When discussing children being allowed online, many parents cringe in fear at the thought of their little angels having access to all the internet has to offer. I agree that this is a normal worry to have, but my daughter has been allowed online for years, since she was able to hold a mouse and move on the computer without help. I think she was maybe 3, the first time she accessed the internet. Now granted, I am not saying not to monitor your children, but allowing them online is a good thing. Here is my list of kid safe websites that along with a bit of parental common sense can open a wonderful door for your child to learn and explore. I have three categories for you some are free, some are pay to play, and others need a download.

Free Sites: Many free kids websites are based off their favorite television shows.

PBS KIDS: Gotta love wholesome PBS programming. My daughter is now obsessed with Wild Kratts and Odd Squad, but many more wonderful characters await on their website. The have games, videos, and much more. You can even register your kids an account so they don't lose their game progress (especially on the Wild Kratts game, it makes you start all over, or so I have been told). http://pbskids.org/

Nick Jr: Who didn't grow up with face and classic Nick Jr.? Boy, oh boy, are you missing out. Anyways, check out nick jr. for your kids current favorite characters. They have tons of games and videos for hours of entertainment. http://www.nickjr.com/

Disney Jr: The classic Disney kids website with all your little ones favorite characters. They can watch videos, play games, and have fun. http://disneyjunior.disney.com/

Funbrain Jr. and Funbrain: The Jr. edition is for children ages 2-6. Younger children may need guidance or help navigating the site, but there is lots of fun games, printables, and learning tools. The original Funbrain is for children ages 6+ who already have computer skills and can navigate on their own for an epic learning adventure. http://www.funbrainjr.com/ and http://www.funbrain.com/

Kids Dinos: Are your little ones obsessed with these prehistoric creatures. Well, instead of never knowing what a T-Rex ate or how tall a Brontosaurus is, your kids can find the answers themselves. Kids Dinos has a large collection of dinosaur fact pages, dinosaur games, dinosaur coloring to print, and much more. http://www.kidsdinos.com/

Brain Pop Jr. (K-3rd) and Brain Pop (3rd+): Very similar to the funbrain family, these two sites are also amazing learning tools. Your children are exposed to a myriad of subjects including: math, science, reading, writing, social studies, health, arts, and technology. As younger children, they will use the Jr. edition of the site. When older, they can move up to the original site for even more learning opportunities. https://jr.brainpop.com/ and https://www.brainpop.com/

ABCya: A vast learning website for kids up to 5th grade. Parents can purchase an ad-free option if their little ones are known to click the ads, personally, we have never needed to go ad free. http://abcya.com/

Doodlely: A really cool virtual sketchpad where kids can sign up with parent help and login to create and save all their virtual drawings. *Facebook or Twitter account required to save/publish drawings. http://doodle.ly/

Friv: For older children, a gaming platform, with hundreds of free to play online games. Does not save game progress if browser cache gets wiped. http://www.friv.com/

Paid Sites: I have three awesome paid kids sites for you to check out. Many of them do have some stuff that is free, but overall the memberships are inexpensive enough you could purchase all three.

Jumpstart: Now, when you purchase Jumpstart, your kids get access to jumpstart, mathblaster, and 4 downloadable games. I think this is a lot for the small price tag. You have 4 purchase options, but the lifetime membership at $129.99 is an epic deal. My daughter has been a lifetime member for about 2 years now and she is always on jumpstart checking fish, following science ants, feeding her pet mythie, and so much more. The companies other websites are free to play, but also have a membership with a separate fee. http://www.jumpstart.com/

ABCmouse: Practically everyone has seen the commercials for this one. This is a great preschool program. The first grade is unlocked, but my daughter found it a bit lacking. It was stuff she had already learned or knew. She still uses the site for her hamsters and fish tank. Loves the pets, my girl does. http://www.abcmouse.com/

Starfall: This is an amazing reading program. I purchased the pack of books and that is how my girl learned to read. The website is great. For a small yearly fee, your kids get access to a full reading program, math program, and so much more. Some of the site can be accessed for free, but a lot of it is locked to non-members. *This program is currently aligned to common core. http://www.starfall.com/

Downloads: I actually have two super safe kids only downloads for you. Both are free to download, but may require payment to unlock extra features.

Zoodles: This is a completely kid safe playground full of fun games and learning activities. The system is set up like a kid mode browser and can be downloaded and added to many devices. They do have a premium version where parents can unlock more features. http://www.zoodles.com/

Zac Browser: Originally intended for children with autism, this kid safe browser is a wonderful way to introduce young children to the joys of the computer while knowing they stay perfectly safe. They have a pay what you want approach, so you download for free and if you love the software, you can pay to support their progress. They are currently about to beta the new version 5, so downloads are disabled on the main site. https://zacbrowser.com/ To download version 1 (last stable release) go here: http://zac-browser.software.informer.com/1.5/

I hope you enjoyed my list of kids websites and have learned about something new for your children to enjoy playing games on.