Learning Over the Summer: Best Websites for Kids
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The longer I am homeschooling, the more I see the value in continued learning over the summer break. When my kids were younger, we completely took a pause from “schoolwork” over the summer, but these days it's nice to keep up some of the momentum and prevent the dreaded summer learning loss.
While we do get in a bit more rest and relaxation, summertime presents a unique opportunity for us to explore new subjects, dig into personal interests, and possibly strengthen some weaker areas.
One of the many ways to facilitate summer learning is through educational websites. With so many resources, interactive activities, and engaging content at your fingertips, you're sure to find something that can help you reach whatever learning goals you have this season.
Whether you're hoping to reinforce core concepts or simply foster a love of learning, the following websites can help make summer learning fun and rewarding. You'll find both free and paid options to suit your needs (and budget!).
Fun (and Free!) Websites for Learning Over the Summer
Here's a collection of free sites that will make online learning enjoyable for your kids this summer. They offer interactive games, creative activities, engaging lessons and more to keep students motivated and eager to explore new concepts.
Start with a Book
Created with the goal of warding off summer learning loss, Start with a Book offers parents and educators with a big library of free, engaging ideas to help kids get into (and love) reading (not just during summer, but for a lifetime!).
They build their resources around topics kids are already interested in (like dinosaurs, building, animals, sports, superheroes and music) while also diving into topics like math, science, civics, geography, and art.
Illuminations
A free resource from the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics (NCTM), this website offers 70+ web-based games and interactivity for kids from pre-K to 12th grade. You can filter the games based on grade level and the standards (NCTM versus Common Core).
Education.com Summer Educational Resources
Browse this collection of nearly 200 summer fun resources for pre-K through 8th grade. They will help your kids not only celebrate the season of fun, but also keep their brains engaged during summer vacation. The activities cover math, reading, writing, science, social studies, fine arts, and even social emotional.
PBS Kids
PBS has long been known for their powerful mission: “to use the power of media to open worlds of possibilities for all children, so that every child can reach their full potential in school — and in life.” This website is an extension of that mission, providing kids from age 2 to 8 with free, fun, and educational games, activities, printables, and songs.
National Geographic Kids
National Geographic is one of the go-to resources for learning about the world and nature…and their kid-friendly website features games, videos, and more to keep kids excited about learning.
Cool Math
This collection of websites was created with the goal of helping make math more enjoyable to people. The main website features resources for people of all ages, while CoolMath4Kids is geared towards kids ages 12 and under. CoolMathGames offers a smorgasbord of strategy, skill, number, logic, and trivia games.
Storyline Online
This Emmy-nominated website features videos of celebrated actors (like Oprah Winfrey, Chris Pine, Rosario Dawson, Viola Davis, Terry Crews, Connie Britton, John Lithgow, Jennifer Garner, and Betty White) reading K-4th grade children’s books — alongside beautiful illustrations. You can sort the books by author, reader, title, and even run time.
ABCya!
This website has 300+ fun and educational games for Pre-K through 6th grade students. Some of the topics that are covered include multiplication, parts of speech, typing, pattern recognition, and more.
Kids can choose between different game types, like bingo, crossword, hunt/seek, multiplayer, platformer, puzzle, racing, and word search. There are paid versions of the website, but the free tier gives you unlimited access to all of the games on your desktop.
Cookie
The early education gaming website features a big library of fun games for kids in pre-K through 2nd grade. The goal is to help kids build the foundational skills they need for success in school, such as reading, math, language, social studies, science, and more. It also includes worksheets as well as arts and crafts!
Science with Me
Created by a husband-wife team of scientists, this website features a variety of hands-on science activities, animations, songs, and e-books, for kids.
Arcademics
This site gives kids access to an array of multiplayer, arcade-style games to help them learn and become fluent in basic math, language arts, vocabulary, and thinking skills.
Math World
This website takes kids on a journey through math where they can explore 336 courses covering the math goals for grade K-6. Each grade includes 48 courses that kids can work through chronologically or at random.
Science World
Like its sister site above, this website takes kids on a journey through science where they can explore 213 courses covering the math goals for grade K-6. Kids can work through the map chronologically or at random.
More Great Summer Learning Websites
While not free, these are a few other websites I recommend that can be great for summer learning!
Maker's Club
Your kids can learn all sorts of real-life handicrafts and skills through the Maker's Club! Read my review here to learn more.
Excalibur Solutions STEM Academy
If you haven't explored the Excalibur Solutions STEM Academy content library yet, you should! Your kids will love the engaging lessons and activities (so much that you'll probably want to work it into your fall homeschool schedule).
Music in Our Homeschool
Music in Our Homeschool is one of my favorite recommendations for families because it's so easy to use (and has a TON of content to offer!). Summertime is a great time to explore how you might add music to your homeschool.
Membership typically opens up through May, and then again in the fall.
CodeWizardsHQ
Why not let your kids try some coding this summer? I recommend CodeWizardsHQ, but here is a post where I share some tips on choosing the right coding class for your kids.
Night Zookeeper
Night Zookeeper is a popular way to get your kids engaged in creative writing – and it's so much fun! Check out a Night Zookeeper review here to see if it might work for your kids, and give it a try this summer!
BrainPop
We have really enjoyed using BrainPop to supplement our homeschool learning activities, so I just had to add it to the list! Check out a BrainPop review here to learn more.
Outschool
Outschool is a popular choice for families that want to help their kids brush up on specific skills over the summer as they offer a wide variety of classes and 1-to-1 tutoring options. They also typically offer fun summer challenges your kids can get in on to keep them excited about learning!
I hope this helps you and your family have a summer full of fun AND learning!
Drop a comment below and let me know your best tip for how you use technology to add a little bit of learning to your summer break.
Related Posts
- Why Typing Practice is Important for Kids (and How to Encourage Them)
- Guide to Help Your Kids Get Started Learning Video Editing
- How to Keep Homeschool Progress on Track Over the Summer
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