When you think of playing Games, Education and learning at the same thing, then think ABCya. Simply put, ABCya is a fun platform for the kids and children where they get access to play educational games.
The person behind the creation of this ABCya platform is Alan Tortolani as far back as 2004 but has recently been bought and owned by IXL learning since 2018.
ABCya’s head office is located at Rhode Island in the United States.
ABCya’s usefulness cuts across different homes and countries all over the world as they continue to make impact intellectually to over 100 million kids every year.
ABCya sectioned these games into different categories to aid selection. Among the ABCya’s game categories are;
- Games by Genre – here you find titles games like Hunt games, Bingo Games, Crossword Games, Puzzle games, Racing Games, Platformer Games, Multiplayer Games, and Word Search Games.
- Games by Subject – Language Arts Games, Math, Multiplication, Social Studies, Writing, Typing, Science, as well as music & Art Games are found here
- Games by Theme – you get to play Car Games, Sports, Retro, Story, Robot, Animal, Food, money, Cat, and Space Games.
- Games by Class – Pre-K, Grade K, Grade 1, Grade 2, Grade 3, Grade 4, Grade 5, Grade 6+ are found here.
One of the good sides of ABCya is that you can play their games for free. However, this only occurs when you play their games from your desktop computers on their website.
The mobile version is also available but you only get to play 6 free games weekly. If you wish to play all their games from your mobile device, then you have to subscribe. These mobile games are available in Amazon app stores, iTunes and Google Play.
If you become their premium subscriber; you’d get to enjoy even more benefits like;
- Playing their games without ads
- You get to save your favourite games no matter how many they are.
- You can play your games in their full-screen mode, be able to use some of their tools like the timer and also have access to their category control.
- You get to gain access to their activity pages, worksheets and teacher resources.
But as a free subscriber, you can only be able to receive their emails for the latest news and save only 3 favourite games. Go to https://www.abcya.com/ for more info.
There are more sites that offer similar services as ABCya and I’ll mention few below.
Alternative Sites to ABCya
1. Math Playground
Math Playground is an educational site like ABCya which gives you an edge to learn how to tackle mathematical issues in a fun way. Math Playground has been in existence since 2002 when Colleen King created it.
Again, just like ABCya, you can find the nature of games you wish to play by checking out their selection of games. Categories of games you can find here include;
- Fraction Games
- Multiplication Games
- Addition Games
- Geometry Games
- Robotic Games
- Math models
- Printable Word Problems/word Games
- Multiplayer
- Sports Games
- Perfect timing
- Action Games
- Find a Path
- Classic Games
- Fun Kids Games like Racing
You can also select the games according to your child’s class ranging from pre-K class to grade 6.
You can enjoy playing in Math Playground for free, but to get more access to all their games and features, you also have to Subscribe to their monthly or quarterly subscriptions. Ensure that you cancel before your subscription ends if you do not wish to continue because it is renewed automatically. All subscriptions are non-refundable.
There are 2 types of paid subscriptions in Math Playground. The Classroom Premium and the Family Premium. You can choose to subscribe monthly, quarterly or annually.
To get more about Math Playground, visit https://www.mathplayground.com/
2. ABCmouse
ABCmouse is also an educational site that aids early learning between the ages of 2 to 8. They are based in California, USA and have been able to offer their services all over the world. ABCmouse was first created by Doug Dohring in 2007 but it underwent a series of development and finally kicked off in 2010.
ABCmouse is a perfect tool for you if you wish to home-school your child. It offers amazing activities which are categorized by Subjects (Maths, Science and social studies, Arts & Colour) and Activities (Books, Puzzles, Songs, Games, Printables and Arts).
There are other interesting features of ABCmouse which include;
- Progress Tracking – where you can track the activities of your child and learn how far they are doing
- Tickets and Rewards – which help to build your child’s confidence when they know they will be rewarded for completing their tasks or activities
- Customizable Avatar – helps make your child comfortable by letting him or them choose the animation that will represent him.
- Interactive Zoo – lets you interact with zoo animals like Lions and Penguins
- Aquarium – Allows you to select tropical fishes for your class aquarium and also learn more details about them
- Interactive Farm – this helps you interact with Farm Animals like Chickens.
Just like ABCya, there are 3 subscription plans you can choose from; monthly at $12.99, Short-term at $29.99 every 6 months and annually at $59.99. However, free trial periods are available for new subscribers and the length of these trials can only be determined by the type of subscription plan you’re opting for.
Some of the benefits of subscribing to ABCmouse plans is that you can enjoy their promotional offers that come in from time to time. But, to enjoy this, you don’t have to subscribe to your plans using any of the following channels; Google Play, Apple or Amazon. Promotional offers can as well be time-sensitive, so be sure to redeem them before it elapses.
Other ways to enjoy ABCmouse is to look out for codes like the student codes for students which can only be redeemed using a laptop or desktop computer, Groupon codes or Gift card codes.
Check out ABCmouse at https://www.abcmouse.com/
3. PBS Kids
PBS Kids is more like an American TV Show geared toward educating the kids. It was originally known as PTV in 1994 but later rebranded as PBS after 5 years in 1999. PBS Kids streams educative videos aimed at educating kids between the ages of 2 to 8 years. These TV programs are available 24/7 and can be seen from their TV times page if you wish to know when your favourites are to be shown.
Over the years, PBS improved further and currently allows you to play some games from their website.
Some of the games categories you may find in PBSkids website include;
- Vocabulary Games
- Friends & Neighbours games
- Nature Games
- Play Together Games
- Feeling Games
- Animal Games
- Math Games
- Social Studies Games
- Reading Games
- Summer Games
- Space Games
- Measurement Games
- Dress Up Games and so much more.
There are still other random activities, Videos and game titles that are yet to be mentioned here. You can check out their platform to learn more about them
Go to https://pbskids.org/ for more Info
4. Starfall
Starfall which is mainly based on improving your child’s vocabulary, reading and writing skills is an educative platform aimed at kids. Interestingly, Starfall came into full existence in 2002 by a couple (Stephen Schutz, husband, and Susan Polis Schutz, Wife) and their son (Jared Schutz Polis) who founded it as a non-profit organization to help teach the kids in pre-school and Kindergarten.
Recently, they have also added more features to accommodate kids from grade 1 to grade 3 and also added maths to their curriculum.
There are 3 basic ways to join the Starfall platform;
- Joining Online – this cost $35 per year for homes, $70 per year for teachers, $195 for classroom and $355 per year for a school. You can either pay using your credit/debit card or through PayPal.
- Purchase Order – this is only available to schools in Canada and United States
- Mail/Fax Order Form
You can follow Starfall on Pinterest and Facebook or check out their website at https://www.starfall.com/
5. LearningGamesforkids
LearningGamesForKids is another amazing kiddie’s educative platform with a wide variety of game selections and titles.
Games categories to look out for at LearningGamesForKids are
- Animal Games
- Health
- Math
- Spelling
- Arts & Music
- Educational Songs & Videos
- Word Games
- US State Games
- Alphabet Games
- Preschool
- Vocabulary
- Graphic Organizers
- Geography
- Keyboarding Games
- Literature Games
- Printables
- Brain Games
- Social Studies
- Science games
One of the best things about LearningGamesForKids is that these games can be accessed free of child. The curriculum covers kids from pre-K to 12. So, LearningGamesForKids offers are best for free home-schooling.
Visit them today at https://www.learninggamesforkids.com/ for more info. They are also available on Facebook and YouTube.
Conclusion
Kids love to learn with lots of graphics and fun. Instead of the old traditional method of teaching them, you can make use of any of these ABCya-like educative platforms mentioned above to aid your child.
Each of these platforms offers its own unique features, graphics and learning styles. It will definitely be worth it for your child.
All the sites mentioned above are all legit and safe for your child to use. Simply check out each of them and choose any of your choices.
Let’s make learning fun for our Kids.
