10 Science Online Game Collections Kids Can Play in Their Free Time

Science in particular has a great many subjects which benefit from visual models and animated examples. Furthermore, kids of nearly all ages naturally gravitate to things that resemble games since they understand and respect their mechanics and rules. Take advantage of this match made in heaven and look over these curated collections of web-based science games that kids can play at school and at home to reinforce what they are learning in class. Since science often gets less time in the limelight than subjects such as language arts and math, these games are also a great way to get in some extra practice that you may not have freedom to devote direct teaching time to.

Use the grade level categories below as a loose guide, as many of the collections also include games for adjacent grade levels!

Primary Science Websites

Turtle Diary

Over eighty games, the vast majority of which are for students pre-k through grade 2, on a surprisingly wide variety of science topics appropriate to the age group.

PBS Kids

Character themed science games about weather, gardening, ecosystems, basic physics and more.

Middle Elementary

Science Kids

Almost thirty games subdivided into three sections: living things, physical processes & solids, liquids and gases.

Sheppard Software

Twelve chemical element games, six nutrition games and fifteen more science games on various subjects.

WowScience

WowScience is a website that highlights the best primary science resources, games, videos, and activities on the web. The website has a variety of science games for kids of all ages, including games on topics such as animals, plants, the solar system, and the human body.

Upper Elementary

Mr. Nussbaum

Over thirty different science-themed games, along with instructional activities and/or videos for each one.

Middle School

NASA’s Space Place

Space, weather and tech themed games, with some videos and craft ideas in the educator section.

Legends of Learning

Earth and space science, life science and physical science games. Legends of Learning games align to national Common Core and NGSS standards for Math and Science, with thousands of games and assessment items for middle and elementary school.

Early High School

SciChamp

Free online science games for learning middle and high school Chemistry, Physics and Biology

Smithsonian Learning Lab

The Smithsonian Learning Lab puts the treasures of the world’s largest museum, education, and research complex within reach. The Lab is a free, interactive platform for discovering millions of authentic digital resources, creating content with online tools, and sharing in the Smithsonian’s expansive community of knowledge and learning.

Late High School

Science Game Center

Botany, biology, ecology, meteorology and more! The game mechanics also offer enough complexity to engage older students. Some of these games have to actually be downloaded onto your computer, so be sure to check the “Available on” part of the game profile if you only want to use web-based games.

If you’re having trouble finding what you need to support your teaching on one of these lists, try opening up Google and typing in “[[subject] or [standard]] game for [grade level]“ to find something aligned more closely to your unit.