Game Zone: FunBrain.com

by Meemaw

We all have our favorite games, whether it's card games, puzzle games or arcade games. At the same time, our children are developing their favorites. While we do want them to have fun, we also want them to learn, maybe even practice their skills to get better. Yes, even in math!!!

FunBrain.com is a collection of games for everyone, but at the same time, it has games designed to help those in grades one through eight practice their basic skills.

When you enter this site, you see 'FunBrain.com  - The Internet's #1 Education Site for K-8 Kids and Teachers.'



The home page (above) contains loads of links to games you can play, or blogs or even the teacher section (bottom left of page). A few of the links are in a section called Webbooks/Comics, (I read the first few pages of 'Diary of a Wimpy Kid' there), and another section next to it that says 'Movies'. Clicking on the Entertainment link takes you to another site called Family Education. It has links for arts & crafts, movie reviews and even more games. On the FunBrain site, you can search by grade level (just beneath the Sudoku link), or choose one of the games listed.

If you click on All Games, you get this:



Notice in the middle of this page you can see an orange bar that says Flash Games >.  Each icon is a different game. I haven't played them all, but so far I've really liked each one!

If you click on Math Arcade you will see the following:



Clicking on New Player ("New to Math Arcade? Click Here!"):



Choose your gender and skill level (above) and your choice of game piece (below), and you'll be taken to the first game, Bumble Number.
 

As you go through the 25 games, your game piece will go around the board at left. If you win a game, you get a password. You can use the password to get back into the series where you last won, or where you last stopped playing, rather than having to start over. The games start with the Flash games in the orange bar.

Here are the descriptions of a few of the games in the Math Arcade I've played:

Bumble Number - Blooming flowers hold math problems and the cloud in the sky blows out an answer. You have to guide the bumblebee to get the answer and take it to the flower which matches up problem with answer. Three right answers win.

Pig Toss -  This is not as easy as it sounds. Your pig is on one side of the canyon. The farmer is on the other side. You have to set your height and distance to get him across the canyon, so the farmer can catch him on the other side. Three or four catches wins.

Math Basketball -  You do math calculations to pass, dribble & make baskets. Four right answers wins.

Change Maker - You have a purchase amount and amount paid, and you have to choose the combination of bills and coins to give correct change.



At the top of the page is a button labeled 'Playground'. It has many games that you can play just with your mouse or keyboard.

At the end of many games you are invited to enter Poptropica. This is a different site with another type of game. You design a character for yourself and then go through different places in a story. I didn't play it for very long, but you may really like it.

FunBrain is a really fun site! You'll have to explore it for yourself. I'm sure you'll find many games and activities I haven't tried yet. The best thing is that FunBrain is a site where your children can have fun, your children can learn while having fun, and is a site where you and your children can have fun together. While FunBrain is intended for children in grades K through 8, everyone will find something that appeals to the kid in all of us. Have fun!!!