This is a guest post by Jule-Ann Amos, freelance writer, who covers topics such as online university ratings and reviews, elearning tools, and more.

Buying educational video games for kids can be expensive, plus most parents know that kids soon get bored of the same types of games. Using the free video games available on the internet at a wide variety of websites can provide an almost limitless number of possible educational sites. The following 10 free video games are sure to be a hit with your kids, plus they will reinforce learning and development of general knowledge.

1. Map Game – offered through Kidsgamer.com, this interactive game randomly provides 21 states in profile with their names. Kids have to drag and drop the state to the right spot on the map of the USA. The game is timed with children working to improve their time score.

2. Coolmath.com – this site offers a wide range of all types of math games at different levels. Although more of a lesson and practice type site, there are some interactive games on the site designed to reinforce basic math competencies.

3. The Timernator – offered through Coolmath-games.com, this interactive game allows kids to set the difficulty of their problems in the basic math skills of addition, subtraction, multiplication and division. Students then answer as many questions as they can in one minute, with a running score on the side tallying questions and correct answers.

4. Spelldown – offered through Yahoo Kids, is a great way to make spelling fun and entertaining. This game encourages kids to spell out words at different reading levels, making it ideal for a bit of a challenge.

5. Prongo.com – a free website that has a wide variety of games broken down by ages as well as by specific subject matter. Topics include math, spelling, science, money and even logic and categorization. Games start for pre-school children and go up to kids of 12 years of age. There are two player games that allow kids to take on their friends in competitions on the site.

6. National Geographic Kids – this website is designed for older children and focuses on current issues as well as science materials. Interactive games include making a “green” city, space, learning about different countries through games and even puzzles and quizzes that are self-scoring for children.

7. Funbrain – this website really has it all when it comes to free video games and puzzles for children and young adults. Grammar, math, science and even brain teasers such as Sudoku are all found on the site. Online books are also available to encourage reading.

8. Gamequarium – perhaps more age and grade specific than many of the other free educational video and game websites, Gamequarium offers reading, math, science, as well as an area for teachers and those parents that are homeschooling. The games are designed to be both interactive but also competitive, encouraging kids to have fun but challenge themselves to improve.

9. The Problem Site – designed to teach and reinforce the concepts of logical problem solving, this site uses games to make what could be boring learning really fun. Kids can choose from puzzles and brain teasers through to word games, math, daily puzzlers and strategy games.

10. Shepherds Software – this site offers a really unique option for learning the basic spelling, math and geography but also breaks big subjects down into discrete areas. For example the geography unit is broken down by country allowing learners to just study the area they are working on. While most games have an ever increasing challenge or level there are also some games on the site designed specifically for pre-school and younger children.