12 Learning Websites for Kids That Working Parents Can Count On

From yoga for kids to live animal webcams, there are plenty of resources parents can use to entertain their children.
Updated
kid watching tablet

School is back in session in many places, whether students are attending classes in person or sticking with a virtual format. But if you're keeping your kids at home due to coronavirus cases rising in your area, you may need to keep them entertained — especially if they're on the younger side.

With people everywhere practicing social distancing, it can be challenging to entertain kids stuck at home. Fortunately, there are tons of educational websites for kids that parents can rely on. Keep reading to learn more about them.

Are you a teacher? This guide from ISP.com will help you fine-tune your internet connection for smoother virtual classes.

Check With the School Before Signing Up

Many educational sites for kids are free, as long as you're a teacher. Getting free access usually requires signing up with an email address that ends in .edu or supplying some other type of proof. In some cases, parents might be able to receive free access through their child's school.

Many learning sites for kids offer lengthy free trials, and some don't even require a credit card.

When considering programs — such as those on the extensive Amazing Educational Resources list — check with your kid's school before signing up for a membership. Even if you can't receive free access, many of these learning websites for kids are extending free trials, or providing them without asking for payment information.

What if you're looking for more hands-on kids' activities? In that case, you can check out sites like this one from the STAR Library Network for science, technology, engineering, and math projects.

Try Out Other Freebies

Kids aren't the only ones benefiting from companies' generosity. Our own freebies page is filled with different offers that can help you deal with social distancing. Stay informed with free coronavirus coverage from The New York Times, and then ease your anxiety with Calm programming.

It's not all doom and gloom and trying to rid yourself of anxiety, though. You can also enjoy streams from the Metropolitan Opera for free, or stay in shape with this playlist of free workouts from Orangetheory. A ton more freebies are available, so check back often for all the ways to make your life easier while you're staying at home.

SEE ALSO: 8 Self-Care Strategies to Help Cope With Social Distancing

12 Learning Websites for Kids

While many companies may continue to step up to help out working parents, we've included 12 of our top picks below. You'll see several free learning websites for kids, plus others with generous free trials.

Name Price Details
ABCmouse.com Free 30-day trial This site offers a full online curriculum for ages 2-8, with no ads, no pop-ups, and no external links.
Cincinnati Zoo Home Safari Free There are no longer live daily Home Safaris, but the videos have been uploaded to the zoo's site and YouTube, so you can watch anytime.
Cosmic Kids Yoga Free Kids can give yoga and mindfulness exercises a try with this YouTube channel. Activities are designed just for them, with videos themed around things like Frozen, The Very Hungry Caterpillar, and more.
Georgia Aquarium Free Watch live cams of animals frolicking in their habitats, including African penguins, beluga whales, southern sea otters, and even piranhas.
GoNoodle Free Kids can enjoy short exercise videos with this YouTube channel. There's a stand-alone site for GoNoodle, as well, with logins in for families and educators.
Google Arts & Culture Free Check out virtual tours of museums, cultural sites, and guided tours of famous artworks.
Lunch Doodles with Mo Willems Free Check out the playlist of 21 archived videos to doodle with Mo Willems, a creator of children's books, among other achievements.
Monterey Bay Aquarium Free This aquarium is also offering live webcam feeds for watching animals, from sea otters and penguins to jellyfish, birds, and sharks.
Prodigy Free Kids in first-to-eighth grade can learn and practice math with this site. While it's free, you can pay for a premium membership to unlock more activities.
Reading Eggs Free 30-day trial for parents Kids can learn to read on this site, but it has material for those up to 13 years old, as well.
San Diego Zoo Free Enjoy webcams showcasing a variety of animals, including baboons, condors, and koalas. There's even prerecorded panda footage.
Scribd Free for 30 days Enjoy Scribd's selection of magazines, books, audiobooks, and documents for free. Just remember to cancel before your trial is up if you don't want to continue using the service.

Readers, how are you entertaining kids while you're staying at home? Let us know in the comments below.


Julie Ramhold
Senior Staff Writer/Consumer Analyst

Julie's work has been featured on CNBC, GoBankingRates, Kiplinger, Marketwatch, Money, The New York Times, Real Simple, US News, WaPo, WSJ, Yahoo!, and more. She's extolled the virtues of DealNews in interviews with Cheddar TV, GMA, various podcasts, and affiliates across the United States, plus one in Canada.
DealNews may be compensated by companies mentioned in this article. Please note that, although prices sometimes fluctuate or expire unexpectedly, all products and deals mentioned in this feature were available at the lowest total price we could find at the time of publication (unless otherwise specified).

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