Maths on line- interactive sites

Today I went looking for fun interactive activities for children to learn about maths on line.   I thought it would be helpful to save my findings here for any other parents who are looking for the same kinds of materials and to remind myself and my kids what sites are fun for them to visit.  If you have any other sites to add to this post please post them in comments and I will take a look at them.

The BBC UK has an interesting site with an activity and a quiz for- shapes, measurement, and number.  Some of the topics include decimals, problem solving,  subtraction, the number system, fractions, division, multiplication,  addition.  The money problems work in pounds and pence so maybe are not so useful if you are not from the UK (but great if you are soon to visit there).  Initially some of the activities take a while to load (maybe that’s just our computer?) but they are quite sound activities when they are all systems go.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/schools/ks2bitesize/maths/activities/shapes.shtml

http://www.bbc.co.uk/schools/ks2bitesize/maths/number.shtml

Superkids http://www.superkids.com/aweb/tools/math/  helps you to generate your own worksheets and is full of inspiring quotes and brainfood!

Funbrain  http://www.funbrain.com/kidscenter.html has levels for the interactive activities, easy, hard, medium and superbrain, some of the topics in Funbrain are fractions, measure it- and there are some activities that are applied maths like working out how to tip a penguin, as well as problems of working out area and perimeter.  For those who like their music as well as maths there is a piano player game ( http://www.funbrain.com/notes/index.html)  You can also search games for an age level match.  Unlike the BBC site it doesn’t explain things to you but its good reinforcement practice when you have learnt something and want loads of practice at it.

An Australian site with plenty of interactive games, but the added bonus of a maths dictionary is Jenny Eather’s Rainforest Maths http://www.rainforestmaths.com/

Well that’s all to log for my searches today- I think the kids and I will check these sites out for a while and see how we go.  I am going to ask them to rate the sites in different areas, usefulness, fun, time to download, enjoyment etc. 

Like any online learning it’s also great for it to be backed up by learning by other modes, chatting with parents, hands on maths, and reading and puzzles.