Free Edutainment Software

Free Edutainment Software

Introduction

This is a list of free entertaining yet educational software for your kids and computer, and is intended for a general (read non-computer-geek) audience I start in 2008. Most of these programs are available for the three most common operating systems, Windows, Max OS X and GNU/Linux (e.g., Ubuntu, Debian). Everything listed here is at least available for Ubuntu, and much of it is “built-in.” For Ubuntu/Debian, install these via “add/remove programs” or via “sudo apt-get install <package name(s) here>” from the command line (e.g.: sudo apt-get install stellarium stellarium-data).

This is just a tiny sample of the free educational and kid-related software available. Google is your friend.

A Word About “Free”

“Free” can mean many things, especially in the context of software. The argument is usually simplified as, “free as in beer or free as in speech.” That is, some software is free of cost, but does not allow modification. Other software may not only allow but encourage you to take it, modify it, give it away, or whatever. In-depth discussion of this issue, or why people choose to “give away” their work is out of the scope of this document. Google for “free and open source” to learn far more than you want to know about it. (In particular you can see this long discussion.)

In scope, all of the software listed here is completely free (without cost) to use on your computer, and almost all of it allows the freedom to do just about anything you want with it. Check the individual web sites for licensing details if you are not sure. And note that however you define “free” does not preclude a license to which you must agree, though most times that license is simply to guarantee the aforementioned freedoms. This is sometimes called a “copyleft” (as opposed to a copyright), see http://www.gnu.org/copyleft/gpl.html for details.

A Word about Operating Systems and Ubuntu (& Linux Mint)

Update: Use Linux Mint! It’s built on top of Ubuntu, but it’s better. From a user interface perspective it looks, feels, and work just like Windows. Some may argue that’s a bug, but I think it’s a big feature, because pretty much everyone (in the US at least) has Windows inflicted on them at some point, so it’s familiar. A single place to (wait for it) “start” is a good thing, and a logical order in such a menu, especially when it’s searchable is discoverable, easy to explain, and easy to use for beginners and experts alike.

Ubuntu is a “ distribution” of the GNU/Linux “ operating system” and is an alternative to paying Microsoft (and/or your computer dealer) lots of money to run Windows, then paying lots of other folks for all the anti-virus, anti-malware, etc. software required to protect Windows from itself. This not only wastes a lot of time and money, but the overhead of these programs make your brand-new computer run like a 486. And we’re not even going to talk about the Vista, Windows 8, Windows 11 disasters, and the arbitrary and unnecessary hardware requirements that “prevent” “upgrading” (using the term very loosely) Windows 10 to Windows 11.

If Ubuntu looks too different for you, you can run a different spin like the vaguely Mac-like Xubuntu or more the Windows-like Lubuntu or Linux Mint (which is based on Ubuntu anyway, see above).

The problem with Ubuntu is that Canonical is starting down the road to enshitification and doing too many things that smell like Microsoft. Just use Linux Mint and be happy.

As for Apple, they make nice-looking (but expensive) hardware that works well if you choose to do things exactly the way they want you to, and if you accept the associated loss of privacy, control over your own device and your own contents and their censorship. (See details.)

So take an old PC that is either too old or too malware infested to run Windows anymore, download Ubuntu or Mint (for free), and try it. It isn’t perfect, but it is constantly improving. It is not susceptible to the vast amounts of Windows malware out there, so it’s great for kids. But on the other hand, it doesn’t run programs written only for Windows (well, actually it does, using Wine, but that’s getting out-of-scope here), so custom programs for school may not work. As you’ll see if the Windows/Mac-only program won’t run on Ubuntu, there is almost certainly an alternative, which is almost always free and often (but not always) better than the Windows/Mac program it replaces.

In particular, LibreOffice (sort-of used to be OpenOffice.org, but you don’t actually care about the details) is a free replacement for MS Office that is improving all the time. It can trivially “File > Export as PDF” which is very handy and can read and write all versions of MS Office documents, though it’s not always perfect (though MS Office isn’t always that great between versions of itself either). And importantly, it looks like the “old” versions of MS Office, not like the totally new Office interface that will require a lot of re-learning things you used to know how to do.

So check out http://www.libreoffice.org/ and http://www.ubuntu.com/, http://edubuntu.org/ (for education), http://xubuntu.org/ (Mac-ish), http://lubuntu.net/ (Windows-ish) or http://linuxmint.com/ (Windows-ish).

Software we personally use

And lots more, but these are stand-outs.

LibreOffice

LibreOffice is a full office suite for documents, spreadsheets, presentations, and more. Open standards, highly compatible, completely free.

Stellarium

  • Very highly recommended.
  • Website: http://www.stellarium.org/
  • OS: GNU/Linux, macOS, Windows
  • Packages: stellarium, stellarium-data

Stellarium is a free open‑source planetarium that renders the night sky in 3D. Used in real planetariums. Set your coordinates and explore the sky.

Software for the younger kids

Childsplay

  • Highly recommended.
  • Website: http://childsplay.sourceforge.net/
  • OS: GNU/Linux, FreeBSD, Windows (98/ME/2K/XP)
  • Packages: childsplay, childsplay-plugins, childsplay-plugins-lfc

Childsplay is a suite of educational games for young children.

Gcompris

  • Highly recommended.
  • Website: http://gcompris.net/
  • OS: GNU/Linux, FreeBSD, Windows, LiveCD
  • Packages: gcompris, gcompris-data, gcompris-sound-*

GCompris is an educational suite with over 100 activities for children aged 2–10.

TuxPaint

  • Highly recommended.
  • Website: http://www.tuxpaint.org/
  • OS: GNU/Linux, macOS, Windows
  • Packages: tuxpaint, tuxpaint-config, tuxpaint-data, tuxpaint-stamps-default

Tux Paint is a free, award‑winning drawing program for children ages 3–12. It features easy controls, fun sound effects, and a friendly mascot.

Ktuberling

A “Mr. Potatohead” style toy for your computer.

TuxMath

“Tux, of Math Command” — an arcade‑style educational math game (based on Missile Command).

TuxType

“Tux Typing” is a fun typing tutor for children with multiple game types and difficulty levels.

Gperiodic

GPeriodic is an interactive periodic table with details on all 118 elements.

Other Software

Gramps

From their web site:

Gramps is a free software project and community. We strive to produce a genealogy program that is both intuitive for hobbyists and feature-complete for professional genealogists. It is a community project, created, developed and governed by genealogists.

Pencil

2D animation software.

Blender

A powerful 3D content‑creation suite: modeling, animation, video compositing, audio, and more. Complex UI; better for older kids.

Audacity

Record and edit sound.

GIMP

GIMP is the GNU Image Manipulation Program, suitable for photo retouching, composition, and image authoring. Comparable to Photoshop (different UI).

Processing

Processing is a programming environment for visual arts, animation, and interaction — used by students, artists, designers, and researchers.

Phun

Phun is an educational physics‑simulation “toy” for exploring 2D multi‑physics in a cartoon style.

Alice

Alice is a 3D programming/animation environment designed for teaching introductory programming using a drag‑and‑drop interface.

OpenTTD

OpenTTD is an enhanced, open‑source clone of Transport Tycoon Deluxe, adding many new features while preserving gameplay.