Looking for free, educational, safe, and fun online games for your kids to play? Check out our list of mom approved websites that my kids love to play on!
My kids love screen time. Who doesn’t? There are so many different types of “screen” experiences out there, that you could easily waste away your entire day glued to a screen.
In order to limit my children’s screen time to being productive, I have compiled a list of Mom Approved websites that they are allowed to visit. They can earn screen time each day during the school year after completing their chart, and homework. In the summertime, they can earn screen time after completing the items on their summer contract.
The Criteria
Mom AIn order for a game to be Mom Approved, it has to meet the following standards:
No Pop Ups
I do not like games where I feel like I have to sit close and monitor every mouse movement just in case there is a pop up which will prompt them to make purchases, try new games, or leave the approved site.
Educational
There are tons of really fun games out there that may teach kids a thing or two, but the level of learning has to be pretty high. If there is more mindless gaming time than learning time, it doesn’t make the list.
Fun
Yes, I know this may seem to contradict the Educational side, but even educational games need to be fun to be worthwhile. If the approved games on our computer are seen as more of a task, the kids are only going to be wanting to go over to friends’ houses to play computer games over there. I want to teach the kids that they can have fun and learn at the same time.
Our Favorite Online Games
Code.org
Code.org is my personal favorite of all these games. The game includes videos, and different levels to complete and pass off. Characters and situations that your children are familiar with from other games are involved in Code.org. Even though my kids don’t play many of the popular online games, they are able to do coding with those characters. My kids are working through completing all the lessons.
Dance Mat Typing
Dance Mat Typing is a fun way to learn typing. There are funny characters with silly accents. My kids love to play this game, and have really improved both their speed and accuracy!
Raz Kids
Raz Kids is a game with a library full of books. The kids listen to the book, then read the book, then take a quiz. Completing each of these tasks and answering the quiz questions correctly earn the kids stars. I do have them use their computer time to read books, and then they get an additional 5 minutes at the end to play on the Raz Rocket and spend their stars.
Games for Older Kids
Duolingo
We are trying to learn Spanish as a family. My older kids have enjoyed playing Duolingo and try to earn all the badges. This is a great game for older kids wanting to learn a new language!
Games Offered through Local Schools
Our Elementary School has memberships to a bunch of different sites that offer great learning games. Check with your school before purchasing an account to these games. If they don’t offer these games at your school, encourage them to do so! These games have quality material!
Aleks
Aleks is a great test prep tool. It isn’t really a game, but it has many different math problems to help your children review for a test. If you child answers the question wrong, it will show the correct answer and give an explanation to solve the problem. This can get a bit wordy, but it is an extremely helpful tool.
Typing Pal
We love Typing Pal so much! The program is for a wide range of typing levels from age 6 to over age 17. There are many different scenes and objectives, and it is easy to check both your speed and accuracy. My kids love working toward the many different badges.
Xtra Math 
Not all my kids love Xtra Math. It is more like a flashcard game to teach you math facts. The fun part is the funny faces the teacher makes. I do have my kids complete this for math, but only because you cannot take the quiz more than twice a day, so it doesn’t take much time and then you can play an additional game.
Waterford UPSTART
Last but not least:
If you have a child preparing to enter Kindergarten, a great game to help them learn to read is UPSTART. We have used this program for each of our kids and they have all been reading independently before Kindergarten. It also has a math and science portion which my kids enjoy doing as well. Check out the website to see if this program is offered in your area!
Even if you are one that doesn’t particularly love screen time, this list should give you a great starting point to safely introduce your children to educational online games!
What other games would you add to the list?
