Several studies have confirmed, and many state-of-the-art schools have practically followed the idea, that learning is faster and more effective when done in ‘play’ mode — when you are not a merely spectator but an active participant. Or they simply call it learning by doing.

You may have visited many websites for fun and learning, and today let us explore one such website: http://funbrain.com.

Funbrain provides you educational games, online books and reading material including comics. Material on the website is interactive, aimed at enhancing your skills in ‘reading, math and problem solving’.

The site has been divided into Math, Reading, Fun, and Playground sections. All sections have been subdivided into various topics like Math Arcade, Connect the Dots, Reading Arcade, Log Run, etc.

Clicking Math takes you to the arcade where you give basic details like your level of skill in math and then choose a game piece, for example, TV, crown, cloud, etc. The game now starts!

In Reading section, you get a list of books to read which are quite interesting and full of illustrations keeping children’s interest in consideration. Take, for example, Diary of a Wimpy Kid, Tess’s Tree, and Camp Confidential.

I think the most fun-filled section is Playground, where many of your friends (cute animals) and will want you to play with them. Like, for turtle, you need to land it on the target three times and you win. In Croc Cannon, you need to throw fish into the mouth of hungry crocodiles; if you are successful in throwing three fish at target, that is mouth of the crocodile, you win.

While the site is quite colourful and fun-filled, it lacks the simplicity suitable for children. It becomes quite complicated as you move on from page to page. In other words, navigation is not easy and one has to go through much description which comes in way of enjoying the contents fully. The site is for children; its navigation should also be child-friendly. No?

The rest is for exploration by you. Happy browsing!— Aamir Raz Soomro