Fun Games for Kids for Free

Educational Games

• PBS Kids (PBSKids.org/games) has an endless amount of games for kids featuring familiar faces like Barney, Clifford, Elmo and Curious George as well as other characters. The games allow young kids to learn the names of objects and foods with clear color contexts as well as make guesses and find out if they guessed correctly. At this website, kids can play games with all the Sesame Street characters that they already know, rescuing them from trouble, helping them bake cupcakes, playing bumper cars and learning new words.

Earth, Air, Fire, Water

• This game trains kids to act quickly, helps with their knowledge of living creatures and allows them to be imaginative. Give kids a handkerchief and tie a knot in it. Have kids stand in a circle, give the handkerchief to one of the kids and tell them to throw it to someone else in the circle. While the handkerchief is in the air the kid who threw it has to say either: earth, air, fire or water. Then the child catching the handkerchief must name an animal or creature associated with that element.

  For example, if the child yells "water," the kid who catches the handkerchief must name an animal that lives in water, such as a dolphin. If the child yells "air," the other child must name an animal that flies, such as a robin. However, if the child yells "fire," the child who catches the handkerchief must name an animal that is imaginary, such as "unicorn," "werewolf" or "dragon."

Classic Games

• Classic children's games can also be entertaining and educational. For example, "Musical Chairs" is easy and fun: Let kids dance around a row of chairs to music. When the music stops, each kids must scramble to find a seat. The kid without a seat is "out," and you remove a chair after each round of the game.

  A natural expansion of this game is "Musical Statues": Allow kids to dance, jump, play or impersonate animals to music. When the music stops, kids must stay absolutely still. A judge should come around examining each "statue" to see any sign of movement. If a kid moves an iota, then she's out of the game.