Ben Franklin Elementary PTA

PTA Summer Resources

Free Local Activities 

Free Library Resources 

***must have King County Library System (KCLS) library card*** 

  • Free Museum and Park Tickets - Book online to receive free tickets to the Seattle Aquarium, Washington State History Museum, MoPop, Museum of Flight, KidsQuest Children’s Museum, Bellevue Arts Museum, Rhododendron Species Botanical Gardens, MOHAI, and Washington State Park Pass 
  • Kanopy - Stream thousands of films for free
  • Library "A - Z" Resources - List of all the free library resources available with your library membership 
  • Library Kids Website - Find digital and print content to read, watch, listen to, and learn with
  • Overdrive - Kids can enjoy free online books
  • Libby - The library reading app. Borrow ebooks, audiobooks, magazines, and more from your local library for free!
  • Tumblebook Library - Watch video storybooks and read-alongs. For readers in grades K-6, including some in Spanish and French

Summer Reading Programs

  • Mrs. Clawson's Recommendations - King County Library summer reading fun shared by our wonderful librarian Mrs. Clawson
  • King County Library Summer Reading Program 
  • Scholastic Summer Reading Program - The Scholastic Summer Reading program offers kids an exciting, free, and safe summer reading experience, keeping every child reading
  • Barnes & Nobles Kids Reading Program - Kids read 8 books (any book, no purchase required), return completed summer reading journal to a B&N store in July or August, and receive one free book (per kid) from the Barnes & Noble List  
  • Camp Book It! Summer Reading - Parents set goals, track reading and reward their students, all in a digital dashboard. Kids can earn a free personal pan pizza
  • Half Price Books - Sign up to become an official HPB Summer Reading Camper.  Plus, visit you local HPB to receive a copy of your camper’s Reward Map, plus information on how to earn $5 Bookworm Bucks in June and July!

Online Games

  • ABCya - Educational games and apps
  • CBeebies - Preschooler games, clips, songs, and things to make with your favorite CBeebies characters
  • Design Squad Nation - Engineering and science activities, games, videos, and blogs from real engineers
  • The Octonauts - Games that take you on a dive deep into the ocean to explore, rescue, and protect the creatures who live there
  • PBS Kids - Games with your PBS Kids favorites like Pinkalicious, Molly of Denali, Daniel Tiger, and Dinosaur Train
  • Peep and the Big Wide World - Fun math and science games, videos, and activities with Peep and his friends
  • Sesame Street - Educational games, videos, and coloring pages with Elmo, Cookie Monster, Abby Cadabby, Big Bird, and more!
  • ABCmouse - Available with KCLS library card. Over 9,000 interactive books, educational games, puzzles, and other learning activities for children ages 2-8.
  • Arcademics
  • TurtleDiary
  • Tang Math - Improve math fluency through games, puzzles, and online manipulatives

YouTube Favorites

  • NASA - NASA's mission is to pioneer the future in space exploration, scientific discovery and aeronautics research
  • NatGeo Kids - explore your world with weird, wild, and wacky videos! Videos featuring awesome animals, cool science, funny pets, and more, are made just for curious kids like you.
  • PBS Kids - PBS KIDS is committed to making a positive impact on the lives of children through curriculum-based media, using new and traditional platforms to support children in their acquisition of knowledge and critical thinking skills while empowering their imagination and curiosity of the world.
  • Science Channel - Learn about outer space, leading scientific exploration, new technology, earth science basics, & more with science videos & news from Science Channel
  • SciShow Kids / SciShow - Join Jessi, Mister Brown, Squeaks the Robot Lab Rat, and all their friends at the Fort as they conduct experiments, research new questions, and talk with experts to learn about the science-filled world around us
  • CrashCourse Kids / CrashCourse - A look at Earth, Habitats, Space, Chemical Reactions, Engineering, and much much more
  • The Sci Guys - A group of friends creating Science YouTube videos to educate everyone young and old about the wonderful and exciting world of science.
  • Science Max - Science experiments to the max!
  • Numberock - animated, educational songs for kids that make math learning more fun!
  • Amoeba Sisters - two sisters on a mission to demystify science with humor and relevance by creating free videos, GIFs, handouts, resources, and comics

TV Show Favorites

  • Ask The Storybots - Does your child love to ask lots of questions? Ask The Storybots just might have the answer
  • Emily's Wonder Lab - Science-loving host Emily Calandrelli makes STEAM fun with activities, demonstrations and at-home experiments that'll make you think and blow your mind!
  • Our Planet - Science-and nature-based show that looks at the natural beauty of Earth and the ways in which climate change affects living creatures.
  • Operation Ouch! - Kids interested in medicine and biology will be interested in Operation Ouch! Experiments and hospital visits are the primary means of delivering information about medical science
  • Brainchild - Geared toward tweens. The show investigates science - from social media to germs, to neuroscience, this show is geared to answer the types of questions that kids come up with
  • Project MC2 - Strong female leads use their STEM knowledge to solve mysteries. The series is most appealing to tweens and older
  • Oh Yuck! - Dr. Yuck and friends explore the science between the things that make us say "Oh Yuck!" This show uses cartoons, live, action, and humor to teach kids about the more squeamish parts of science - mucus, fungus, spiders, and more
  • The Magic School Bus and The Magic School Bus Rides Again - Ms. Frizzle and her class go on many adventures - inside the human body, to outer space, into the ocean, and more.
  • If I Were An Animal - Aimed toward the preschool set. Main characters Emma and Tim make observations of various animals through their life-cycles
  • Earth To Luna - Luna is a scientist, and her brother Jupiter and pet Clyde join her in exploring nature on Earth to Luna. In this show, Luna learns about why stars twinkle, banana seeds, color theory, insect communication, gravity, flotation, and many other topics sure to inspire the early childhood audience
  • Sid The Science Kid -  A fun show that takes kids on a journey with the scientific method in a way that's accessible to preschoolers and early elementary students
  • Numberblocks - Numberblocks is a step-by-step learning journey grouped neatly into five colour-coded levels. Each level introduces ever greater numbers and a sequence of key topics and skills that help your child build natural number sense and a solid foundation of mathematical understanding. Geared towards preschoolers and early elementary students 

Podcast Recommendations

  • Stories Podcast - A Free Children's Story Podcast for Bedtime, Car Rides, and Kids of All Ages!
  • Million Bazillion - Million Bazillion is a podcast about money for kids and their families from Marketplace and Brains on! Subscribe wherever you get podcasts.
  • Wow In the World - Join hosts Guy Raz and Mindy Thomas on a journey away from your screens, inside your brain, out into space, and deep into the coolest new stories in science, technology, and innovation.
  • Twenty Thousand Hertz -  The stories behind the world's most recognizable and interesting sounds.
  • Circle Round - Created and produced by parents of young children, WBUR's Circle Round adapts carefully-selected folktales from around the world into sound- and music-rich radio plays for kids ages 4 to 10. Each 10- to 20-minute episode explores important issues like kindness, persistence and generosity. And each episode ends with an activity that inspires a deeper conversation between children and grown-ups.
  • Smash Boom Best - Smash Boom Best is a debate show for kids and families from the makers of the award-winning podcast, Brains On! Every episode takes two cool things, smashes them together and lets you decide which is best. Our debaters use facts and passion to make their case -- teaching listeners how to defend their own opinions along the way.

App Recommendations

  • Stack the States - Stack the States® makes learning about the 50 states fun! Watch the states actually come to life in this colorful and dynamic game!
  • Libby - The library reading app. Borrow ebooks, audiobooks, magazines, and more from your local library for free!

Math Book Recommendations

The following books will guide you, step-by- step, as you teach your child to understand and memorize math facts. Hands-on activities, fun games your child will love, and simple practice pages help young students remember math facts for good.

Math Resources

  • Tang Math - Improve math fluency through games, puzzles, and online manipulatives
  • Zearn - Learning with Zearn helps math make sense. Students explore math through pictures, visual models, and real-life examples — and it's free!
  • Prodigy - Prodigy offers an engaging in-game experience while students practice important math skills required for their grade level. Students answer skill-building math questions in an engaging online environment. Free version available

ELA Resources

  • Storynory - FREE audio stories for kids, including fairytales, original stories, myths, poems, music, history and audiobooks all read beautifully by professionals
  • Tumblebook Library - Watch video storybooks and read-alongs. For readers in grades K-6, including some in Spanish and French 
  • Overdrive - Kids can enjoy free online books using their King County library card
  • Libby - The library reading app. Borrow ebooks, audiobooks, magazines, and more from your local library for free!

Science Resources

Curriculum Resources

  • Khan Academy -  A non-profit educational organization that provides free video tutorials and interactive exercises. The Academy's declared mission is “changing education for the better by providing a free world-class education to anyone anywhere."
  • Generation Genius - A K-8 teaching resource that brings school math and science standards to life through fun and educational videos paired with lesson plans, activities, quizzes, reading material and more. Try it free before purchasing
  • Fishtank Learning -  Provides free K-12 math and ELA curriculum

    Typing Resources

    Coding Resources

    • Code.org - Code.org® is an education innovation nonprofit dedicated to the vision that every student in every school has the opportunity to learn computer science as part of their core K-12 education
    • Scratch - Scratch is a free programming language and online community where you can create your own interactive stories, games, and animations