Yesterday I facilitated a marvelous PLC (Professional Learning Community) comprised of First Grade Teachers. It was a great day! So….in honor of my first grade PLC teachers…today I am sharing some links that are particularly suitable for younger students. The following web links feature games and activites that could be used in learning centers or during computer time for integration in the lower grades (alphabetically listed):

1. ABCD Watermelon- students can practice their alphabet in a colorful, fun way.
2. ABC Ya! – a marvelous portal of diverse games/activites suitable for younger students.
3. Alphabet Game - preschoolers will click on a button beside a letter of the alphabet to see just what words start with that letter. Have them say each letter, recognize the picture, and then say the word that begins with that letter.
4. American Girl - young girls will enjoy the many games and activities on this site.
5. Bob the Builder - you will find interactive games as well as coloring activities and puzzles at this site.
6. Base Ten Blocks - fun and engaging math games for students K-2 using base 10 blocks.
7. Carve a Pumpkin - preschool students get a chance to carve their very own pumpkins–online, that is… Drag and drop the various face parts to create your own individualized pumpkins; Java required.
8. Clifford’s Interactive Storybooks - this site provides phonics fun for early readers. There are also several fun games featuring Clifford.
9. Comparing Groups - preschoolers will compare equal quantities and reinforce their counting skills with this online game, where they must drag one group of objects to correctly match another group containing the same amount of items.
10. Count the Pink Bunnies - young children love animated stories, and this site provides a spring or Easter story online–all about pink bunnies. Preschool students can count them and watch them hop around doing all kinds of animal antics.
11. Count Your Chickens! – cute math game for grades 1-2. Animal sounds and numbers are spoken. Student is told when correct.
12. Dance Mat Typing - build keyboarding foundational skills in a fun and interactive way!
13. Dinosaur Hatch and Match - very cute–your preschoolers will love this hatch and match game, where they click on two eggs to see if they have made a match. Audio aids assist the visuals for match-ups.
14. Disney Online - oh the Wonderful World of Disney! Wonderful, colorful games, videos, and movies can be accessed at this site (yes, there are ads, but the activities outway the advertising)
15. GameGoo – these games will help students develop early reading and language skills.
16. Gifts and Numbers Game - preschool students will get plenty of keyboard practice, along with number recognition. They must guess which box contains the hidden star, type in their number, and check to see if they’re right. Six guesses are allowed for each game.
17. Internet 4 Classrooms - this site features a marvelous selection of interactive activities develped to address first grade curriculum.
18. I Spy - this is a fun online preview of the program I Spy created by Scholastic. Check out some of the other activities while you are there.
19. Jazee Bear Games - check out the A-Z activity, the memory game, jigsaw puzzle and more.
20. KidPsych – young students will love these interactive web adventures.
21. Knowledge Adventure - a portal of fun and interactive games for younger students.
22. K-Ship 1 – take a marvelous ship ride to knowledge…many science activities for younger students…an excellent site for the little explorers in your life.
23. LearningPlanet.com: Alphabet Action - students can use this site to practice letter recognition.
24. Lego Games - Lego offers this set of online memory games to help preschoolers with both observation and memory skills. Each set of games is themed–select from jungle, polar, or action wheelers games.
25. Lil’ Fingers: ABC Mommy & Me - young students can practice upper/lower case letter recognition using this site.
26. LiteracyCenter.net - this cute site gives students an opporunity to practice upper and lower case letters, writing, words, keyboarding skills, and more.
27. A Musical Story - Maria finds a barnyard chorus to sing “Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star” with in this online story and song. Students will click on the arrows to continue.
28. Name that President - who was the first President to live in the White House? Which American President has his image on both the one dollar bill, and on the twenty-five cent coin? Whose picture appears on the twenty dollar bill? How well do you know your American Presidents? Find out here, along with a bit of interesting trivia for each one.
29. Snowman Construction Kit - if you don’t live in a region that receives plenty of snowfall, you can still have fun building your own snowman–online. This snowman kit offers all the deluxe options–select your body, clothing, and various sundry items to create and dress your ideal snowman.
30. Spin Those Letters - here is a resource to help young students learn how letters are formed. Spinner the Spider will draw the letters of the alphabet for you, showing correct formation. Your students can also practice along online with Spinner, by clicking on the 2nd URL above; choose the thick lead pencil size for preschoolers.
31. Starfall.com - young students can learn to read with these fun online activities.
32. Switchzoo – in this super cool online zoo students will be able to switch the animals’ heads, legs and tails to make new creatures.
33. Two Halves Make a Whole - watch the beach scene come alive as students click and drag the corresponding half of an item in the picture to create a whole. The entire scene will animate once all items have been correctly matched.
34. What’s Changed? – journey back in time one hundred years and spot which items should not be in the picture. Students must click on five objects; a talking teddy bear guides them through the journey and offers topics for further discussion.
35. Who Am I? – choose a number between one and twenty to hear an audio file of an animal sound. Then, in the drag down menu students must correctly identify and match the sound to the animal–number eight sure had me stumped for awhile!

I’m grateful to my Twitter friends and readers for sharing the following additional sites…

1. Dolch Word - this site features lots of free online games, flashcards and printables to help students learn the Dolch sight words.
2. PBS Kids – the name says it all…a great site I missed in my original post. Thanks FaizaK!