Best educational games and softwares for your growing kid

We're at the times when instead of forcing your kids to go outside and play, we're trying everything we can to keep them inside. Keeping them inside is not a problem but giving them something to pass the time is. If you want to give them something that is not only entertaining but educational as well then these are some softwares and games that you should introduce them to.

GCompris Educational Suite

This is a great collection of games and activities for kids aged 12 or below. I have personally tested this suite and even I found some activities to be fun. It offers activities for various training purposes, like keyboard and mouse training, arithmetic training, science concepts, memory and reasoning improvement games, etc. It is available for Windows, Linux and Android(tablet is recommended).

Get GCompris here.

Scratch

It was designed for kids of age 8-16 but is used by all age groups. If your kid is showing interest in Computers and programming then you should introduce them to this program. You don't even need to download it, there's a web versions of this software as well. You can create interactive stories, games and presentations with Scratch. It is so easy to use that I found a YouTube channel of a 11 year old kid showing how to do some amazing things with Scratch(when I was looking for some inspiration to create a challenge for a contest I was coordinating). It is available for Windows, Mac, Linux, Android and also on browser(Chrome recommended).

Get Scratch here.

TuxMath (Tux, of Math Command)

This game is inspired from a classic Arcade Game, Missile Command. In this game, comets will have arithmetic problems, typing the right answer will destroy the comet. It was originally made for Linux but seeing the popularity and reception, it was made available for Windows and Mac as well. Infact many schools use this game as a teaching tool.

Get TuxMath here.

Tux Typing

This is just like TuxMath. But instead of arithmetic equation, it will have words and letters. It is great for typing practice. Infact many adults also use it to increase their typing speed.

Get Tux typing here.