Educational

http://www.ot-mom-learning-activities.com/index.html

This site has plenty of learning activities that have step-by-step instructions and photos to go along with them. Great for busy parents who would be happy for an easy and simple idea or two—motor skills, coordination skills, etc.

Recommended age: 2-6

http://www.first-school.ws/INDEX.HTM
“First-School features free fun preschool lesson plans, educational early childhood activities, printable crafts,  worksheets, calendar of events and other resources for children of preschool age.  The preschool crafts, lesson plans and activities are appropriate and adaptable for toddlers, preschoolers and kindergarten level.”

Recommended age: 2-6

http://www.education.com/

One word: worksheets! Actually, this site has a lot more than worksheets, but it does have a lot of very helpful worksheets as well. You can put in the grade and subject and there will be numerous pages you can print out on many topics on that particular subject and grade level. There are also many activity ideas—arts and crafts, games and puzzles, science experiments, and more… lots more! You can sign up as a member (free) and get access to more than if you aren’t a member.

Recommended age: 2-15

http://www.brillkids.com/

A great thing about brillkids is that you can sign up to be a member, and then you have access to some great resources. In the “free downloads” section, you can download flash cards to print out, PowerPoint slideshows, activity sheets and more. If you (or your child) is into education via PowerPoint, this is the right place, as thousands of power points have been uploaded by other members of brillkids and are available to download—from basic topics such as alphabets, mathematics, shapes and colors, to topics such as art, geography, science, and sign language.

Recommended age of children: 0 – 6

http://www.starfall.com/

Starfall is a great site for teaching phonics to children, starting at the basic phonic sounds, with interactive information on each phonic sound, progressing to short- and long-vowel sounds and simple stories, to longer stories, poems and other tales.

Recommended age of children: 6 months to 8 years old

http://www.theteacherscorner.net/

If you educate your child at home, or are simply looking for some extra material to use in making your time with your child educational and fun, this is an amazing site! From lesson plans, to printable worksheets (that you can create yourself), to links to a lot of other great sites, this website has a plethora of information and material.

Recommended age of children: 5 to 14 years old

http://kidzone.ws/

This neat website contains fun facts and information, separated by topic and by grade, from preschool through to grade five.

Recommended age of children: 3 to 12 years old

It also has links to a kids’ crafts website:

http://www.dltk-kids.com/

This one has some great crafts, coloring pages, activities themed projects, and jigsaw puzzles.

Recommended age for children: 3 to 10 years old

If your child enjoys coloring, try:

http://www.coloring.ws/

Recommended age of children: 2 to 8 years old

http://www.internationalparentingassociation.org/Early_Learning/teachbabyread.html

This is an article about teaching your baby to read, good for anyone who is interested in early childhood education and wants tips on how to do it “right.”

[Images by © Joson/zefa/Corbis]