By Kimberly Blaker

Limiting the time kids spend on the computer can be a daunting task. But when they hang out on the sites listed below, they will not only have fun, but also beat the summer slide. 

Animals Abound Kids can travel to faraway states and US territories via National Geographic for Kids and discover all kinds of critters and cool places. In addition to freaky creatures, there are crafts, photo tips, and plenty of weird stuff to discover, too. kids.nationalgeographic.com.

Space Odyssey At NASA’s Star Child, future astronauts can learn the orbit each planet belongs to, and match planets to their descriptions. They also can calculate their own weight and age on each planet. There’s even a link to a teen site. starchild.gsfc.nasa.gov/docs/StarChild.

Pop, Dong, Kerplunk Brain Pop is dedicated to health, science, and technology. Young learners will thrill at the awesome background sounds, and find experiments, activities, cartoons, quizzes, and animated movies on this fee-based sited. brainpop.com.

Basics & Beyond Fun Brain offers all levels of educational games in every subject. Kids can play Grammar Gorillas, Math Baseball, or Connect the Dots. funbrain.com.

Math Wizardry Kids can exercise the left sides of their brains with Starfall, a science and math site that’s loaded with entertaining games. starfall.com.

Coding Empire At Code.org, kids can learn computer science via free courses and online projects. The courses progress according to age, all the way through the teen years. Pre-readers can watch videos and listen to audio recordings as they move through interactive learning segments. code.org/hourofcode2022#explore.

Green Games ClimateKids is another NASA site for kids. It answers kids’ questions about weather and climate, the atmosphere, water, energy, plants, and animals. After clicking to read lots of fascinating facts, kids can scroll to the bottom of the page for activities, videos, games, and more. climatekids.nasa.gov.

Medical Time Travel At PBS’s a Science Odyssey, kids can explore the evolution of medicine from the early 1900s to today. They can play a game show called “That’s My Theory,” read comic stories about scientists, and learn about the discovery of penicillin. pbs.org/wgbh/aso.

Math Mind-Benders Math has never been so cool as at Coolmath4Kids. Young mathematicians can mess around with brain-teasers and jigsaw puzzles, and play the Demolition Division and Integer Warp games to improve math skills. coolmath4kids.com.

Online Adventures Little explorers can take journeys to the Greatest Places, and visit the Amazon, Tibet, Greenland, and other fascinating lands. Learn neat facts, watch videos, send postcards, play games, and find great activities to do at home. greatestplaces.org.

Presidential Probe There’s plenty to learn at the Smithsonian’s American Presidency page—even for parents. Read about inaugurations, life in and after the White House, and assassinations. Then, take a poll and share your thoughts. americanhistory.si.edu/presidency/home.html. 

Kimberly Blaker is a freelance writer. She also owns an online bookshop, Sage Rare & Collectible Books, specializing in out-of-print, scarce, signed, and first editions; fine bindings; ephemera and more at sagerarebooks.com.