"If you think that playtime is waste time... think again! Kids (and adults too) need to relax their brains to process, reflect and make the most of a learning experience. Interactive computer games provide those brief vacation moments, enabling children to sort out and absorb what they've learned. Cybergames can also help teach difficult concepts, reinforce topics already introduced, and present youngsters with engaging opportunities to apply new skills."
from an article, written by Carol S. Holzberg, called " The Games Children Play ", Technology and Learning magazine, November, 2005
Let the Games Begin - written by Jenn Shreve in the April 05 issue of the Edutopia eZine, The George Lucas Educational Foundation. She talks about how video games once confiscated in class, are now a key teaching tool. If they are done right.
Game Plan - ( Part 1) - by Susan McLester, this article appeared in the October 2005 issue of the Technology and Learning magazine. New research suggests that video games can play an important role in helping a generation of digital natives learn. Yet changing institutional biases and finding quality products remain formidable obstacles to integrating gaming into the curriculum.
Game Plan - ( Part 2 ) - Student Gamecraft, by Susan Mclester, this article appeared in the November 2005 issue of the Technology and Learning magazine. More and more research indicates that students learn from playing video games, but what happens when children actually make their own games?
Can Games Be USed to Teach - ( pdf. file ) article by Alix E. Peshette and David Thornburg, ISTE Magazine, Learning and Leading with Technology, April 2006, Vol. 33, No. 7.
Readers Respond - ( pdf. file ) - Overwhelmingly, readers responded that games can be used as instructional tools, from ISTE Magazine, Learning and Leading with Technology, September 2006, Vol. 34 No. 1.
Jigsaw Puzzle Paradise - is an online opportunity for other critical thinking games. You just click your way to puzzle solutions at various levels of difficulty, from simple 6-piece cuts to more challenging 247-piece cuts.
"Puzzles come in a wide variety of
types from purely academic, which rely on knowledge or reasoning
skills, to those which require acute observation, such as a jigsaw
puzzle. No matter what the puzzle, the one commonality
of all puzzles is they require critical thinking.
Why jigsaw puzzles? In order to complete
a jigsaw puzzle students must observe and compare size, shape,
color, and patterns; use trial and error to complete the task;
and develop visual memory." from Dr. Norman Labush 2001,
Web site, Stop
and Think About It!
Critical Thinking on the Web - a directory of quality online resources.
Online Geography Games - Think you know where to find Mauritania? How about Turkey or Nunavut? Gary Radley's online geography games introduce children to different regions of the world, encouraging them to locate these places on a map and learn more about world regions, countries, capitals, bodies of water, and holidays by playing quiz-like games.
Cyberchase Online Game "Can You Fill It?" - "Do the math!" takes on new meaning at this game oriented site. For example, players have to estimate the volume of different sized containers by trying to fill them with water using the fewest pots. If the water spills, you loose.
Math Hunt - elementary school children team up with Number Cruncher to search for science or social studies information, using the facts they have gathered to complete activities involving addition, subtraction, charts, graphs, decimals, ratios, proportions, and more.
Brainormous - At Brainormous, visitors play online games providing practice with addition, division, multiplication and subtraction.
A+ Math - Practice makes perfect when it comes to learning new skills. A+ Math helps elementary school age students improve their math skills with help from interactive flashcards and games like Math, Hidden Picture and Concentration to teach addition, subtraction, multiplication and division.
Math Playground - other math learning games can be found at this site where children can go for practice with addition, subtraction, multiplication and division. How many computer generated math questions can you answer in just one minute?
Arthur: Games - this PBS Web site targets children ages four to eight with literacy and problem-solving activities. It also models appropriate social skills. Complementing the popular PBS daily ARTHUR television series, Arthur features a number of electronic educational games and activities and printable games.
Starfall: Learn to Read - a little point and click can go a long way to put the fun back in learning to read and write. Interactive multimedia games at Starfall build comprehension and teach phonics for beginning readers. There are four main activities from which to choose (ABC's: Let's Get Ready to Read; Learn to Read; It's Fun to Read; and I'm Reading).
Gamequarium.com - at Diane Dell's entertaining Gamequarium game portal, you'll find engaging online activities providing reading practice for skills such as phonics, fluency, vocabulary, and comprehension.
The Education Arcade - is committed to research and development projects that drive innovation in educational computer and video games. Our research-based creative design, pedagogical development, and student evaluation activities inform the production and distribution of effective new teaching and learning tools for today's classrooms and beyond.
Top 100 Interactive Educational Games - ( K - 6 ) - Top 100 Interactive Educational Games. This site includes a suggested grade level and concepts taught for each game. Most of them require the free Shockwave plug in!
Kids Games, Elementary, Math Games, Elementary - Room 108 developed by teacher John Rickey is a primary education center for kids. There is lots of games but all with an educational focus. There's over 400 pages interactive writing, animated stories, songs, art, math, science, social studies, distance learning and much more.
Educational Games Overview - Overview of interactive online games, prepared by the Media Awareness Network.
Online Educational Games & Activities - this site states that "Online Educational Games can often provide an exciting, inexpensive, and challenging extension to classroom learning situations. For younger students, these games can develop mousing and web browsing skills. For all learners, many games provide an opportunity to review specific math and language arts skills or to challenge the thinker with higher-level problem solving games."
Kids Online Games: Educational Games, Trivia
Games and More! - Discover a variety
of kids' online games and activities at the Virtual Museum
of Canada (VMC)! Children and youth can log onto the Fun
& Games section, developed by the VMC and its
partners, and enjoy an assortment of online games for young people
of all ages.
Games Room - Children's games from Lulu le Lutin, there are lots of choices: Games of Skill, Memory Games, Mind Benders, Educational Games, Puzzles, checkers, pinball and many more...ah, but really there are never enough!
Eco
Education Games - Eco Education's mission is to foster the
development of lifelong respect, understanding and care for the
environment in young Canadians by providing accessible national-wide
educational resources and learning opportunities.
HoadWorks Puzzles - HoadWorks provides innovative educational content, resources, games and multimedia design promoting creativity and literacy. They value curiosity, learning, and the pathways between...
NetSmartzKids: Games - NetSmartz is an interactive, educational safety resource from the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children (NCMEC) and Boys & Girls Clubs of America (BGCA) for children aged 5 to 17, parents, guardians, educators, and law enforcement that uses age-appropriate, 3-D activities to teach children how to stay safer on the Internet.
Weather Hangman - full of good meteorlogical terms.
