Cookie

Wow!  Cookie is a new website I recently came across.  It is a goldmine for teachers (and parents) of young kids between the ages of 3 and 8.  It has online games, short animated videos, worksheets and stories.
They are all organized into different categories like language, math, science, puzzles and many more.
For a teacher it's a great place to quickly find a game or worksheet for students to work on a specific skill being taught.  Children can work on sequencing activities, phonics and alphabet activities, counting and math activities, personal hygiene, months of the year... a very wide array of themes.  It's worth a look!
The games are great worked on a computer alone but are also great played on a smartboard.
http://www.cookie.com/

Literactive

Here's a cool site with phonics activities and online books for young learners.  It's geared for children between the ages of 4 and 8 who are just learning to read.  A simple free registration is all it takes to access dozens of activities and guided reading books.
From the website:  The program takes the early learner on an interactive journey of exploration and learning. Starting with initial nursery rhymes, it moves through pre-reading activities, alphabet awareness, letter sounds, short vowels, CVC word blending, initial blends, long vowels and all the phonic activities critical for developing early reading skills. Scientifcially researched and teacher approved, The Road to Reading is the most comprehensive reading program available online.
The activities are fun and young children will enjoy playing with then without even knowing they are learning valuable pre-reading and reading skills.
http://www.literactive.com

Up to Ten - Boowa and Kwala

Up to Ten is an extensive web site with over 1000 educational and fun games for kids up to age 10.  Younger kids (0 - 6) can click on the Boowa and Kwala section to access lots of games, activities, songs, stories and colouring pages.  It is all very well organized so even younger students can navigate it on their own.  Older students (6-10) can access the games section where the selection isn't as extensive but still quite large.  This section has classic games, puzzles and coordination games.  Another really great thing about this site is that it is completely bilingual: English and French!  On the homepage there are three sections (Free, Premium and Teacher).  The free section is very abundant and it is not clear how to subscribe to the paying portions but, in my opinion, the free section is so extensive there is no need.

http://www.uptoten.com/

Billie Brings His Buddies - Safety Curriculum

Keeping kids safe is a constant worry.  The Canadian Centre for Child Protection has created a free program for grade one students to teach them "the buddy system".  It's complete with a lesson plan for the teacher, a letter for the parents with activities to do with their child, an online storybook and a new game to reinforce safety at Halloween.

http://kidsintheknow.ca/app/en/billy_brings_his_buddies

E-Learning for Kids

What a find!  Here is a site with dozens of games and lessons for students from kindergarten to grade six.  Subjects include the typical ones usually found on teacher websites like math, language arts and science but there are also games and lessons for life skills, environmental skills, computer skills and health.  Lots of animations grab the students' attention easily and are really fun.  It's a great resource especially for classrooms equipped with interactive whiteboards like SMART boards.  There are also lessons for english language learners.  Another neat thing about this site is that it is not only available in English but also in Dutch, Spanish, French and Portuguese. 

Website: http://www.e-learningforkids.org/index.html

Snakes and Ladders

Here's an online version of the popular Snakes and Ladders game from the BBC.  You can choose between one or two players and the players.  The players roll an online die and have to move their token the right amount of squares.  It's a great game for early elementary to practice their counting skills.  It's also fun to play on the smartboard!

http://www.bbc.co.uk/schools/numbertime/games/snakes.shtml

Mr. Nussbaum's Interactive and Educational Games

This site is simply amazing!  Mr. Nussbaum is a young teacher who created this site to help students learn while having fun.  There are flash games for the main subject areas: math, language arts, science and social studies.  In each subject there are a wide variety of topics within them.  They are really fun games that grab students' attention and help reinforce the skills without them even realizing it.  Another thing I like about the site is that it's not seperated by grade level which makes it a lot more accessible for special needs students.  I taught math in a special needs high school and my students were able to play the games without having to feel bad that they were only playing elementary games.  There is so much on this site that unfortunatley I don't have room to describe it all.  It is definitely worth a look.

http://www.mrnussbaum.com/index.html

Little Critters website

My children love the "Little Critter" books by Mercer Mayer.  I came across the official little critters page and thought it was fantastic!  There are clips of Mercer Mayer reading some of his stories, sing-a-long clips, games, colouring and more surprises.  A great resource for kindergarten or early elementary teachers especially if you are working on an author study with your little students.  The clips are also great if you happen to have a smartboard in your class because you can show the actual author reading the book- what can be better than that?  One of our favourites is "There's an Alligator Under my Bed".

http://www.littlecritter.com/

Count Us In - Math Games

Here's a site for young students who are learning basic math concepts.  There are 15 games to help children learn counting, patterns, sorting, basic addition and subtraction and other early elementary topics.  A really great find for a kindergarten or a grade 1 teacher.  Games could be played alone on the computer or even better as a class especially if used on a smart board.  The graphics are vibrant and it's really easy to use.  The site also describes other activities that the teacher could do in the class when introducing these concepts.

http://www.abc.net.au/countusin/default.htm

Sesame Street

Here's a very content rich site for younger students. There are many games and colouring pages to use with your students but what I really like about this site are all the videos. You can choose which sesame street character you want, what theme you want, what skill you want to target. There are thousands clips both old and new. I have used it in my own grade one class when I introduce a new letter. Just type in the letter in the search bar and at least a dozen clips pop up with little video segments about that letter featuring cookie monster, grover, elmo or many other characters. Fantastic resource for younger students!

My own personal favourite clip is Cookie Monster and the Mystery Box - search for it!

http://www.sesamestreet.org

Puzzlemaker

Here's a site I return to again and again. Puzzlemaker from Discovery Education is a very easy to use custom puzzlemaking site for teachers. I use the word search most often with my students' spelling words. I have also used the crossword to study definitions for different subjects. It's a great, easy tool to help make studying fun.

Website: http://puzzlemaker.discoveryeducation.com/

Free Rice Games

A website that gives students practice with math, vocabulary, geography and helps feed hungry children at the same time! FreeRice is a non-profit website run by the United Nations World Food Program. Our partner is the Berkman Center for Internet & Society at Harvard University. For every right answer a student gets 10 grains of rice are donated to feed hungry children. A great site for multiplication practice and really great for english vocabulary!

Website: http://www.freerice.com/index.php

Practical Money Skills

Visa has created a program for financial literacy for young and old. From the website: Give your students a deeper understanding of money management using a curriculum offered by Practical Money Skills. Here you’ll find lesson plans for students of all ages – from preschoolers and elementary school students to teens and college students. We also offer course materials for students with special needs. I especially like that there is a specific section for special needs students. All guides and students activities are available in PDF. There are also money games for students of all ages!

Website: http://www.practicalmoneyskills.com/