Unique Activities and Ideas for Elementary Students
Last Edited by: Jill Emerson
The Internet has vastly altered the educational system in our country and around the world. It has changed not only the way educators teach, but the way students learn as well. This list provides educational and fun websites that teachers can use and in which elementary school students will want to participate. These fun, interactive websites facilitate learning without students even realizing that they are learning.
Spelling & Alphabet
- ABC Matching –This website gives younger elementary students the opportunity to match pictures of words with their beginning letter.
- Type the Contractions – Produced by a teacher, this website presents students with two words and prompts them to type the correctly spelled contraction for those words.
- Spell a Roo – With two levels (beginner and intermediate), this site presents sentences with one word misspelled and asks students to identify the misspelled word.
- Spelling List for Ages 8 and Under – Produced by the National Spelling Bee, this site presents a list of challenging words that children age 8 and under can practice spelling.
- Literacy Center Education Network- This site offers games in English, Spanish, German and French involving words, colors and the alphabet.
- Alphabet Action – This interactive game allows younger elementary students to click on a letter, hear the letter’s name and see a picture of a word that begins with that letter.
- Spin and Spell – This site for older elementary students presents categories and allows them to select a picture and attempt to spell the word associated with the picture.
- Kids Lab: Beginning Sounds – Designed for younger elementary students, this site provides pictures and asks students to choose the letter that starts the word associated with the picture.
- Missing Sounds – This site shows students a picture and its word, but omits a letter. Students must figure out the missing sound and type in the correct letter needed to spell the word.
Reading, Writing & Grammar
- Starfall –.A longtime favorite of educators, this site presents different levels of reading challenges for elementary students, from beginner to independent reader.
- Game Goo – Produced by the Houghton Mifflin Company, this site presents fun, interactive games concerning reading, writing and spelling.
- Rhyming Words –.This site produced by Sadlier-Oxford is a memory game in which students click turned over cards to find two rhyming words.
- Beanstalk Stories – This site presents a picture and gives students a chance to write a story about that picture.
- Grammar Bites! Interactive Grammar Review – This site offers fun interactive exercises, handouts and more review opportunities to teach the basics of grammar to elementary students.
- Sandcastle Phoneme Quiz – This site by the BBC offers a phoneme quiz in which photos with words are presented and students must choose the correct spelling of the missing phoneme.
- Pictures As Words – Produced by PBS Kids, this site offers pictures that students must click on to match pictograms.
- Sentence Clubhouse – This site by Harcourt School Publishers presents sentences to older elementary school students and asks them to identify the type of sentence, correct the capitalization, and correct the punctuation.
The United States
- Fun State Facts – Produced by the U.S. Census Bureau, this site offers students a clickable map of the United States, in which they can click on a state to learn facts about that state.
- Jayzee Bear USA Map – This site presents a map of the United States and asks students to find certain states.
- America’s Story from America’s Library – Produced by the Library of Congress, this site offers older elementary students stories about America’s history, songs, and a timeline.
- Ben’s Guide to U.S. Government for Kids – This site presents a list of U.S. government websites for elementary school students, grouped by grade level (K-2, 3-5, etc.).
- Law4Kids – Sponsored by the Department of the Navy, this site presents three doors, behind each of which are opportunities to learn about the law in the United States.
- Kids in the House – Sponsored by the U.S. House of Representatives, this site provides different levels for various ages of elementary students and teaches them about the House of Representatives.
- Truman 4 Kids – Sponsored by the Harry S. Truman Library, this site for first through third graders presents games, activities, and fun facts about the 33rd President.
- Place the State – This site presents a blank U.S. map and asks students to place states in their correct position on the map.
Math & Money
Science
- Environmental Kids –. Presented by the EPA, this interactive site offers fun games and activities for students having to do with the environment.
- Arthropod Museum – This site presents information about butterflies, beetles, moths and other arthropods, and offers photos in a display case style for each of the arthropods.
- Second Grade Science Jeopardy – This site presents science information in six categories and asks second grade students various levels of questions in a “Jeopardy”-style format.
- Round & Round It Goes – Water Cycle – This site by the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources offers an interactive diagram that describes the water cycle.
- The Great Plant Escape – Designed for older elementary students, this site offers a mystery about plant life for students to solve interactively.
- Energy Games and Puzzles – Produced by the California Energy Commission, this site offers games and puzzles having to do with energy and science.
- Kids Space – This site produced by the California Institute of Technology offers activities, fun facts and stories about the Cassini Equinox Mission of NASA.
- Secrets@Sea – Designed for older elementary students, this site presents information and a field guide with information about the seas.
- Sound – Produced by a fifth grade class, this site presents information on sounds and music, including interactive games.
Art & Music
- The Art Zone – Presented by the National Gallery of Art, this website offers interactive art that students can create online.
- Bottlecaps to Brushes – Sponsored by the Smithsonian American Art Museum, this site features interactive activities to help students discover similarities and differences among American works of art.
- Destination Modern Art –Sponsored by the Museum of Modern Art, this site leads students on an interactive trip, with activities, through the Museum of Modern Art in New York City.
- Albright-Knox Artgames – Sponsored by the Albright-Knox Art Gallery in Buffalo, NY, this site offers bilingual art activities and games for elementary students from kindergarten through sixth grade.
- Bobinogs Music Games – Presented by the BBC Wales, this site features the Bobinogs making music together and provides games that younger elementary students can use to help them make music.
- Design a Ceramic Tile – This site features an interactive online tile designer that allows students of all ages to create their own artistic tiles for fun or to print for future use.
- Design a Garden – Sponsored by the Geffrye Museum in London, this site allows students of all ages to create gardens based on a variety of styles.
- SFS Kids – The San Francisco Symphony Kids website features games and a music lab that teaches the basics including tempo, rhythm and harmony.
Geography
Nutrition
- Nutrition Explorations – This site interactive nutrition games that test students’ knowledge of the food groups and food pyramid.
- My Pyramid Blast Off Game – Sponsored by the USDA, this site features an interactive game where students fuel their rocket with the proper foods and physical activity.
- Team Nutrition – This site features fun recipes and games for students of all ages.
- Calcium Calculator – This site has an interactive calculator to help students of all ages calculate the amount of calcium in the foods they eat.
- Pork4Kids – This site features games and activities to teach students the significance of pork as part of a nutritional diet.
- Milk Matters – This site offers a variety of interactive games and puzzles to teach students about the importance of milk in a balanced diet.
- Too Much Fast Food Spells Fat Food – This site sponsored by the USDA Agricultural Research Service features a game to show students how much fat is in fast food.
- Kids Healthy Fridge Quiz – This site designed for older elementary students features an interactive quiz about the parts of a balanced diet.
- What Do Vitamins and Minerals Do? – Sponsored by Nemours Kids Health, this site features information and games for older elementary students about the importance of vitamins and minerals in foods we eat.
Shapes
- Starlight Starbright – In this interactive game, younger elementary students help Baby Casper match shapes to a star pattern.
- Fun With Shapes – This site asks students to arrange shapes into a mystery picture.
- I Love Shapes – This site, featuring Curious George, allows younger elementary students to sort shapes.
- Shapes Puzzle Game – This site allows students click and drag shapes to match them.
- Shape Cave – This interactive game combines math and reading to teach students about shapes.
- Illuminations: Shape Tool – This interactive tool allows students to create any shape they can imagine.
- Fun With Shapes Webquest – This webquest designed for kindergarten and first grade students helps teach students about shapes through fun interactive games and activities.
- Learning Shapes with Krog – This site features a caveman character named Krog who teaches younger elementary students the names of shapes.
- Geo Cleo and the Shape Caper – This student web lesson features a character named George teaching students about shapes.