5 Fun Online Games that Disguise Important Lessons

Of all the impact education technology can have in the classroom, it is at its most powerful when students are enjoying themselves so much they don’t even realize they are learning! These brilliant online games each help students learn about important new skills, issues or ideas, but they are guaranteed to enjoy themselves at the same time!

1. Immune Attack

An incredibly exciting and addictive game from the Federation of American Scientists, which students will never want to stop playing! Players navigate a ‘nanobot’ through the inside of the human body, exploring an environment of 3D blood vessels and connective tissue with the goal of saving an ailing patient. Alongside the excitement of the game itself, students will learn about the biological processes that enable macrophages and neutrophils – white blood cells – to detect and fight infections.

2. Logic Puzzles

This great game (along with the many others hosted free on the same website) teaches students to use logic and reason to solve a problem about a mix up with pet adoption. Only by working logically through the information provided and using a process of elimination will students be able to complete the puzzle, thereby honing extremely important problem-solving skills as they go along.

A particularly useful feature of the site for teachers is that the puzzles can be printed off as worksheets, making them a great classroom activity whether computers are available or not.

3. World Landmarks Puzzles

This fun, free site boasts a simple but brilliant idea – it turns famous landmarks from around the world into jigsaw puzzles. With three levels of difficulty, it can be used with students of varying ages, and each puzzle comes with key facts and interesting information about each landmark and the country it is found it, meaning that students are learning about culture and geography whilst having fun completing the puzzles!

4. English Memory

Suitable for younger children learning to expand their vocabulary, this simple card matching game has all the features of a traditional game of ‘memory’. But while kids enjoy challenging themselves to match the pairs and remember the placement of different pictures, they are actually learning about important linguistic constructs such as synonyms, antonyms and homonyms, as the game requires them to match words that mean the same as, or opposite of one another.

5. Element Groups

Great for budding scientists and useful in K12 chemistry lessons, this great series of games allows students to play and have fun whilst learning about the properties and groups of elements in the periodic table. With diagrams to help students link what they are learning to the periodic table and different levels and options, the game can be customized to different levels of student ability. Useful scientific information is displayed alongside as the student progresses.

Which educational games do you find most useful in the classroom? Share your fun online games and tips with other educators below!

Feature Image courtesy of Flickr, Helga’s Lobster Stew. Image 1 courtesy of Flickr, GreenFlames09. Image 2 courtesy of Flickr, wilhelmja. Image 3 courtesy of Flickr, schoschie.