From just pure entertainment to educational games, there are zillions of free online game sites available to keep kids entertained and learning while having fun. Here are what I think are the best sites for online games (in no particular order):

gamesnogNoggin and Nick Jr

Targeted to the preschool age to 6-7 years old, Noggin and Nick Jr have adventure, dress-up, art and learning games categorized by show and also by game type and age.  All their favorite characters are represented, including Dora, Diego, Wubbzy, Kai-lan, Wonder Pets, Max & Ruby, Backyardigans, Blue’s Clues and more.

gamesupUpToTen

There are over 1,000 free games on this site categorized by age range, game type and skills being developed while playing the games. This is a very entertaining site featuring characters named Boowa & Kwala.

gamesstarStarfall

This is an excellent educational site focusing mainly on helping kids learn to read and practice reading skills. The site is set up so kids can progress from learning their letters and sounds, to putting together words and sentences, all in such a fun way, they don’t realize they’re learning at all!

gamespbsPBSKids

With games from all the PBS kids shows, this site has games a wide age range will enjoy, with varying difficulty levels.

gamesdisDisney Games

This site will appeal to kids of all ages, focusing mostly on older kids, with games from movies and TV shows. You can search for games by type, character name, and genre as well as alphbetically.

gamesyahYahoo Kids

Definitely targeted to older kids, Yahoo has lots of arcade, board & tile games, games from tv shows, word games. It’s a little more difficult to navigate than the other sites but lots of fun stuff to be found!