Furbles

This is a great site I heard about at the Blast Conference I recently presented at. It is called Furbles, the site offers demo versions to work with. It is a great way to engage young students in maths activities by looking at shapes, numbers and colours. Students can also see the relationship between data and visual interpretations such as bar graphs, tables and pie charts. These would be great activities to use on an Interactive Whiteboard.

You select the number of furbles you want, the colours, shapes and number of eyes.

The eyes move as you move your mouse around, students love this!

If you select the bar graph option along the bottom bar, you can select the category you wish to look at in bar graph form. Here is an example of one using colour. The furbles move themselves into place to create a bar graph.

The same happens when you select the table format or the pie chart.

If you select the shoe icon, students can move the furbles themselves to form different groups according to the colour, shape or eyes. This would be a great interactive whiteboard activity.

Prezi: Playing to Learn Math

I came across this Prezi by Maria Andersen.  I love using games to stimulate learning, this presentation explains it well.

Playing to Learn Math? on Prezi

More Fun Interactive Sites for Kids

Here are a few more sites which are sure to keep students busy and happy!

http://www.funbrain.com/brain/SweepsBrain/sweepsbrain.html

This is a great interactive site where students can explore and engage in learning by clicking on the characters.

Little Einsteins

http://tv.disney.go.com/playhouse/littleeinsteins/index.html

This site is based on the TV show of the same name.  The site offers a range of activities involving art and music.

Painting Game

http://www.bbc.co.uk/cbeebies/games/#/lb/somethingspecial/paintinggame

This is a fun game where you add to a story by drawing characters and story settings.

Number Jacks

http://www.bbc.co.uk/cbeebies/numberjacks/games/

This is a site based on the TV show about numbers.  It provides games which help the development of numeracy skills.

Sid the Science Kid

http://pbskids.org/sid/

This site provides many opportunities to explore. 

Students can visit different rooms and engage in different science oriented activities.

Game Classroom

Still on the topic of educational games. Here is a site which is a collection of games for education.

http://www.gameclassroom.com/

The games have been divided into appropriate Grade levels for students from K - 6.

The games also categorise into topics.

There are maths games which develop skills in

• Time and Measurement
• Shapes
• Numbers
• Problem Solving
• Comparisons
• Shapes and Geometry
• Statistics
• Fractions
• Time and Money
• Measurement and Geometry
• Equations
• Fractions and Probability
• Reasoning
• Algebra
• Graphs
• Decimals

And Language Arts games which will develop skills in:

• Letter and Word Sounds
• Vocabulary
• Listening and Speaking
• Stories and Literature
• Words
• Grammar
• Writing
• Reading and Comprehension
• Oral Presentations
• Research and Technology

Brain Training Games

There are many games labelled as Braining Training games, I like to think of them as Learning Training. When you look at the skills the Brain Training games focus on they are all important skills needed to learn.


Such as:

• Memory

• Concentration & Attention

• Language Skills

• Visual & Spatial

• Executive Functions (Logic & Reasoning)

The games available also assist in the development of skills in literacy, numeracy and ICT. Most are also accompanied with extra content students can learn about such as capital cities, countries, types of food and ways to cook, the list is endless. (These games are fun for adults too!)

There are several Brain Training sites, most offer a few free games and the opportunity to upgrade to unlock the other games.

http://www.fitbrains.com/

Fit Brains is a site which offers a range of games to help develop thinking skills. here is a list of free games.

A Cross-training brain game designed to develop all skills.

Memory Brain Games improve short and long-term recall abilities.

Make words out of letters you are given

Make words by adding letters or words

Put words into categories

Break the code by adding letters and learn about different cultures.

Add arrows to direct the fruit

Identify the correct shapes

Give the robot directions to move on a map

Buy food and keep to a budget

Add combinations of numbers to remove the blocks

Memorise ingredients and instructions

Identify and select shapes

Other Brain Training sites

http://www.lumosity.com/

http://www.mind360.com/

There are also Brain training games available for Nintendo DS,

here are a few:

There are also Brain training apps available for ipods.

Lumosity

Brain Challenge

Brain Challenge 2: Think Again!

Speed Brain

Brain Exercise

Boost your brain

Brain Training

Brain Tuner

Braineous

Brain Quest