Early Learning and Educational Links

Free Resources, Activities and Games Websites

Learning the Alphabet

A site that helps children of all ages learn how to read by sounding out words and playing some great games. Excellent graphics, very well thought out and loads of fun! http://www.starfall.com

Alphabet Games from the www.PrimaryGames.com site (too much advertising but the games are simple and great):
A cute little game where animals need to be sorted in the alphabet order - who is first, Adam the Crocodile, Robert the Rabbit or Karen the Roo? Alphabet Zoo Game
Pick the picture of the object that starts with the letter shown at the top of each page The ABC Game

Flashcards On-line

On-line Flashcards in different categories - picture and label. Expand vocabulary, learn how to read, gain encyclopedic knowledge. http://www.mooneleaf.com/flashcards/index.php

Math

Totally FREE Math skills Development program for kids. Lots of exercises (split into weekly programs) to learn Counting, Addition, Subtraction, Multiplication, Division, etc. Learning to Count is based on the concept of repetition in this particular program. http://www.kidsnumbers.com /

Looking for age appropriate math exercises in a form of a computer game? This site has plenty of exercises to choose from - all games are split into age categories ranging from 6 to 11 years of age http://www.math-exercises-for-kids.com/. The exercises are simple in design yet challenging and fun to do. And best of all - they are FREE!

EXCELLENT math site for kids. Unfortunately, navigation is not very good, it's a bit over cluttered and the background is awfully black BUT the content is brilliant http://www.coolmath.com/. Check out the MATH GAMES, excellent way to get kids who are having a bit of trouble with it to really love it. http://www.coolmath-games.com

A page from the Developing Teachers Website with excellent ideas on how to use Cuisenaire Rods - from defining syllables and stressing words in a sentence to understanding concepts of time, past future and present, practicing narratives and learning about comparatives. There are also useful links there to other articles on cuisenaire rods and even a lesson plan incorporating this wonderful educational material. http://www.developingteachers.com/newsletterplans/cuisenaire_rods.htm

Music

http://www.sfskids.org/tem plates/splash.asp

Science

http://www.csiro.com.au/resources/DIYScience.html - This section of the CSIRO website contains lots of fun and educational scientific activities for kids of all ages. The activities are Do-it-yourself and can be done at home with a little bit of help from parents. Split into sections such as Biology, Chemistry, Environment, Physics, Space & Astronomy and many more. Great stuff!

http://www.bbc.co.uk/schoo ls/scienceclips/index_flas h.shtml
http://www.bbc.co.uk/schoo ls/ks2bitesize/science/
http://www.strangematterex hibit.com/

Geography for Kids

http://www.kidsgeo.com/index.php - Lots of information and games on all things geography-related. Topics like Atmospheric pressure, Biosphere and Hydrosphere are explained. Games include Map Match and Capitals Catch.

Baby Sign Language

http://www.aslpro.com/cgi-bin/aslpro/aslpro.cgi - Pick a letter from the alphabet on the left-hand side and then click on one of the words in the Choices frame. The video window will be activated to show the sign for the corresponding word.

Typing

http://www.bbc.co.uk/schools/typing/flash/stage1.shtml

Arts and Crafts

Great website with loads of printable crafts for kids. Browse through many various categories, educational and fun.. http://www.dltk-kids.com/

Lots of printable coloring in pages with popular characters like Dora the Explorer and Snow White. Some links are broken but Sesame Street Alphabet and Number Coloring Pages are wonderful. http://www.grandparentsmagazine.net/coloringpages.htm

Worksheets / colouring sheets http://www.littlesheep-learning.co.uk/articles.php

Lots of Dot-to-Dot pictures.. http://www.kidsrcrafty.com /dot-to-dot.htm

3D Paper Craft, huge number of categories. Files are downloaded in PDF, can be printed and cut out for folding. Great site. http://cp.c-ij.com/english /3D-papercraft/index.html

Chess

Wonderful website that teaches kids how to play chess. Plenty of interesting resources for kids who already know how to play - strategies, puzzles, preparation for tournaments tips, and many more...http://library.thinkquest.org/6290/index.html

Games

Bob the Builder website - lots of activities, puzzles, games (some educational word and spelling games), coloring in pages, etc. There are 2 versions of the site, US and UK. Very colorful and lots of fun.
http://www.hitentertainment.com/bobthebuilder

This is Pingu game site, also split by countries and also has lots of fun activities.
http://www.hitentertainment.com/pingu

A site created by a fellow Russian mum from US. There is a wonderful collecting of educational games for different ages. Wonderfully simple little fish tank and butterflies games that babies will love. An English version of the site is available. http://myfamilyschool.narod.ru/gamescollection.html

Another lovely site with some educational games. You'll need to download a little plug-in but it only takes a second. http://www.little-g.com/sh ockwave/loading.html

The Cbeebies website http://www.bbc.co.uk/cbeebies has lots of great games and activities on it.

Information Websites

Autism

Autism Spectrum Australia website http://www.aspect.org.au/. Information, Links, Forum.

Gifted Children

Excellent website on giftedness - lots of information for parents and educators, includes information about testing and identification.http://www.hoagiesgifted.org/index.htm