It’s Friday, our kids have been back at school a week now, so with the ever-present prospect of a wet weekend ahead of us, how to distract them from Youtube and Facebook with some educational that might help them next week in school…
…so, how about a quick trawl for fun science games. It seems there are millions of sites on the web offering games and virtual toys with a scientific underpinning. Science Review Games lets you play basketball, soccer and “deal or no deal” while reviewing science topics, for instance.
The site looks a bit kludgy and quite 90s, so I suspect my kids will not be persuaded with this one, although younger children might take a look. That said, they apparently have astronomy, biology, chemistry, earth science and geology, living environment, meteorology, nature of science, and physics.
CSUN’s site, which is a sourcebook for teaching science looks even more flat and 90s styled, but provides templates for “printing off” (remember that?) that let you play science taboo, science jeopardy, science bingo, science…you get the picture.
The Science Museum in London brings the web styling almost up to date with their online games. These include the apparently popular Launchball, which has you bouncing a ping-pong around obstacles, presumably with some underlying mechanics controlling the ball’s behaviour. Building Bonanza, Cracker, Energy Flows and Energy Ninjas, Hungry Mice, and ID-fit, and half a dozen more might also provide a little wet-afternoon distraction.
The BBC has always been around for science revision and offers games for youngsters, high schoolers, and those readying themselves for curriculum-based exams. Apparently, mathematics, science, and English skills are needed for almost all their games. ELEMENTAL has the coolest logo, but it’s basically a quiz…
Speaking of which, NT Science has a whole range of crossword puzzles to entertain the scientifically minded word fan.
Given Darwin’s prominence this year, it’s no surprise that there are games around that promise to let you follow in his footsteps. This award-winning game for little kids is from Rolls Royce.
Finally, we’re big fans of ubergeek show /Bang in our house. It’s the BBC’s re-entry into the edutainment science arena without the crassness of Brainiac and without being so overbearing as some myth-busting shows. This week, there’s been a /Bang initiated test to see whether you can train your brain, which might be fun to take part in and perhaps even scientifically useful…