favorite FREE online games for learning to read?

[elizawill]

okay...besides starfall, literactive, and paid reading sites.... i'm looking for free online fun games my little boy can play. also, i'm not just looking for a list of links (i've got that already)...i want your tried and true favorites! kid tested and approved, ykwim? for example, my little boy loves between the lions here http://pbskids.org/lions/games/ and he enjoys several of the other PBS games.

do your kids have a favorite? my little boy asked me to find more games, so i thought i'd ask here in hopes you all might have a website we've never heard about or tried before.

TIA!

[ancoda]

These are not really games, but my almost 5 year old is in love with doing progressive phonics with me. If you have never looked into it I think it is worth it. www.progressivephonics.com

[elizawill]

thanks we actually have a reading curriculum & readers already (although we did use progressive phonics some last year & it is very good). i was hoping more for online fun games to simply reinforce what he was learning. he plays games a lot at PBS, but had asked me to find more for him. a friend recommended zoodles.com to me & he's been enjoying that today...so that's good! it should keep him busy

[AAK]

We love toy theater: http://www.toytheater.com/math.php

Each kid has their favorites at this site. It seems to span from preschool stuff all the way to later elementary stuff. So, it is my overall fav because it isn't flashy and has something for everyone.

Amy

ETA: I didn't notice that you were wanting reading. . .toy theater has a reading tab, but we like the math tab better which is why I linked you to it. The reading seems to be not quite reading--just exploring with letters etc.

[Lillian J]

This isn't tested, but you might want to take a look:

Make Beliefs Comix - create a comic strip


Lillian

[elizawill]

thanks for the suggestions. lillian, the comic strip site should be a huge hit with my daughter & son combined....they love to work together & create comic strips! thank you!

[AngelBee]

[Treece]

I know this is an old posting, but I would like to add that we use Zoodles which is an addon to your browser or smart phone. It creates a safe environment for kids to explore. Since I put this on Firefox, my 3 yo has learned many letters, numbers, colors, and shapes. He is also exploring same and different. I believe this has enriched his life