Inside: 5 great, educational word study games online for school age kids to play in or out of school.
Technology makes it possible for our students to easily practice vocabulary, phonics and spelling online and there are some great online word study games available for students of all ages to explore. Today I’m sharing five of the best learning websites for kids that focus on literacy learning. The sites on this list make the cut because they each score well against the following criteria;
- The games are educational and they encourage kids to think
- The games are engaging, with good quality graphics
- The games are free to play
- They sites offer games for school aged children, across a variety of grade levels – from emerging readers to upper elementary grade levels
These websites are great for use at home – for fun or as homework support, and at school. Each site description below includes some details on how the individual site might work best for parents and/or teachers.
5 Best Educational Word Study Games Online for Kids
Kids Spell
Choose from thousands of pre-made spelling lists or create your own to use with your kids. Lists are divided by grade and reading level (beginner, intermediate, and advanced). There are games to review everything from grade one phonetic sounds to compound words and homophones for more advanced readers and spellers.
Games have cartoonish animals and characters like “Farkle Frog” and “Spellasaurus”. The games are so much fun that your kids won’t even notice that they’re improving their spelling and comprehension with every click.
These games are great to use with stations in the classroom or to review as homework or with intervention or differentiated groups.
Spelling Bees
This multiplayer game lets kids spell words read by a computer-generated voice and place the letter in the beehives. They’ll have so much fun racing to the finish as they see the colorful bees plant the letters as the hives grow with correctly spelled words.
Students may play against other online players, but there is not a communication or chat platform. A fun classroom activity or review for homework, Spelling Bees is buzzing with learning and fun!
Words with Friends Edu
The popular online game gets off social media and on a safe and secure platform to allow students to practice spelling and developing academic words. Special categories include power words from assessments, textbooks, and selected readings. They also receive bonuses for word usage. Kids can make their own avatars and earn badges. Students can only play with their own classmates, so it’s a safe alternative to the open Words with Friends.
Merriam-Webster Vocabulary Challenge
Upper elementary and high ability learners will love to challenge themselves with a 10 question vocabulary quiz from the dictionary giants. Students should keep playing to test their abilities on a variety of vocabulary words. Other popular quizzes on the site include commonly misspelled words and “Name That Thing” visual vocabulary quizzes.
Take it further and set up a challenge group. Have your kids set goals and jot down new vocabulary words to practice and explore. There’s no need to logon to the site, so it can be used anywhere with no safety concerns.
Turtle Diary
Has hundreds of games for up to fifth grade. The language games have a lot of options for word study, including Hangman, Word Scrabble, Synonym Dominoes.
Games reviewing homonyms (words that are spelled the same but have different meaning) and homophones (words that sound the same but have different meaning and spellings) will help your readers develop their vocabulary and work on spelling.
Related: Vocabulary and Word Work Apps for Kids Aged 9+
Learning and reviewing concepts involving vocabulary, spelling, and phonics are always more fun when your students can play games! Students love using devices in the classroom and home. These online word study games will have your students improving their reading and writing skills while having a blast. Try a few out in your home or classroom!
Click on the images below for more great online or screen based educational resources;
Christie Burnett is a teacher, presenter, writer and the mother of two. She created Childhood 101 as a place for teachers and parents to access engaging, high quality learning ideas.
And Spelling City, one of my favorite homeschooling site. I love that I can use fun games to help my daughter learn more and practice the words, and she likes the fun ways of learning their spelling words.