Digital Learning Resources to Educate and Entertain Kids at Home

Juli Thompson

July 8, 2020

Digital Learning Resources to Educate and Entertain Kids at Home

To make learning easier, despite the distance, we've made this list of resources for educating and entertaining kids at home. 

For Students:

Training courses, tips, guides, and tools that will help you reach your goals regardless of where you are in this journey of remote learning.

Online Reading 

  • Epic - A digital library for kids age 12 and under. It has 40,000 books, audiobooks, learning videos, quizzes, more. Available in English and Spanish.

  • Flocabulary - Punctuation is as important as vocabulary. Flocabulary helps you convey your message in the best and most comprehensible way.

  • Jumpstart - Develop your child’s bilingual cognitive advantage through Jumpstart. Choose from a vast selection of songs, stories, and activities while learning vocabulary in both English and Spanish. 

  • Kidlit - For ages 5-18 yrs. old, KidLit TV has shows, radio, crafts and activities, book read-alongs for kids. Some of the TV shows include Storymakers, a talk show that highlights authors and illustrators, Read Out Loud, when the authors at KidLit TV do read-alongs, and Young at Art, where kids can learn art skills used in book illustrations. 

  • Newsela - Reading materials on current events that support social-emotional learning. It has lessons and activities that support reading comprehension.

  • PBS Learning Media - Have an interactive approach on storytelling with PBS Learning Media. Learn and explore story structure and elements through performance, art, and many more.

  • ReadWorks - Builds in reading comprehension supports. It assigns content-based reading passages for students in grades K-12. 

  • Springboard - Develop a child’s reading habit through Springboard. Coaching sessions and activities are available to strategize in building a child’s reading capacity.

  • StoryLine Online - See illustrations and hear quality children's literature read aloud featuring award-winning actors reading children’s books with illustrations.

  • Time For Kids - Great for ages 5-13 years old. Time For Kids offers a wide selection of articles from kindergarten until the 6th grade level. Choose from the various topics that cater to your child’s interests for a quick reading practice.

  • Wonderopolis - Feed your curiosity about the world and beyond! Wonderopolis has the answer to your every burning question. Try out their activities, play and learn!

Practicing Math and Coding

  • CK-12 - Learning is made easy with the wide variety of resources on math, science, and more, categorized by grade level on CK-12. Organize your lessons by customizing with Flexbooks. 

  • Code.org - No experience required! Introduce the fascinating world of coding to your child through Code.org. Learn in the comfort of your home through at-home learning or the Hour of Code activities.

  • Dreme Family Math - Dreme Family Math offers an innovative, engaging approach to learning math with the family. Scholars and professionals have put together activities catering to different learning styles, such as incorporating math to daily household tasks.

  • Juni Learning - Holds one-on-one instructional coding classes for kids 8-18 years of age. Juni customizes every student’s experience. 

  • Mangahigh - Learning Math has never been this fun! Mangahigh covers a wide range of math topics which you can learn through live streams, games, or practice exercises.

  • Math Snacks - Hit two birds with one stone through a fun, exciting game on Math Snacks. Explore the coordinate grid while saving a carrot from hungry gophers!

  • Mathigon - Browse through a multitude of math lessons made interactive and available by Mathigon. Personalize your courses and learn at your own pace, with the assistance of a virtual personal tutor. Learning Math has never been more engaging until Mathigon.

  • Prodigy Math - A very engaging online math platform that reinforces math skills through video game-style play. Fit for grades 1-8.

  • Zearn - Get Zearning! Zearn provides a structured math program, built to develop a daily habit of learning math.

Experimenting Science

  • American Chemical Society - Free online lesson plans for grades K-8. Despite the school closures, you can nurture your child’s inquisitive mind through fun chemistry lessons and activities online, thanks to the initiative of the American Chemical Society (ACS).

  • Knowledge On The Go - With over a thousand video lessons available, learning never stops on Knowledge On The Go. Select your grade level and get access to high-quality, coherent instructional materials created by teachers and teacher-writers.

  • Mystery Science - For grades K-5 students. They give access to short digital mini-lessons, to full hands-on activity lessons using materials you have at home.

  • NASA - For kids in elementary school, NASA Kids’ Club has games and activities they can engage with independently. For a deeper exploration of space, check out NASA for Educators to browse STEM resources for K-12.

  • NOVA Education - Real-world science learning for grades 7 to 13. It contains over 1500 resources that educators can use in their lessons to spark and enrich student knowledge of STEM (Science Technology Engineering Mathematics). 

  • Science Buddies - Science Buddies is a great resource for your science project ideas for school or home. Find guides on conducting experiments and explore the intriguing world of science!

  • Science Friday - Do try this at home! With Science Friday, you can conduct this easy-to-follow experiment and discover the benefits of mucus to our health.

  • Science Fun for Everyone - Instructional videos of simple science experiments you can do at home with your children. Complete with jokes and trivia!

  • Science News for Educators - Promotes experiments that can be followed by children at home including puzzles, and vocabulary lessons.

For Parents:

You can find the help you need to keep the learning going for your children, at the same time keeping them engaged, connected, and on track in life. With these resources, you can support your children as they go through learning from home.

Fun Activities To Do At Home

  • CosmicKids Yoga - Destress and do yoga… with the kids? It’s possible with CosmicKids Yoga! Have an enjoyable and relaxing time through easy-to-follow guides on poses and mindfulness.

  • GameStar Mechanic - Designed for children 7-14 years of age, Gamestar is a game, community designed to teach kids the principles of game design while in a highly engaging environment. Packed with quests and courses to help you learn game design and DIY video games!

  • GoNoodle - Great for ages 3-12 years old. Look after your child’s physical health the fun way. GoNoodle’s got you covered on that. Bust out those dance moves or do some stretches for five minutes, even longer! 

  • Monterey Bay Aquarium - Discover a list of guided activities for parents, caregivers and educators to support children’s learning at home. From spotting otters to exploring the extreme depths of the ocean.

  • National Geographic Kids - Kids can view science explainers and experiments, watch people make “elephant toothpaste,” investigate rocks, and more. There’s a wide-variety of experiments to replicate at home —  bottling eggs, coating candy, dropping dye in white paint and other school science fair stuff. 

  • Nitro Type - Improve your typing skills while competing in fast-paced races with up to 5 types from around the world. Compete against your friends, earn new cars, track your scores, and so much more... all for free!

  • PopSugar Virtual PE Classes -  If you're looking for other movement activities for your kids, check out these YouTube channels that focus on everything from yoga to dance!

  • The Old Farmer's Almanac for Kids - Access to free stories and links to fun activities for stuck-at-home families everywhere.

  • Typing Game - Use this free, standout typing program to learn, practice, and vastly improve your kids’ typing speed and accuracy. Parents can try it, too!

Recipes You Can Try With Your Kids

  • Chopchop Family - Making veggie pizza is a piece a’ cake, especially with the whole family around to help. Chopchop Family provides easy recipes that are fun to try at home with the family.

  • Encantos - Join Issa in her adventures in the kitchen as she discovers the wonders of cooking and nutrition with her mom, chef Aliya LeeKong. Learn new recipes that are not only flavorful, but also good for your health.

  • Kids Cooking Activities - Helps children learn to cook simple recipes, including easy meals, cooking crafts, and more. They hold food science experiments to teach kids about science in the kitchen.

  • Kids’ Table - A virtual cooking party sounds like a lot of fun, most especially when you gather ‘round the Kids’ Table! Let your kids take over the kitchen as they learn life skills early on. The young chefs get to create delicious dishes with the help of our skilled instructors.

For Educators:

In this list below, you can find the right tools and resources you’ll need to successfully keep your students engaged while learning from their own homes. Whether teaching with the latest technology is new to you or you’ve done it for years, these strategies and resources will help you to create an online classroom that supports every student. You can also find tools where you can collaborate with parents and team-up for each child’s success.

List of Learning Management Systems 

  • Bloomz - Keep parents informed using this communication tool. A quick snapshot of note is all you have to do. Easy, peasy! You can even send real-time feedback to parents on how the child is doing.

  • Edmodo - This platform provides a collaborative space where students and teachers can share documents and discuss assignments. Edmodo is always free for teachers, parents, and students.

  • ManagedMethods - A G Suite and Office 365 data security and student safety platform that gives K-12 IT full visibility and control into the data being stored. An affordable way to identify cyber safety signals and data security risks in district G Suite and Microsoft 365 accounts.

  • Moodle - Used for distance education and for blended learning. Moodle is a learning platform designed to provide educators, administrators, and learners with a single robust, secure, and integrated system to create personalized learning environments.

Virtual Teaching Platforms

  • Explain Everything Whiteboard - Real-time tools that help you create interactive lessons and collaborative spaces for your online classroom.

  • Hapara - You can get the most out of Google Classroom and other Google tools with this platform. They offer webinars and other resources to help teachers create and manage the best online classrooms.

  • Kapwing - Online image and video editor with a cloud storage workspace. Teachers can collaborate with students by making video lessons for remote learning. Students can work together on a group project. Classrooms can share multimedia projects with each other.

  • Osmo - This is a projector App helps teachers project their real word notes onto a professional-looking, virtual blackboard.

  • SmartMusic - Keep your music students practicing at home with this online music classroom. You can track student progress, and they’ll get instant feedback from the online tools.