The best online classes for kids

ABCMouse.com is essentially elementary school right in your living room. The site's 9,000+ activities and full curriculum—math, science, reading and art—keeps students engaged, and their good grades are proof. Subscriptions are $9.95 per month and new users are entitled to receive the first month for free. Ages 2–8. 

The Khan Academy is one of the most comprehensive educational resources in the world, with free online courses that address essentially every topic a student could encounter from Pre-K to 12th grade. Choose from interactive math tutors to video lectures that make history come alive. Ages 3-18.

The "Nation's Attic" has excellent online resources for students of all ages. The Smithsonian's "Fun Stuff for Kids Online" includes videos, readings, DIY projects and interactive games. The activities are super entertaining, and super educational—who wouldn't want to play Disaster Detector?

In a world where everything is going digital, kids can stay on top of their game thanks to CodeWizardsHQ. Live online classes teach students how to code and feel confident in a virtual environment. Ages 8–18.

FUN@HOME from BreakoutEDU is a collection of educational digital games that are perfect for when school is canceled. The K-12 activities seamlessly incoroprate comprehension, math and science in interactive videos. Ages 3-18.

Scholastic created Learn at Home, an online curriculum for students in grades Pre-K to 6—and made it free for all to use. A five-day program of lessons will be posted every week starting Monday, March 16. There are texts to read, videos to watch, questions to answer and interactive activities. Why not reach out to other families who are also following Scholastc's Learn at Home, and let the kids video chat about the day's lessons? No registration is required, although you might need to sign up for a free trial of one of the book readers depending on the course. Ages 3-13.

The Smithsonian Learning Lab is a free resource that gives your little scientist access to easy-to-use tools to explore ideas and create projects. Browse the Learning Lab's for than 6,000 "collections," from "Air and Space" Can It Fly?," to an examination of Brown v. Board of Education, to a design camp for 9-10 year-olds that teaches you how to make a robot. Ages 3-18.

The Exploratorium, San Francisco's legendary science funhouse, offers everything from videos to a digital library to a sellection of DIY projects called "The Tinkering Studio." Ages 3-18.

Spanish, French, Arabic, Greek—those are several of the options Duolingo provides for little linguists. Through a series of challenges, kids 10 and up work to earn points and increase their skill levels, as they would in a typical game, only with Duolingo, they're learning a new language in the process. The newly launched app, Duolingo ABC focuses on a younger set (ages 3–6) who are just uncovering the basics of reading and writing. 

Looking to provoke creative thinking? Then fire up TED Ed, which is aimed at students of all ages. These short videos are just as thought-provoking and counterintuitive as the full-grown TED, with added interactive features such as quizzes, further readings and discussion boards.

BrainPOP is a part of the curriculum of many schools, and it's easy to see why: The instruction is clear, but the interactive activities are so much fun your kid won't know that learning is the point. BrainPOP is also available in Spanish and French. Ages 3-18.

www.mysteryscience.com is a popular resource for elementary school teachers, and is making its most popular science lessons free for all users during the school closures of 2020. Log on and learn! Ages 3-10.

These free at-home games from School of Wonder let children take an adventure and use their imaginations and creativity to solve challenges. The first Wonder Mission is a road trip across America that's full of mystery and discover–and that takes 6 hours to complete. Ages 4-10.

Videos, readings, awesome quizzes: This free resource from National Geographic Kids has it all. It covers every topic in the universe, literally! From sharks to Presidents to planets, this site will delight the little ones. All ages.

Sawyer, the Brooklyn-based resource for kiddo enrichment is also a marketplace for online classes. Check out their expanding offerings from local businesses. All ages.

Wix, the DIY website platform, now has Wix Education, a comprehensive tutorial on how to build your own website with family-friendly instruction—because we all know that the kids are better at the internet than you are. Wix Education is free and requires an adult to register; pricing varies for building and hosting the website.

An online educational resource, PBS Learning Media includes videos, galleries and interactive pages that will engage and stimulate young minds. All ages.

There are more than 1,300 free online courses at Open Culture, a compendium of web-based learning. Many are geared toward an older audience; familes with younger students should head to the K-12 page for age-appropriate material. Ages 3-18.

An oldie but a goodie, the Old Farmer's Almanac has an online Kids edition with the weather, phases of the moon, question of the day and other delightful factoids and trivia. All ages.

Suited to younger learners in Pre-K through 3rd Grade, Starfall has countless activities that promote reading skills and mathematical literacy. You can access some of the offerings for free, or you can get a membership and take advantage of the full range of lessons. Ages 3-8.

The New York Public Library now offers free one-on-one virtual tutoring in a partnership with Brainfuse, the online teaching resource. All you need to access a session is a library card.

The free after-school homework help for K-12 students is available for a wide range of subjects, from mathematics and reading, to Spanish and Mandarin, to essay workshops. You can also access videos, activities, writing labs, and other programs 24 hours a day, as well as tutoring via chat from 2–11pm seven days a week in both English and Spanish.

Members of the Association of Zoos and Aquariums are taking their elephants, cheetahs, sharks and other magnificent beasts online! Simply go to the AZA's Zoo and Aquarium Videos and Activities page and you will get a calendar with links to hundreds of events going on at zoos and aquariums all around the United States and Canada. 

Now you can watch zookeeper talks, catch storytime with animals, go on tours and take part in animal meet-and-greets with just a couple of clicks. It's like having all the creatures of the world in your living room!

Just because you're staying in doesn't mean an end to storytime! From the Brooklyn Public Library taking its readings to Facebook, to live demonstrations by famous picture-book authors, to a large selection of many of the greatest actors of our time reading some of the best books for kids, to powerful personalities (Michelle Obama! Dolly Parton! Julie Andrews!)you can have an amazing storytime for kids right at home.

Any parent will tell you: Kids need to keep active! That holds true even when you're staying indoors. These online fitness classes will get the kiddos moving, and they're so much fun you might just join in! After the heart rates drop, why not check out these virtual zoos and aquariums, or J.K. Rowling's new online Harry Potter experience? From virtual storyimes to online kids' museums, there's so much you can do with a couple of clicks of a mouse.

Turn your living room into your own personal performing arts studio with New Victory Arts Break, a free online series from the New Victory Theater. Each week explores a particular art form, with daily activities that lets you bring performance into your homeschool learning through a series of videos and instructions. These demonstrations by New Victory Teaching Artists is more than fun for the family—it's a part of an effort to keep the city's artists employed. From clowning to magic tricks to juggling, these activities are just what we need at a time like this. Ages 4-10.

Learn a new musical number every week with Sing and Dance at Home with Tada! Check out the website of Tada! Original Youth Theater to find lyrics, plus videos with warmups, instruction and step-by-step choreography. Soon your little broadway stars will be putting on a show for you at home!