Brain Games

Students and Families: Exercise your brain with the these sites.
WARNING! Repeated use could result in larger, stronger brains!
(Many activities require free Shockwave and/or Flash players)

Other Sections: Math Activities || Sudoku || Music Kid Links || Brain Teasers || Primary (K-2)
(Throughout the site a
indicates an independent K-2 activity - either no reading required or an activity specific to that age.)
= Easy Activity (K-2) = Literacy Activity

Academic Skill Builders - research-based and standards-aligned educational games. This is our current FAVORITE math fact site! Use the links below or try out the other games.

BBC - Digger and the Gang - Sprat's Adventure 9-11 Years Old - English, Math and Science activities

Ann and Addem's Dartboard Game (starts out easy, but quickly gets more difficult with each level)

BBC Schools Bitesize Index - Choose any activities from the Index or go to these specific pages: Number Activities || Shapes, Space and Measure || Handling Data || Science

EduPlace Brain Teasers - New Math Brain Teasers every Wednesday for Grades 3-4, 5-6, and 7-8.

If you like Wacky Wordies, try these!

Hillendale Elementary's Wuzzles (Brainteaser Picture Puzzles) - 1 || 2 || 3 || 4 || 5

Dingbats - Brain Benders - NESTA Brain Games - Puzzles for common phrases

Match the Phrase - Match the ten phrases on the left with their more common partners on the right.

Try your hand at these challenging games from MathsNet Puzzle Page (Lots of other math strategy games at this site. Most of the following games were tested and chosen by students) - Remember that strategy and logic are your best weapons.

Arukone - Create a path to each matching number without crossing. (Choose level above game)
Backflip - This takes a LOT of thought!
Boxes (Dots) - Play against the computer.
Bridges - Make a red bridge
(left to right) before the computer makes a blue bridge (top to bottom).
Broken Calculator - Eric's calculator is broken, can you figure out how to use it?
Cubilus - Place blocks on their corresponding shapes.
Starts out easy, but gets harder as you go!
Chain Reaction - Very difficult, but when you win you feel great!
Checkers - Play with a friend or the computer
Checkers - Play with the computer
Colorsok - It starts out easy, but by level 3 you are really thinking...
Fiver - Can you switch the colors of all the pieces?
Four Color Puzzle - Can you complete the puzzle without overlappingany colors?
Freefall - Tricky!
Hangman - The math words are quite challenging. You can also enter your own word and play with a friend.
Hare and Hounds -
Higher or Lower - Use your knowledge of probability. Start easier with single suit and at first.
IQ Game -
Leapfrog - Can you move the frogs from one side to the other? Mrs. B says this one is TOO hard for her! If you want to teach her, she would be very appreciative!
Matching - Choose from: Geometry; Fractions; Addition; Multiplication.

Mastermind - Students, I love Mastermind, but sometimes I have glitches when playing this one. Let me know if it works for you. Mrs. B
Mathionaire - Based on "Who Wants to Be a Millionaire".
Packing Crate - Another GREAT problem solving game!.
Q Game - Mrs. B loves this game!
Reversi - Get more pieces on the board than the computer.
Rush Hour - The original with 12 levels
Rush Hour 2 - More challenging version
Sokoban - Classic moving around game
Sokolan - A variation of Sokoban.
Sliders -
Tents - Similar to mines.
Tilt Maze -
Tower of Hanoi - Can you move all the discs from the left peg to the right one?
Triplets - Try this interesting variation on Tic-Tac-Toe.

TSukoban - Your goal is to push all orange boxes into the green areas.

Color Wars - Keep your opponent from making the last move!

Lawrence Hall of Science - Play - Play online games, download activities to do at home, and more cool stuff. Check out: Family Math-Balloon Ride || Overlapping Shapes || Black Box Laser || Human Body-Mr. Bones || Shongo Networks

Science: FossWeb 3-6 Modules - Magnetism & Electricity || Models and Designs || Human Body || Levers and Pulleys || Food and Nutrition || Earth Materials || Water || Mixtures and Solutions || Measurement || Physics of Sound || Solar Energy || Landforms || Structures of Life || Variables || Ideas and Inventions || Environments

Maggie's Learning Adventures - interactive games on English grammar, Spanish, math and Science. Don't miss Maggie's Earth Adventures - Practice your memorization skills and improve your science vocabulary while you play in English or Spanish!

Geosense - Online geography game - try to locate a city on map. Points are awarded that reflect the speed and accuracy of each guess. You may choose USA or World. A screen name is required simply to identify you to other players and keep track of high scores - no other information is requested. Can't be used on a Mac running Explorer at this time, so this is for use at home.

 PBS Kids: Cyberchase - Games Central - Virtual adventures where kids use problem-solving strategies to play math games to defeat the bad guys.

13 Ways of Looking at a Half (Fractions)
Point of View (3D)
Railroad Repair (decimals)
Stop the Creature - find the pattern

Glowla's Estimation Contraption - Round and estimate to win

Send in the Trolls
Crack the Code
Crack Hacker's Safe
Crossing the River

Inchworm, Inchworm 2, and Frog Jumpin

Chomp Challenge - Enter the secret chamber of mystery & puzzles.

Whizzball! - Got what it takes? Test your whiz skills.

Pentominoes - Fill the rectangle with the pentominoes. You can flip and rotate the pieces.

Children's Museum: Bones Exhibit Games from Children's Museum of Indianapolis

  • Boney or Boneless - Do you know which animals have bones and which don't? Play this game and find out!
  • Bone Detective - Can you solve the mystery of which animal is being investigated?
  • Build Your Bones - Do you know how to keep your bones strong and keep them from breaking? Find out how while playing.
  • Bones Are Living Tissue - Do you know that your bones are living tissue? What happens when you break a bone? Learn more while playing.
  • Career Cutout - Do you know what you want to be when you grow up? Learn about different careers relating to bones while playing.
  • Artifact Lab - Several artifacts have to be researched. Use all the tools in the lab to identify the objects

Multiflyer - Multiplication game - As the pilot of a space ship, you must save the solar system.

Fripple Place - Examine the clues to crack the Case of the Empty Fripple House! Synthesize information and practice deductive reasoning to place the Fripples in the right rooms.

MindTwister Web - Play the game that adds a hilarious twist to critical thinking! Sharpen your problem solving skills as you compete against another player or play alone!

Book-Pop Books - created by author Stephen Cosgrove, offers a variety of online and printable books for elementary students.

Dots Game - Can you make more boxes than the computer does?

Dinosaur Playground - Featuring: Dinosaur Puzzle || Dinosaur Bones,|| Dinosaur Memory || Dinosaur Slide Game (from Walking with Dinosaurs) Beast Playground - Featuring: Skeleton Jigsaws || Color and Camouflage || Burying Bodies || Making Fossils || Footprints Game || (from Walking with Beasts - featuring the beasts that lived after the dinosaurs) from Roller Coaster Games - dozens of educational activities from ABC Online (Australia) (use this index from home to try other activities)

Word Search Puzzles and Fun & Games (from NASA Observatorium)

Brain Teasers - a whole page of  Brain Teasers to try!

Games & Puzzles from Jefferson Lab (Games require a JavaScript enabled browser.)

Play the original Tic-Tac-Toe against the computer or try Dime Tic-Tac-Toe, a new version for 2 players.

PROBLEM SOLVING:
Rush - Help the red car to exit the maze. Rush Hour
Tower of Hanoi - Game of skill and logic.
IQ Game - Remove all the balls by jumping.
Arithmetic-24 - Can you add them up to 24?

MEMORY:
Concentrate & Concentration - Play by yourself or with others.

COMPUTATION:
ArithmATTACK
- Race the clock for math facts

from CoolMath4Kids - Math Games (use this index from home to try other activities)

Coloring Book Math

HappyBrain.com - Interactive puzzles to exercise your brain.

  • Cloud Dreamer - Make Believe, Visual Thinking - Design a cloud & see it in the sky
  • Puzzle Blocks - Puzzle Play, Problem Solving - Make the shape using the pieces
  • Tinker Ball - Problem Solving - Build a path to make the ball drop into the cup
Invention at Play - Site developed by the Smithsonian National Museum of American History.

Set Game - Problem solving game - New puzzle challenge daily.

Current Events: Time for Kids || Scholastic Kids

Other Resources: Washington || Sasquatch || Math || 4th Grade Harcourt Reading

Risk Watch Games for Kids - Safety activities for readers and nonreaders.

 Exploring the Secret Life of Trees - Outstanding interactive tutorial developed by the University of Illinois Extension. Check out their other Just for Kids learning activities!

Book Adventure - Book Adventure is a FREE reading motivation program for children in grades K-8. Children create their own book lists from over 6,000 recommended titles, take multiple choice quizzes on the books they've read offline, and earn points and prizes for their literary successes. Students need to set up an account so parent supervision is advised when the account is set up.

How Stuff Works - How Stuff Works is a great place to learn about the way all kinds of things function in the world. Learn about everything from guitars, to cruise missiles to the cells in your own body!

Explore at Bristol -

Powers of Ten - Soar through space starting at 10 million light years away from the Milky Way down through to a single proton in Florida in decreasing powers of ten (orders of magnitude). Explore the use of exponential notation to understand and compare the size of things in our world and the universe.

Keyboarding
(4th graders are working on keying at least 15-25 WPM by the end of the school year!)
  • Keyboarding Skills: Elementary - Sites selected by the eMINTS National Center, a collaborative education program sponsored by the Missouri Department of Education and the University of Missouri.
  • Kids Domain - Typing Programs - Online activities as well as Macintosh and PC shareware and freeware. Kid Safe Site.

Primary (K-2)
(Throughout the site a indicates an independent K-2 activity - either no reading required or an activity specific to that age.)

Math

Buzzing with Shapes - It`s like TIC-TAC-TOE, four in a row! Know your shapes and win the game! (2-player game)

Addition Surprise - Little numbers can add up to be a big surprise in this game!

Hi-Rise Math - Play a game to add and subtract your way to the top. (2-player game)

Willy the Watchdog - Work with Willy to tell time! (2-player game)

Count Along to 100 - Can you count to 100? Here`s a fun way to practice!

Mend the Number Square (place value)

Find the Number (matching numbers)

Snakes and ladders (1 or 2-player game)

Math Activities by grade level (Harcourt): Kindergarten || First || 2nd

More math: CoolMath4Kids-Little Links

Starfall - OUTSTANDING FUN reading activities for beginning and early readers Starfall Learn to Read

PrimaryGames.com - There are popups, however there are many educational activities for primary.

Fripple Guides - Use verbal and visual descriptions — and logic — to select the correct Fripple guides for each visitor to Toony's Lagoon.

Edmo and Houdini - Move Edmo and Houdini around the doghouse by using and learning prepositions: in, out, over, under, on, off, and behind.

Make-A-Story - Choose characters, places, and actions to create a story starring Millie, Harley, Dorothy, or Sammy. Hear your stories read aloud!

Read-A-Rhyme - Recognize rhyming sounds and words by creating zany new versions of well-known rhymes. Rub-a-dub-dub, three kids in a shrub?

Mouse House - Create your own designs with triangles, circles, squares, and rectangles — or follow blueprints — to help Frank Lloyd Mouse build his house!

Activities for Units of Study

Ocean Unit Activities

Build-a-Fish - Build a fish then swim around the reef in search of food while to escaping predators.

Squish the Fish - Help Squish the Fish find food while hiding from Big Tooth Blob.

Information: Sea Creature Movies || Sea Photos and Information

Interactive Puzzles: Matching Fish || Sea Memory Game || Fish Jigsaw Puzzle (not a slide puzzle) || Water Cycle Jigsaw Puzzle || Fish Jigsaw Puzzle 1 || Sea Life Concentration (multiple players) ||Create an Ocean Scene || Sea Slide Puzzle || Sea Games and Puzzles || Rainbow Fish Slider Puzzle || Swimmy Slider Puzzle || Fish Slider Puzzle 1 || Fish Slider Puzzle 2 || Fish Slider Puzzle 3 ||

Word Searches: Sea Word Search || Sea Animal Word Search || Words to Remember || Animals of the Intertidal Zone || Marine Biology Word Search || Whales Word Search

Skeleton Jigsaws || Color and Camouflage (from Walking with Beasts, featuring the beasts that lived after the dinosaurs)

Dinosaur Worlds - New Blood - Catch a fish with Coelophysis and struggle through the dry season - will a scorpion make a tasty meal?

Zoo Unit Activities (Find more games from the San Diego Zoo)

Matching Apes - There's some serious monkey business going on here. Test your memory and match wits with these wacky primates!

Where's the Animal? (1) and Where's the Animal? (2) - Locate the animals hidden by camouflage

Dealing with Endangered Species - Matching game that will give you an overview of endangered species while having fun!

Build-A-Beast - Build a beast for the proper habitat to win the game

Untamed Trivia - Animal trivia questions

Puzzled Pachyderm? - Drag and drop the pieces to complete the elephant puzzle.

Jungle Bridge - Use your math skills to rescue animals.

SolvePuzzles.com - Dog Bones - 5 bones are hidden in the yard. Use strategies to locate them in the least number of turns

Brainwave Junior for ages 4 and up. (from HappyBrain.com - interactive puzzles to exercise your brain.)

PrimaryGames.com Puzzles

BrainConnection.com - Brain Teasers - offers the following and more:
 ABC Gulp - Learn your ABCs by playing this game!
Bear Wear - Help the big bear to get dressed by listening to the sound he says and selecting the shirt that matches the sound.

This is a large site with navigation in a left frame. If it is missing go to Mrs. Barnard's Classroom Launcher.
Contact Paula Barnard at Pioneer Elementary School, Arlington Public Schools, Arlington, WA, USA
Updated 11/16/2009