Plays.org: Learning through play

Sometimes the simplest way to introduce a new concept, practise something we have already learned or give students a short change of pace is to turn it into a game. 

Plays.org is a large collection of free browser-based games, and although the website is not exclusively educational, it includes a substantial section devoted to learning games that can be useful in the classroom. The main advantage is its simplicity: the games can be played directly in a web browser, without installing an app or additional software, and they are designed to work across computers, tablets and mobile devices.

The educational section brings together games covering areas such as mathematics, spelling, vocabulary, reading, phonics, numbers, shapes, science and basic health. There are very simple activities for younger learners, such as recognising numbers, identifying shapes or matching body parts, alongside more challenging games involving mental arithmetic, mathematical operations, word formation, logic and problem solving.

https://plays.org/education-games/

FlightQ

FlightQ is a popular daily trivia platform featuring geography and aviation puzzles. 

The site offers various Wordle-style challenges where you get up to five daily attempts to guess flight routes, identify airports, or recognize transit networks around the globe. Its flagship game, SkyQ, prompts you to guess a mysterious flight path by picking a starting airport and using directional and distance clues to narrow down the correct destination. Another core mode, AirportQ, challenges you to name a specific airport using geographic clues, while additional variants focus on train systems and urban exploration. 

You can play these daily puzzles for free directly on the FlightQ website or download the mobile application.

https://flightq.app/

Games to learn English

GamestoLearnEnglish.com is a website dedicated to providing educational games and activities to help learners of English improve their language skills in a fun and interactive way. 

The website offers a variety of games covering different aspects of English learning, including grammar, vocabulary, pronunciation, listening comprehension, and more. These games are designed to engage learners of all levels, from beginners to advanced, and can be used both in classroom settings and for self-study. 

Find it on:

https://www.gamestolearnenglish.com/

Infinite craft by @nealagarwal

Neal Agarwal is known for creating interactive and creative web experiences. His projects often involve unique and engaging visualizations, animations, and interactive elements. Neal Agarwal has launched what he calls the first version of Infinite Craft, a procrastination game that involves combining elements in pairs to create new ones. Simply drag what is on the right side onto the main screen, overlapping what you want to combine. The fun part is that the effect is cumulative, and the newly created can be recombined to add more and more objects.

Although you start with basic elements like water, fire, and wind, soon others like plants, trees, and sand appear, and gradually, more elaborate and specific versions can be created, such as cacti, flowers, or cigarettes. According to Agarwal himself, there are more than 20,000 combinations.

https://neal.fun/infinite-craft/ 

Semantris. Engage in AI-powered word association games

Play word association games with the help of semantic search. When you provide a clue, the AI examines all the words in play and selects the ones it believes are most closely related. Since the AI was trained on diverse conversational text, it can make various types of associations.

In Semantris' Arcade mode, the AI organizes the list, placing the most related words at the bottom. For instance, in the example given, it suggests that "Moon" is a more fitting response to "Sun" than "Teacher."

Semantris operates similarly to other word association games, where a person offers clues to assist their teammate in guessing the correct words. The unique aspect is that, in Semantris, you provide hints to an AI. As the AI might respond in unexpected ways, it's beneficial to experiment with different types of clues to understand its thought process and achieve the highest scores. Try using slang, technical terms, pop culture references, synonyms, antonyms, and even complete sentences.

https://research.google.com/semantris/

Life stats Neal Agarwal @nealagarwal

Neal Agarwal's project "Life Stats" is a captivating and thought-provoking experience that provides a unique perspective on various aspects of life. The interactive website takes mundane yet essential statistics and transforms them into engaging visualizations that highlight the passage of time and the scale of different activities.

https://neal.fun/life-stats/ 

Crickweb

Crickweb is a fantastic educational website that offers a wide range of interactive resources for students and teachers. The site features a diverse collection of educational games, activities, and quizzes that cover various subjects such as math, science, literacy, and more. 

One of the standout features of Crickweb is its interactive games, which are designed to enhance learning through hands-on experiences. These games not only help students grasp important concepts but also provide an entertaining way to reinforce their knowledge. Whether it's practicing multiplication tables, learning about animals and their habitats, or improving grammar skills, 

In addition to games, the website also provides a wide array of resources for teachers. Educators can access lesson plans, worksheets, and teaching ideas that align with the curriculum, saving valuable time and effort in lesson preparation. The website's resources are well-organized, making it easy for teachers to find materials that suit their specific teaching objectives.

To access Crickweb, use the following link:

http://www.crickweb.co.uk/ 

Prepositions of Movement Game 1

English ESL learning games

Free to use games for home and school use from Digital Dialects.

https://www.digitaldialects.com/English.htm

MathPickle.com

MathPickle.com is a free online resource of original mathematical puzzles, games and unsolved problems for K-12 teachers. 

Its puzzles are organized by grade and subject – each designed for a 45-60 minute period.  

MathPickle.com is also a practical resource for teachers. Its puzzles and games engage students in problem solving.

It is supported by the American Institute of Mathematics.

Visit:

http://mathpickle.com/organized-by-grade/

Waffle

Recurso proporcionado por la Junta de Castilla y León que ofrece un panel a modo de sopa de letras y propone buscar en un tiempo determinado la mayor puntuación, a través de un número más elevado de palabras encontradas y una valoración más alta de cada letra.

Permite la posibilidad de jugar además de en inglés, la primera opción, en alemán, español, francés, italiano y portugués.

Juego de apariencia bastante sencilla pero interesante para la competición.

http://www.educa.jcyl.es/educacyl/cm/gallery/Recursos%20Infinity/aplicaciones/19_secundaria_waffle/index.html

Map Puzzle

Educational cartographic online puzzles. You can complete maps of the world, countries and regions by dragging them into their proper places on a map. 

You can also share your results on social networks 

Find it on:

http://mappuzzle.xyz/

English as a foreign language. ESO and Bachillerato's #Kahoot

Pedro Civera, compañero en el CEFIRE de Elda durante muchos años y actualmente en el IES Azorín, me hace llegar este pequeño gran regalo con el propósito de darle difusión y que pueda serviros en la clase de inglés en vuestros centros.

Mente inquieta donde las haya, en los últimos tiempos se ha adentrado en el mundo Kahoot! y ha emprendido numerosas iniciativas educativas que han utilizado esta herramienta tanto para dar a conocer la cultura local como para el aprendizaje y la práctica del inglés, lengua de la que es docente en nuestro centro.

Espero que os resulte útil. Podéis acceder a esta colección de recursos desde:

https://create.kahoot.it/v2/profiles/5a6ead98-a0ca-48e8-8dfc-a413a1b4c938 

Pick Your Plate! A Global Guide to Nutrition

Pick Your Plate! A Global Guide to Nutrition is an educational nutrition game that will help teach students about building healthy meals while using nutritional guidelines from countries around the world! 

Play it on:

https://ssec.si.edu/pick-your-plate 

Toy Theater

Collection of interactive educational math, literacy, and art games for your elementary classrooom.

Founded in 2001 by Joel Gaspar, an artist and designer, it offers free accessible and high quality  activities that integrate the learning into the game play

Find Toy Theater on:

https://toytheater.com/ 

World Geography Games

Educational quiz games for kids, students, adults and seniors to test and improve their geographical knowledge. 

It includes questions about all the countries and continents. Free teaching resource useful for teachers in primary and secondary school

Visit:

https://world-geography-games.com/ 

Educandy

If you are looking to create interactive learning games, Educandy is an interesting tool to develop engaging activities very easily.

There are 8 types of games you can generate. They can be played on individual computers, tablets via the Educandy app as well as on the interactive whiteboard. You can even embed the games into your own website if you want to.

Visit Educandy:

https://www.educandy.com/

NeoK12.com

Watching educational videos and animations is a great way to learn because it allows kids to build a visual model in their mind. 

NeoK12.com offers educational videos for school kids. NeoK12 website also features innovative tools for learning and teaching: Quiz Games, Interactive Diagrams, Flow Chart Games, Vocabulary Games and other educational games & puzzles

Visit it on:

https://www.neok12.com/

Educandy

With Educandy you can generate 8 types of engaging activities in minutes. You enter your words, questions and answers and this service turns your content into interactive games.

You can also share those games through a unique code that is generated when you create the activities.

https://www.educandy.com/

On Twitter @educandydotcom

https://twitter.com/educandydotcom

On Facebook

https://www.facebook.com/educandydotcom

App on GooglePlay

https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=air.com.educandy.student

App on the App Store

https://apps.apple.com/us/app/educandy/id1436579473

WikiWhere

This game is designed to test your knowledge about major cities and their geographical location. Players are given snippets of a Wikipedia article describing a location. Players guess the answer by placing a pin on a 3D globe.

Visit it on:

https://wiki-where.github.io/