Free Fun Online STEM Games and Videos for Smart Girls

 

Free Fun Online STEM Games and Videos for Smart Girls (when you finish homeschooling for the day and you still have your own work to do)

 

These free, fun, and safe STEM activities will keep your smart girl occupied while she’s learning at the same time! Suggested resources here are not a replacement for her school-sanctioned assignments but instead are intended as a supplement for those times when she needs an extra e-learning boost that’s fun (and free!) and you need to do your own work.

All activity suggestions in this article are sorted by STEM subjects and can be completed by kids on their own without involvement (or money!) from parents. None of the suggestions require signup for a ‘free’ trial, an email address, or extra software like Flash Player. Even better? Selections were made based on how long kids could stay engaged. Wink. Wink.

Note: Although each resource has been vetted with elementary school students in mind, as a parent, you know best what is and isn’t developmentally appropriate for your own child.

 

Science

• Nussbaum – You’ll find a wide range of fun games here – everything from creating your own butterfly garden to a game that actually makes learning the periodic table fun! (Note: free games are at the top of the list)
• Ask Dr. Universe – This is a great website for your budding scientist to spend hours reading kid-simplified answers to questions like ‘How are vaccines made?’ and ‘why do people have different skin color?’ (bonus: Dr. Universe is a woman!)
• Cool science videos for kids: A one-hour and 10-minute video that makes learning about the human brain, plants, the planets, animals interesting and fun! If this video isn’t a good fit, go to YouTube and enter ‘science videos for kids’ into the search field. The search results will provide LOTS of options.

 

Technology

• Code Monster – This a fun, interactive introduction to coding concepts. Simply follow the Code Monster character’s instructions to see immediate results from coding changes. Projects start with simple boxes and then progress to more advanced subjects.
• Code Emoji – Slightly more advanced than Code Monster, but still intended to teach the basics in a fun and easy way.
• Keyboarding Zoo – A fun and educational activity to help your girl learn the keyboard. Players are encouraged to use their index or pointer fingers to match letters on the screen to their keyboards.
• Keyboarding Games – More advanced than ‘Keyboarding Zoo,’ this site offers interactive games to help improve typing and spelling skills. Games are categorized by skill level and players can advance from one level to the next.
• Find the Technology – This is a great ‘search’ game for kids to learn about all-things-tech. It’s like ‘Where’s Waldo?’ for technology. There’s also a ‘review’ option that leads players through a tutorial about various technological tools.

 

 

Engineering

• PBS Kids Design Squad – The videos and games on this site are highly recommended. There are also high-quality engineering design and building activities but they require parent involvement. Stick to the videos and games and your girl will be entertained for hours.
• Crash Course Engineering video series – This video series was made by PBS Digital Studios. It teaches all-things-engineering. The series is 46 episodes long and takes 7 hours to play each episode back-to-back. Some of the concepts in this series discuss advanced subjects, but all tutorials use images and examples that are geared for school-age children.

 

Math

• Cool math 4 kids – This resource offers interactive games for addition, subtraction, multiplication, division, and fractions. Grade level can also be specified. There are brain teasers on this site that might also be fun (and time-consuming!) for your math whiz.
• Math Playground – This site tries to get you to join to play their premium features but there are plenty of games that don’t require membership.
• PBS Math Games – PBS Kids consistently offers fun and safe online activities. These math games are no exception. Lots and lots of engaging games here for young learners.

 

Feel free to share these games with your smart girl. But there’s no need to reveal that while she’s playing fun online activities, she’s also learning valuable STEM skills. And giving you a much-needed break!

Author Bio
Trish Allison is the author of multiple best-selling books on conscious parenting, a parent educator, a featured parenting newspaper columnist, a lifelong advocate for social justice, and mom to a  grown (equality-enlightened) son and daughter. She blogs at Growing Into Equality