The world wide web is our oyster when it comes to learning
Rainy day and stuck indoors? Long car journey ahead? Or just waiting for dinner? If you need to find a brief diversion for your kids, we’ve picked out some fun sites that are educational as well as entertaining. It’s screen time that ticks all the boxes.
Switched On Kids
With simple but pleasing animations, plus some funny games thrown in too, this is a well-presented website that helps youngsters understand how electricity is made, plus teaches them some fundamental safety points. A good one for teaching little sparks about the basics of energy, these pages are probably best for younger children.
It’s unlikely that anyone could ever get tired of this site, which is made up of different missions. There are hundreds of to choose from, covering many different subjects. One morning you might create some rain art, then decide to spend the afternoon baking a bird cake or creating a ghost town. It even includes basic training about how to stay safe while out and about. Explorer HQ is better suited to older children, and whether they’re interested in nature or art, they’re sure to find something to amaze or amuse them.
Tate for kids
From inspiration to quizzes, you’ll find awesome arty ideas at tate.org.uk/kids. Explore artists and visual styles with child-friendly language and subject matter, learn the techniques of creating, or play interactive games. Younger children can enjoy simpler colouring in tasks thanks to free templates like this one, while older ones can explore more complicated ideas. It even touches on technology too - ever fancied building a drawing robot? Well now you can.
Science in school can be a dry subject, which is a shame because science can sometimes be utterly mind blowing. Science Sparks makes information easy to understand and practical too - after all, the best way to learn anything is by doing it. Experiments are split into different age groups, with some pre-school tasks inspired by nursery rhymes, like this Humpty Dumpty idea. Other experiments touch on the Key Stage 1 and 2 curriculums.
Mapzone from Ordnance Survey
What’s more interesting than examining a map? Getting outdoors and using one of course. Kids can learn basic map reading skills from the experts at Ordnance Survey maps. They’ll also learn some facts about Britain, geography, Geographical Information Systems and more, everything that’s needed to encourage some old-fashioned, outdoor exploring.Adventure indoors with First Utility broadband. All our products come with unlimited downloads and free connection as standard. Plus, you won’t need to pay for router delivery and unlike other providers, we won’t increase your monthly charge once the minimum period has ended.