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Practice addition, multiplication, fractions and algebraic reasoning with our popular math games. Discover fun learning games kids love to play.

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Learning Games Labs, New mexico State University

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Students engaged in Math Snacks in class learned more math than those with access to just classroom instruction.

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May you live in interesting times - and we do! As many of you find yourselves in the challenging position of providing learning opportunities and enrichment for your children, the Mensa Foundation is here to help.

In addition to the myriad resources the Mensa Foundation offers here at Mensa for Kids, including robust lesson plans, activity plans, and TED Connections, we offer these additional resources to engage your young learner.

We'll continue to add to this curated list as we find quality material we think might be meaningful to you in the coming days and weeks, so check back often.

Cross-Curricular Online Platforms

New: Education.com is providing free acccess to some of its best resources during school closures, including printable workbooks, independent learning worksheets, games, activities, songs, stories and exercises.

New: Time for Kids has opened up all of its 2020 content, including teaching materials, its entire digital library, and teaching tools utilizing Time for Kids Magazine.

New: Renzulli Learning is opening its remote e-learning platform for free for rest of year. Create individualized, highly engaging learning opportunities to help students at higher levels, with adaptations for those who are not.

New: The You Can Do the Rubik's Cube Program offers free, downloadable K-12 lessons written by teachers and tested in the classroom. Available in multiple languages.

New: The New York Times Learning Network vertical hosts lessons across subjects and current events using the Times multimedia content.

Scholastic's Learn at Home program includes immersive day-by-day projects to keep kids reading, thinking, and growing.

Hand2Mind hosts daily activity and lesson plans for grades K-5.

The Smithsonian's children's website

Kids Discovery is a cross-curricular learning platform for elementary and middle school children, with access to more than 2,000 visually stunning science and social studies articles.

IXL hosts personalized curriculum for teaching and self-learning, including a searchable index.

The National Endowment for the Humanities hosts an impressive collection of lesson plans and teacher's guides.

Super Charged School features lesson plans and acivities taught by educators covering several subjects.

Education.com provides open access to resources for students in pre-K through 5th grade, with printable lessons and guided instruction.

Khan Academy offers helpful daily learning schedules for kids ages 4-18.

Baltimore City Schools has published learning packets for pre-K through 12th grade, as well as gifted and advanced learning materials.

The Compton Unified School District also has learning packets for pre-K through 12th grade.

Kerens Independent School District has published printable learning packets for grades K-5.

Albert.io features 105 tools for distance learning that are perfect for educating kids in the home.

Math and Science

New: The Art of Problem Solving's Alcumus is a free online learning experience featuring more than 13,000 math problems. The program's problems and lessons are specifically designed to provide high-preforming students with a challenging curriculum appropriate for their abilities.

New: Carolina Biological Supply Company's Building Blocks of Science program is home to free science lesson and activity plans for K-5 students.

Mystery Science hosts free, open-and-go lessons that inspire kids to love science.

The Exploratorium has fun, timely science topics and interactive activities under "Science Snacks."

NASA has pulled all of its activities, DIY projects, virtual tours, and more into a single repository, NASA at Home.

NASA hosts a ton of fun STEM activites to do at home for grades K-12.

Innerbody's interactive human anatomy systems includes more than 1,000 interactive body maps.

Science News for Students has free resources for learning at home.

Math Celebrity provides instant help to solve math problems with detailed toutorials.

The Monterey Bay Aquarium has fantastic Pre-K through 12th grade curriculum and resources related to aquariums and animals.

Steve Spangler's expirment library is a collection of at-home science experiments for grades K-12.

The CK-12 Foundation hosts science, math, social studies, and photography learning activities for K-12 learners.

History

New: Ancestry.com's AncestryK12 program is home to free history lesson plans, including subjects such as the American Revolutionary War, the War of 1812, WWI and WWI, the 1940 Census, and more.

The Natural History Museum of Utah hosts free middle school supplemental science instruction.

The National Archives' DocsTeach hosts activites for all learning levels using documents from the National Archives. Search by historical era, thinking skill, activity type, or grade level.

Reading and Writing

New: CommonLit hosts a free collection of fiction and nonfiction texts for 3rd-12th grade classrooms. Search and filter their collection by lexile, grade, theme, genre, literary device, or common core standard.

New: National Novel Writing Month has published a trove of K-12 language arts curriculum, including lesson plans, student workbooks, classroom kits, and more.

Audible hosts free stories for kids of all ages, including audio titles in six languages.

Read Print is home to thousands of free books.

Poets.org hosts materials for learning or teaching poetry, like lesson plans, essays, and more.

The World Digital Library provides open access to thousands of books, documents, and photography from various countries and cultures.

Classroom Cereal provides grammar practice in the form of free, printable short stories.

Music and the Arts

Other Educational Resource Round-ups

New: Explore the The International Spy Museum virtually and download some fun spy-based activities and lesson plans.

New: Sage Publishing, the textbook/educational book publisher, is providing free resources to help you transition to teaching online, including free access to textbooks, learning management system resources, and more.

New: Amazon's Future Engineer program is home to a round-up of free robotics, computer science, and coding courses for kids.

New: Tynker, an award-winning coding platform for kids 5 and up, is opening its premium coding courses, challenges, and tutorials for free during school closures.

The Amazing Educational Resources Facebook Group has published a Google Doc containing a comprehensive list of education companies offering free subscriptions due to school closures.

Class Central has more than 450 free classes from Ivy League schools.

Cambridge Univeristy is offering free access through May 2020 to higher education textbooks, including 58 textbooks in language and linguistics.

The National Park Service offers immersive virtual tours of the nation's National Parks.

This Principal's List of Things to Do During COVID Closures is going viral for all the right reasons.

The Texas Association of Gifted and Talented has published a special set of resources to help out parents while schools are closed.

Explore this list of 35 useful remote learning resources from Lucky Learners.

Check out this list of 37 free educational resources kids can use at home by Macaroni Kid.

Our friends at Educational Insights host a number of great activities for your little learners.

Check out these math activities and lesson plans by Youcubed, a free K-12 math resource from Stanford University's Graduate School of Education.

Curriculum Associates has curated a fantastic list of activities for children and their parents.

Prepare for distance learning with Newsela, an instructional content platform.

ABCmouse.com, an early learning academy, hosts online curriculum for kids ages 2-8.

Explore this comprehensive list of subjects and learning resources put together by the Kentucky Gifted Association.

Educational Games

Technology Resources

Need help with high-speed internet? Charter Communications says that as part of the effort to help people deal with impacts of coronavirus, they're offering free Spectrum broadband and Wi-Fi access for 60 days to households with K-12 and/or college students who do not already have a Spectrum broadband subscription.

Jamie Uphold, American Mensa's Gifted Youth Programs Manager, has been a state-licensed teacher for more than 15 years. She received her Gifted Education certification in 2016. Jamie was recognized as the 2008 Teacher of the Year at Bowie Middle School in Amarillo, Texas, and was a finalist for the 2011 Texas Speech Communication Association's Teacher of the Year.

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May you live in interesting times - and we do! As many of you find yourselves in the challenging position of providing learning opportunities and enrichment for your children, the Mensa Foundation is here to help.

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Alright admit it.  Sometimes we just got to pop a movie in (old school slang for streaming)

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Best Movies for Kids | Common Sense Media

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Need some fresh ideas for your next family movie night? Find the best movies for kids that are age-appropriate and entertaining for your family!

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Links to Apps and Sites for Gifted and Talented Students.

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27 Apps and Sites for Gifted and Talented Kids

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Common Sense Media editors help you choose 27 Apps and Sites for Gifted and Talented Kids. Though these tools are great for all kids, they have special appeal for kids who need an extra challenge.

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Meet Academy scientists, explore animals and specimens, and stoke your curiosity with hands-on learning tools.

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Getty Museum has great resources focused on Art. Need Adobe Flash!

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Enhance students' understanding of artists, art history, materials, and techniques with interactive Web pages, online games, activities, and videos. Enliven your classroom teaching with select activities or encourage students to explore these resources independently.

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Resources for Students (Education at the Getty)

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Enhance students' understanding of artists, art history, materials, and techniques with interactive Web pages, online games, activities, and videos. Enliven your classroom teaching with select activities or encourage students to explore these resources independently.

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SMITHSONIAN  LEARNING LAB (FOR KIDS... AND ADULTS TOO)

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SMITHSONIAN  LEARNING LAB (FOR KIDS... AND ADULTS TOO)

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Smithsonian Learning Lab: Discover, Create, Share

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Free online brain games

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Games and Description of Free Brain Games:
Sharp Brains: An award winning top 50 collection. This site is more intellectual in nature, it's better for adult-child discussion or for use with older kids and adults.

Mensa for Kids: The high IQ society has put together a fun site of puzzles and games designed just for kids.

NASA Kids Club: Choose skill level. Space and memory games. Good graphics.

BrainBashers: Tons of brain games. Many Japanese puzzles too.

Children and adults can play and create jigsaw puzzles from any image online. Choose from categories such as; kids, animals, art or nature.

Grin Riddles: Choose from riddles for kids, hard riddles, funny riddles, and more.

*Controlling the sites your kids go to for games is important. Some game sites appear "fun" and "cute" but will actually load malware onto your computer. These free brain games have been kid tested and teacher approved, although we cannot be responsible for external links off these sites.

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The best free brain games on the web. Kid tested and teacher approved. Fun brain games for challenging and working the brain of kids and adults.

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Exquisite Minds: Creative and Gifted Children

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We love for our children to read and it can be difficult to find quality literature. Below is a list of our favorite classics for children and best books for kids overall. These books would make great read-alouds for the classroom or parent-child nighttime reading. This list is powered by Amazon for your shopping ease. Please click on the link and read the summaries carefully, as some of these books are considered controversial.

As teachers, we read this to our students when we studied economics. This is a good story and a great lesson.

From Amazon: "Sixth-grader Rufus Mayflower doesn't set out to become a millionaire. He just wants to save on toothpaste. Betting he can make a gallon of his own for the same price as one tube from the store, Rufus develops a step-by-step production plan with help from his good friend Kate MacKinstrey. By the time he reaches the eighth grade, Rufus makes more than a gallon - he makes a million! This fun, breezy story set in 1960s Cleveland, Ohio contains many real-life mathematical problems which the characters must solve to succeed in their budding business. This 35th anniversary edition includes an exclusive author interview and reader's guide with book summary and discussion questions."

Age Range: 8 and up Grade Level: 3 and up

Poetry enables children to appreciate the sound and imagery of language. This series offers many other poets such as, two of my childhood favorites, Edgar Allan Poe and Rudyard Kipling .

From Amazon: "This collation of 25 poems introduces Robert Frost to young people. The selections are arranged by the seasons and Sorensen's handsome watercolor illustrations capture the feel of the New England landscape without in any way trying to provide literal images for the poetry. Schmidt provides a brief note on some of the possible ways to read the lines...These nature poems show that poetry holds feelings and ideas that everyone can understand."

Age Range: 8 - 12 years Grade Level: 3 - 7

This book is unique in that it is told through the perception of a very young child and the toy animals also have the personalities of very young children.

From Amazon: "In 1926, the world was introduced to a portly little bear named Winnie-the-Pooh. Along with his young friend, Christopher Robin, Pooh delighted readers from the very beginning. His often befuddled perceptions and adorable insights won the hearts of everyone around him, including his close group of friends. From the energetic Tigger to the dismal Eeyore. Gorgeous watercolor illustrations from Ernest H. Shepard appear in all their glory. The tales, filled with superb story lines and lessons, will continue to capture the hearts of new generations."

Age Range: 8 - 12 years Grade Level: 3 - 7 This set includes Are You There God? It's Me, Margaret.; Blubber; Iggie's House; and Starring Sally J. Freedman as Herself.

Most girls in the 70's read every book of Judy Blume's they could get their hands on. This series of books is still relevant today.

Age Range: 10 and up Grade Level: 5 and up

Alice's Adventures in Wonderland works better as a read-aloud due to the nonsensical nature of some of the writing. However, there are many children who will appreciate the humor and playfulness of the odd characters.

From Amazon: "In 1862 Charles Lutwidge Dodgson, a shy Oxford mathematician with a stammer, created a story about a little girl tumbling down a rabbit hole. Thus began the immortal adventures of Alice, perhaps the most popular heroine in English literature. Countless scholars have tried to define the charm of the Alice books-with those wonderfully eccentric characters the Queen of Hearts, Tweedledum, and Tweedledee, the Cheshire Cat, Mock Turtle, the Mad Hatter et al.- Perhaps, Alice is no more than a dream, a fairy tale about the trials and tribulations of growing up-or down, or all turned round-as seen through the expert eyes of a child."

Harriet the Spy was controversial in the 60's due to the rebelliousness of its main character, Harriet. However, Harriet is a favorite with many young children due to her spunk and hilarious antics.

From Amazon: "Harriet M. Welsch is a spy. In her notebook, she writes down everything she knows about everyone, even her classmates and her best friends. Then Harriet loses track of her notebook, and it ends up in the wrong hands. Before she can stop them, her friends have read the always truthful, sometimes awful things she's written about each of them. Will Harriet find a way to put her life and her friendships back together?"

This story is good for teaching compassion and empathy. I read this in the 4th grade and was greatly touched by this story of poverty.

From The Library Journal: "Everyone in Miss Thompson's fourth grade class loves The Bears' House- Fran Ellen Smith most of all. When Fran Ellen goes into The Bears' House, she can forget about how awful things are at home. At the end of the term Miss Thompson is giving the house away to someone in the class. Fran Ellen knows it won't be her? How is she going to get along without a place to hide? "Superb characterizations and uncommonly skilled writing draw the reader completely into the realities and fantasies of Fran Ellen's world and make this funny, touching story essential reading."

Aesop's Fables for Children: Includes a Read-and-Listen CD

Age Range: 5 - 8 years Grade Level: Kindergarten - 2

Aesop's Fables are great for short read-aloud stories at bedtime.

From Amazon: "For centuries, children and adults have treasured the stories handed down by Aesop, a slave who lived in ancient Greece approximately six centuries B.C. Known for their charm and simplicity, these simple tales feature brief adventures of animals, birds, and beasts - with a message hidden in each narrative. Every child should meet up with "The Hare and the Tortoise," "The Ants and the Grasshopper," "The Goose and the Golden Egg," "The Wolf in Sheep's Clothing," and other characters. This splendid gift edition features more than 130 of Aesop's beloved fables, enhanced with full-color illustrations and a wonderful CD recording of forty-two of the most popular stories in the book."

One year a friend and I taught a unit based on Roald Dahl's books during summer school. It was a hit with all the children. His writing draws the biggest giggles out of kids. Dahl's books are no doubt some of the most creative stories ever written.

From Amazon: "Captured by a giant! The BFG is no ordinary bone-crunching giant. He is far too nice and jumbly. It's lucky for Sophie that he is. Had she been carried off in the middle of the night by the Bloodbottler, or any of the other giants-rather than the BFG-she would have soon become breakfast. When Sophie hears that the giants are flush-bunking off to England to swollomp a few nice little chiddlers, she decides she must stop them once and for all. And the BFG is going to help her!"

From Amazon: "Did you think Cinderella married the prince and lived happily ever after, or that the three little pigs outsmarted the wolf? Think again! Master storyteller Roald Dahl adds his own darkly comic twists to six favorite tales, complete with rambunctious rhymes and hilarious surprise endings."

We recommend all of Roald Dahl's books, and here is a box set of four favorites: Roald Dahl Magical Gift Set (4 Books) . Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, The Fantastic Mr. Fox, James and the Giant Peach, and a mystery book.

This is a powerful and emotional book. I read this as a 4th grader and loved it.

From Amazon: "Billy, Old Dan and Little Ann - a Boy and His Two Dogs... A loving threesome, they ranged the dark hills and river bottoms of Cherokee country. Old Dan had the brawn, Little Ann had the brains - and Billy had the will to train them to be the finest hunting team in the valley. Glory and victory were coming to them, but sadness waited too. An exciting tale of love and adventure you'll never forget."

Happy Reading!

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Books for Kids: Don't Miss Out on These Classics

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We love for our children to read and it can be difficult to find quality literature. Below is a list of our favorite classics for children and best books for kids overall. These books would make great read-alouds for the classroom or parent-child nighttime reading. This list is powered by Amazon for your shopping ease.

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Just a reminder that while Branigan library is closed. You can call and get a libary card. This will enable you to get access to their online collection.

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50 Books All Kids Should Read Before They're 12

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Common Sense Media editors help you choose 50 Books All Kids Should Read Before They're 12. Surefire selections for kids and tweens.

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Games for Gifted Children

As a homeschool mom to a gifted child I'm always on the lookout for items that will keep my son engaged, inspired and not bored. Gifted children tend to get bored quickly. Because they can analyze, adapt and master challenges at a quicker rate the challenge that at one time was fun and exciting quickly can become old hat.

Finding ways to challenge gifted kids can be overwhelming. That's why today I'm offering you 100 Games that can challenge gifted minds. You'll find affiliate links to most of the games which will take you to external sites where you can purchase any game that might be a great challenge for your child.

100 Games for Gifted Kids

App Games for Gifted

Building Games for Gifted

Card Games for Gifted

Classic Games for Gifted

Educational Games for Gifted

Logic, Strategy & Tactic Games for Gifted

Maze Games for Gifted

Single Player Games for Gifted

Word Games for Gifted

I want to hear from you. What games seem most exciting for your gifted kid? What games did I miss that should be on the list? Join the conversation and share your favorite gifted games in comments.

This post is a part of the iHomeschool Network 100 Things Link Up. Visit iHN and take a look at all of the other fantastic linkups who also are sharing 100 Things.
You May Also Enjoy

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Challenge your students with 100 games for gifted kids.

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As a homeschool mom to a gifted child I'm always on the lookout for items that will keep my son engaged, inspired and not bored. Gifted children tend to get bored quickly. Because they can analyze, adapt and master challenges at a quicker rate the challenge that at one time was fun and exciting quickly can become old hat.

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NASA has some nice activities for kids to do at home broken down by age.

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We Engage Students In NASA's Mission

K-12 students can dig deeper into STEM topics and experience the thrill of exploration and discovery.

NASA makes vital investments in a diverse portfolio of learning opportunities and activities designed to reach as many U.S. students as possible - from kindergarten through graduate school. NASA seeks to build the next generation STEM workforce and broaden student participation to increase diversity, equity and inclusion in STEM fields.

For Kids and Students

We Inspire An Interest In STEM

NASA offers a wide array of unique experiences designed to engage K-12 students nationwide in the agency's missions, people, and resources.

Educators are a significant part of students' lives and play a key role in connecting NASA to the Artemis Generation. NASA STEM fully supports formal educators in classrooms and informal educators in museums, science centers, afterschool programs, and similar organizations, all of whom bring the excitement of the agency's missions to students.

For Educators

Colleges, Universities, Technical and Vocational Institutions

NASA leverages its unique missions and programs to enhance and increase the capability, diversity, and size of the nation's future STEM workforce.

NASA has a portfolio of activities and opportunities dedicated to attracting, engaging and educating students in all institutional categories and levels across the nation. These range from internships and fellowships, research and development opportunities, challenges and competitions, pre-college and college STEM experiences, virtual learning, faculty support, as well as institutional support.

For Colleges and Universities

Latest STEM News and Features

get social with nasa stem engagement

Discover More STEM Topics From NASA

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We're launching learning to new heights with STEM resources that connect educators, students, parents and caregivers to the inspiring work at NASA. Find your place in space!