Funbrain is a platform that provides a wide variety of educational games for kids Pre-K through grade 8. Besides games, Funbrain also provides various collections of books, comics, and videos to help students develop skills in math, literacy, and reading. Funbrain, as is explicitly stated in their Privacy Policy, does not collect kids identifiable information which makes it a safer place for kids to learn and have fun.
Some of the interesting resources Funbrain provides include:
1- Kids games
The Games section in Funbrain features a huge library of educational games designed specifically to meet the learning (and fun) needs of a young population. Each game is tagged by grade level, skills, and subject area. However, I think it could have been easier to browse this huge collection of Funbrain games had the site provided a search functionality equipped with filters to search for games, for instance, by grade, skill level, or subject area.
The search feature in Funbrain does not include filters. You can only search for games by name or you can scroll down to the footer of the page to access resources organized by grade and type (e.g., games, videos, and books). Finding the right resources on Funbrain can at times be challenging.
To access Funbrain games, click on Games in the top bar. The first thing you will see is a section for featured games and when you scroll down you will see the rest of the collection. Click on 'Load more' to access more options. When you find a game you are interested in click to access it. Each game features guidelines on how to play it and instructions to help kids easily navigate its controls. In the Tags section under the game, you will see the different grades and skills the game targets. While some of the games are designed for specific grade levels others are made for all levels and are tagged as such.
2- Videos
Funbrain video content is designed to entertain and educate kids in fun and engaging ways. There are over 15 video series for kids to watch. Each series contains a number of videos on a given topic. Video series are tagged by grade level. Some of the interesting video series included in Funbrain's video collections include:
- Problem Solved: In this series designed for grades 1 through 8, Jeremy provides kids with tips and tricks to help them "navigate the craziness of life. Advice on getting a higher allowance, how to pretend you’re not daydreaming, even dance moves for the uncoordinated."
- Secret Ingredient: Kids join Altie as he uncovers "what lies beneath the top secret ingredient box and answers the inevitable question: will it slime?"
- Highlights Animated Storybooks: In this video series, kids watch animated stories from High Five magazine.
- Young Justice: "In Young Justice, being a teenager means proving yourself over and over--to peers, parents, teachers, mentors and, ultimately, to yourself. But what if you're not just a normal teenager? What if you're a teenage superhero?"
Again, I believe that the video content in Funbrain needs some enhancements. For instance, it could have been much more helpful had Funbrain added the 'captions' and 'translation' features to their video player. In this way, the educational potential of its video content could have been much more inclusive appealing to kids from different linguistic backgrounds and with different ability levels.
3- Reading
In Funbrain's Reading section, you will have access to a plethora of kids' books tagged by grade level and subject area. Note that these are only book samples. To access the full versions you will need to buy the book on Amazon. Funbrain includes an Amazon link with each featured book.
To access Funbrain's books, click on Books from the top bar and browse through the collection there. When you find a book you want to use with your kids, click to read a sample to see whether it is worth the purchase or not.
4- Math Zone
Math Zone, as its name indicates, features math games that help kids practice and improve their mathematical skills. Each game is tagged by grade level and the math area it targets. There are games to practice graph-reading skills, operations, geometry, numbers, shapes, and many more.
To access these math games click on Math Zone from the top bar and browse through the collection. When you find a game you like, click to open it. Under the game you will find a short overview of what the game is about and a section with instructions on how to play the game.
Funbrain resources are free. Kids can play the games on the site, there is no sign-up or software download. For more educational resources for kids, check out this list of kids friendly search engines.
