles. Brain Bashers is
updated regularly with many games that change daily and new games
added every week.Brain Bashers was
developed and is maintained by Kevin Stone. Kevin Stone is a
mathematics teacher in England.
35. The Discovery
Channel website lets you test your trivia knowledge while
playing the same quizzes the contestants on Cash Cab play. Play the
Cash Cab
quiz game and earn fictitious money for every question you
answer correctly. Answer three questions incorrectly and the game
is over.
