Kids.nationalgeographic.com - Educational Games to Play and Learn

There are many online gaming sites for children all across the Internet, but few of them have a core mission of educating children. National Geographic is one of those websites with a central goal that goes far beyond fun and games. National Geographic was founded in 1888 and is currently one of the largest non-profit organizations in the world devoted to the promotion of natural science as well as environmental conservation.

Due to the lofty goals of the National Geographic Society, it stands to reason that the website would offer far more than just arcade games and cute cartoons. In fact, this is exactly the case. National Geographic is one of the hidden educational secrets on the web, as few people are aware of the educational value of this section of the National Geographic website.

In addition to the large game area, National Geographic Kids also offers areas that teach kids about animals, offers videos about nature that kids would love, a wonderful story area filled with true nature and science stories, and other areas that offer countless educational opportunities for both educators and parents to use with children.


National Geographic Kids Main Page


National Geographic Kids provides eight major areas that children will never get bored exploring. Each of these tabs represents major individual sections of the Kids area. These sections include the following.

• Animals: An area where kids can learn about some of the most amazing animals in the world, including poison dart frogs, mountain gorillas, Bactrian camels and much more.


• Games: The games section is the largest and most popular area within National Geographic Kids. This section includes action games, interactive adventures, puzzles & quizzes, geography games and an assortment of other games for both learning and just for fun.


• Videos: This fun area offers fun, educational and sometimes wacky videos based on nature and science that kids will love to watch.


• Photos: National Geographic is famous for world-class photography, and this section of the Kids' area proves it, with photo stories including Women Pioneers, Volcanoes and The Moon as just a few examples.

National Geographic Kids Photo Section

• Activities: The activities area offers wonderful and creative projects that parents, teachers and even childcare providers can do with children.


• People & Places: This section provides children with a glimpse of other cultures and people across the world through amazing photos and stories.


• Stories: This section offers both stories and images that tell true stories about the natural world. Sections include top stories, animals & nature, people & places, science & space, history and more.

Of all of the areas, the games section is the most active and the most popular. This is because children most often come to National Geographic Kids in search of fun games. National Geographic takes advantage of this desire for fun to teach children important lessons about science and nature by combining fun with important lessons. This is clearly obvious in the Interactive Adventures section where children get to go on a real virtual adventure, and learn a few amazing facts in the process.

The Games Area - Interactive Adventures


The games are very well made and high quality. Each one features realistic graphics and fluid game play that will keep children interested and involved from start to finish. For example, in the Interactive Adventures area, children can take control of a simulated town and try to turn it into an eco-friendly community.

Eco-Town Simulation Game


Other sections of National Geographic Kids are just as interactive and fun. All of the games are very high quality compared to most other online game sites. The other area that offers the most educational value is the Geography Game section. Here, kids can take Geography quizzes to test how much they really know, or try their hand at creative and interactive games like the Crittercam: African Adventure, where they must locate and then record video of lions in northern Kenya.

Crittercam - Capture Video of Lions in Kenya


In addition to the more interactive games, there is also the puzzles & quizzes area of the National Geographic Kids website that lets children test their knowledge through very fun graphical quizzes. Examples of quizzes and puzzles here include quizzes about women of the ancient world, the Winter Olympics and bacteria.

Educational Online Quizzes


The puzzles in this area include both knowledge puzzlers as well as actual interactive jigsaw puzzles that kids can piece together based on a larger image. The images are fun and created from high resolution photographs that National Geographic is famous for, such as leaves or snowflakes.

Interactive Jigsaw Puzzles


While the children's games area is sure to keep any child occupied and learning for a long time, the other areas of National Geographic Kids are just as valuable and important. As mentioned earlier, the photo and video areas are very informative and useful, but another very large section of this site is the Activities area.

Activities to Do With Kids


The activities area is organized into its own sections, including photo fill-ins, cartoons, jokes, crafts, recipes and even fun science projects. If you're ever looking for a fun and educational activity to do with your child, this is the first place to go.

All of the sections of National Geographic Kids above offer many valuable free resources to greatly enhance the process of learning about nature and science. The website is so much fun that most children choose to visit and play there on their own. In many cases, without even realizing it, they are also learning a great deal about the natural world around them, as well as valuable and important ways to conserve it.