Freerice.com: Where You Can Play And Learn While Feeding The Hungry

What if there was a website that had oodles of educational games you could play and all the while you'd be helping to feed the hungry?


Welcome to Freerice.com, a site run by the United Nations World Food Programme. As you play vocabulary games and others involving subjects like math, science, geography, art history, foreign languages and more, you're earning food for those in need as Freerice sponsors donate 10 grains of rice for every correct answer you enter.

That doesn't sound like a lot, right? Yet thanks to people around the world playing on this site, millions of people in developing countries have been fed. Donations go to countries that need it most and are often ones that don't make news headlines, yet are still places where hunger runs rampant.

Worried that you might not be smart enough to get the answers correct? No a problem!



If you get an answer wrong, Freerice repeats the same question another time which gives you an opportunity to get it right.



And Freerice has a custom database that contains questions at varying levels of difficulty to challenge beginners and experts alike. It automatically adjusts to your level; when you get an incorrect answer, you move to an easier level and when you get three questions in a row right, you progress to a harder level. All the while, you're having fun and learning!

The site is completely non-profit with all monies raised going to the UN World Food Programme to help feed the hungry. Sponsors make all payments to the WFP directly.

For more information, visit www.Freerice.com and for more on the World Food Programme, go to http://www.wfp.org/hunger/who-are. Have fun, feed the hungry. It's a no-brainer!

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Note:  This post originally appeared on the website thegeekparent.com. 

7 Free Learning Websites To Prevent Brain Drain This Summer

There are only 18 weekdays until my daughter is sprung from school and I expect that after the first week of Summer Vacation, her brain will begin turning from a tightly-compressed mass of knowledge into goo. I know it's going to atrophy to some degree but I, like more and more parents, expect her to work on something educational during the Summer. And since kids love the Web so much, it makes sense to explore websites that will help kids actually learn something during these warm months.

Here are my 7 favorite, free learning websites for kids in 6^th grade and under:

1. Mr. Nussbaum (http://mrnussbaum.com) – Created by a Virginia schoolteacher, this site is geared toward pre-schoolers through those in 6^th grade. The site offers lots of interactive games “designed to pinpoint one or several essential concepts” taught in elementary school. Subjects covered include math, language arts, history, geography, and science. There are also printables for use by teachers and homeschoolers. 
   
   
2. Funbrain.com (www.funbrain.com) – Catering to kids in preschool through 8^th grade, this site offers math, reading, online books, Mad Libs, comics, and games. Your kids will never know they're actually learning!
   
   
3. The Kidz Page (www.thekidzpage.com) – A veritable carnival of learning and non-educational games awaits visitors to this site. The menu is so varied, I honestly don't think a child could be bored here. I especially like the number of downloads available here (wallpaper, jigsaw puzzles, games) and the many printables. Go here before you go on a road trip and print out a bunch!
   
   
4. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (http://games.noaa.gov) – A little-known site, it offers life science and environmental science games for kids in grades 3 through 6. A great place to visit if your child is interested in Nature and the environment. Check it out before you take the kids camping this summer!
   
   
5. Highlights Kids (www.highlightskids.com) – Brought to you by the folks who publish the Highlights kids' magazine that many of us grew up with, this site offers a limited number of activities, but they're all good. Play games, crack codes, discover art activities, giggle at jokes, and read stories and poetry. 
   
   
6. ABCya.com (www.abcya.com) – Created or approved by teachers, your kids will have fun while reinforcing their math and language skills. This site is for kids in grades 5 and under. 
   
   
7. Kids.gov (http://kids.usa.gov/index.shtml) – An official government portal for kids, it's divided into three sections: Grade K through 5, Grades 6 through 8, and one for teachers and parents. Lots of data on the government and history can be found here as well as links to many other subjects. I especially love the section on Online Safety.

Brain drain is inevitable over the Summer, but, hopefully, I can control it by keeping her learning, even when she's off from school. Visit these sites and I know you'll want to bookmark them for the months ahead. 

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Thanks for reading!  Please check back in with me later this week when I'll list some great learning websites for kids in Grades 6 and up.  Hey - they need to escape from mush brain, too!  

Our Favorite Free, Low-Tech Math Game Of The Moment

The 8-year old loves to play games and I'm always grateful when she finds one that doesn't involve a video screen. Her teacher recently sent home a sheet explaining the game “Shut The Box” that I'd like to share with you because it's doing a marvelous job of reinforcing her math skills. Note: I would credit the game's source, but the sheet doesn't list one.


Here's what you need to play: a sheet of paper, pencils or crayons of different colors, and a pair of dice. Yep. That's it. Don't you love the simplicity?


Here's how you play:

1. Write the numbers 1 through 12 on the sheet of paper.
   
2. Player 1 rolls the dice. They cross out one or more numbers that add up to that roll. So if a player rolls an 8, she can cross out the 8, or the 6 and 2, or the 7 and 1, or the 3 and 5. Each player should use a different color of pencil or crayon to keep track of their turns.
   
3. After the numbers 6 and up are crossed off, the player can choose to roll just one die.
   
4. If the player manages to cross off all of the numbers, she's “shut the box.” If she can't match a roll to the remaining numbers, her turn ends, and any uncrossed numbers are tallied up. Then the next person goes.
   
5. The person with the lowest number wins.
   

We played this 10 times yesterday and 20 times today! I could see playing this game in a restaurant, but instead of carrying dice around, I'd use this free app I just found for my Android phone called Dice 3-D which is available in Google's Play Store. You merely shake or tap the phone to roll the dice. Obvious hint: choose the tap option with smaller children so the phone doesn't go flying.


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And speaking of an awesome little game you can play in a restaurant, I'm reminded of this great homemade variation of the game KerPlunk my son and I played when he was little.  I think we saw it on the long-defunct PBS show, Zoom.

I loved this show! 

Here's what you need to play: a cup, a rubber band or hair elastic, a few pennies, a toothpick or pencil (the handle of a spoon works, too), a napkin or paper towel.


Here's how you play:

1. Stretch the napkin over the cup and secure with a rubber band. It will look kind of like a drum.
   
2. Place a few pennies on the napkin.
   
3. Players take turns poking a hole in the napkin. The object of the game is to avoid being the one who lets the pennies fall in the cup.
   

I used this game as a catalyst to discuss gravity and tensile strength. We experimented with variations on this game using paper towels, napkins, and toilet paper to see which paper products were the strongest. We've even tried using different brands of paper towels to determine which was the strongest; in our tests, Bounty killed the other brands.


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Thanks for reading! Please come back in a day or two, won't you?