The Peabody blog
How kids learn through play, and how an adaptive engine keeps up with them
Technical, science-based guides from Peabody (peabody.kids), a free AI-driven adaptive learning platform for kids. How the practice brain picks the next question, what the research on games and learning says, how stories are written at your child's level, how it all stays safe, and what helps a little learning happen every day.
How free kids' websites make money from your child (we checked 167)
We opened 167 free kids' sites like a child would. 75 contacted ad networks on the first visit and 33 contacted data brokers. What that means, and how to check.
Riddles for kids, with answers: twenty to read aloud and guess
Twenty riddles for kids with answers, from easy first guesses to harder ones. How to read them aloud, give a hint, and turn guessing into a family game.
The top 50 sites and tools for kids, sorted by what a child is learning
Fifty websites and free tools for kids, sorted by reading, math, science, coding, art, typing and more. What each one is for, and what to check before a child signs in.
Free games for boys and girls: pick by what your child likes, not by gender
Free games for boys and girls on Peabody, sorted by what a child likes to do: running, building, animals, drawing and cooking. No sign-up, and no games split by gender.
Jokes and riddles for kids to read aloud, plus a new joke every day
Clean jokes and riddles for kids to read aloud, with answers. Then a joke-of-the-day book on Peabody that is read aloud, free and fine for a child.
Dinosaur games for kids: a free runner that makes you answer to keep going
Free dinosaur games for kids on Peabody: Dino Dash, a runner where you jump the cacti and tap the right answer at each sign. What it teaches.
Color by number for kids: free, on the screen or printed, with a math twist
Free color by number for kids on Peabody. In the Art Studio, each shape has a small sum, and the right answer picks the colour. Or print the page and colour it by hand.
Easy lunch and breakfast ideas kids can make (mostly) by themselves
Breakfast and lunch ideas for kids, grouped by age, that a child can make with a grown-up only for the hot and sharp parts. Each one has a free step-by-step recipe.
Cooking with kids by age: what they can do, and what stays a grown-up's
Cooking with kids from 3 to 12: the jobs that fit each age, the steps a grown-up keeps, and the kitchen safety rules for kids, with the sources named.
Kitchen math: how halving and doubling a recipe teaches fractions
Math in cooking, with real amounts. How halving and doubling a recipe teaches fractions, measuring cups as fraction tools, and what fits each grade.
Nut-free, allergy-friendly snacks kids can make themselves
Nut free snacks for kids that they can make, most of them no-bake. The nine major allergens, simple swaps, label reading, and what a recipe can't promise.
I built a free reading and math site for my own kids. Here's what it does.
Why a parent built Peabody: free stories at your child's reading level, math and reading games, printables, no sign-up. What it does, what it doesn't, what it costs.
Screen time limits on every device: a parent's guide
How to set time limits, app limits, content filters and purchase approvals on phones, tablets, consoles, TVs and Wi-Fi, which layer to set first, and a schedule.
A family screen agreement: a template you can fill in together
A plain-language family screen agreement to fill in with your child: blanks for time, places, apps, people, money and consequences, plus how to review it.
Screen time setup checklist: one page to print and tick off
A one-page screen time checklist for parents: list the devices, set each layer, lock the passcodes, set the schedule, then review weekly. Print it and tick it off.
Screen time rules by age: starting sheets for ages 0 to 17
Starting screen time rules for ages 0 to 17: how much time, what content and access, which settings to use, and what changes as the child grows.
Screen time and internet time by age: a guide with a table
How much screen time and internet time kids should have at each age, with a table, the reasons behind the numbers, and what to check besides the clock.
The 10 learning tools kids use most, measured
The 10 learning tools families and classrooms use most for kids, ranked by September 2026 visits from Semrush and Similarweb, and what each one asks of a parent.
The 20 most-visited kids' websites, measured
The 20 websites built for kids that families visit most in 2026, ranked by September visits from Semrush and Similarweb, with what each one is.
Teachable Machine for kids: a parent and teacher walkthrough
How to use Google's Teachable Machine with kids, step by step, with a 10-minute first project, where the data goes, ages, 8 project ideas and the Scratch link.
Machine Learning for Kids: a parent's guide to the free site
What Machine Learning for Kids (machinelearningforkids.co.uk) is: accounts, ages, worksheets, one project to do at home, and machine learning explained for kids.
AI for Oceans: a guide for parents and teachers, level by level
What a child does in each level of Code.org's AI for Oceans, how long it takes, ages, accounts, the bias lesson, questions to ask afterwards and what to try next.
Day of AI for parents: the free AI lessons from MIT RAISE, by grade
What Day of AI is, which free AI units it has for each grade from Pre-K up, whether you need an account, and how a parent can use one at home.
ChatGPT for kids: is it safe, and what are the rules by age?
Is ChatGPT safe for kids? OpenAI's own age rules, its teen mode and parental controls as of October 2026, and what to do at each age, from under 6 to 17.
Quick, Draw! game, AutoDraw and Semantris: free Google AI games for kids
Which free Google AI games for kids still work in October 2026 (Quick, Draw!, AutoDraw, Semantris and more), what each teaches, ages, and what data is kept.
Scratch AI extensions for kids: what's really AI, and a first project
Which Scratch AI extensions exist in October 2026, which are really AI, which need accounts, and a free 15-minute first project with Face Sensing.
AI or human game for kids: free real-or-AI quizzes, plus a no-tech version
Free AI or human games for kids, checked October 2026 (Which Face Is Real, Real or Not and more), a no-tech home version, the tells to look for and their limits.
Best free reading apps for kids: what is really free in October 2026
The best free reading apps for kids, checked on 18 October 2026, with what is free, whether you need an account, ads, ages and what kind of reading each one is.
Free reading games for kids: phonics, sight words and rhymes, by age
Free reading games for kids, sorted by stage, from first sounds and rhymes to phonics, sight word games, spelling and vocabulary, plus no-screen games to play at home.
How to teach a child to read: a step-by-step guide for parents
How to teach a child to read at home, step by step: sounds, letter sounds, blending, decodable books, heart words, fluency and reading aloud.
AI math tutor for kids: what it can do, what it can't, and free options
An honest look at the AI math tutor for kids. What the trials say, the answer-giving risk, prompts that make a chatbot ask questions, and free options.
Mental math games for kids: 20 no-screen number games for the car and table
Mental math games for kids by age, from counting games to addition and subtraction games, all no-screen, plus the free Peabody games that practise the same facts.
How to start homeschooling: a step-by-step guide for beginners
How to start homeschooling in seven steps, from your state's law and leaving school to an approach, free materials, a rhythm, community, records and a first-month plan.
Colorado homeschool requirements: a plain summary (October 2026)
Colorado homeschool requirements in plain words, from the state's own pages: notice of intent, 172 days, subjects, testing in grades 3, 5, 7, 9 and 11, and records.
Homeschool kindergarten: a free, gentle plan with a sample schedule
A free homeschool kindergarten plan: what K covers in reading, math and play, a sample 60–90 minute day, a weekly schedule table, and free books and games.
First grade homeschool curriculum: a free plan for reading and math
A free first grade homeschool curriculum: what 1st grade covers in reading, math and writing, a sample day, a weekly schedule, and the free books and games to use.
Free homeschool apps: the best free apps by job, checked October 2026
Free homeschool apps for reading, math, typing, science, art, coding, planning and library books, each checked on its own page for cost, account, ads and ages.
Homeschool typing: a free typing curriculum by age, with a 12-week plan
Homeschool typing made simple. When to start, how many minutes, posture and the home row, a free 12-week plan, and free typing tutors checked in October 2026.
Homeschool art curriculum, free: a weekly art plan by age
A free homeschool art curriculum with a weekly plan by age for drawing, colour, picture study and making, plus free museum resources checked in October 2026.
Homeschool science curriculum, free: a hands-on plan by age
A free homeschool science curriculum by age, built on hands-on activities and free resources from NASA, the Exploratorium and PhET, checked in October 2026.
Homeschool record keeping and portfolio: what to keep and a weekly routine
Homeschool record keeping made simple: an attendance log, work samples, a reading log and any tests your state asks for, plus a weekly routine and a portfolio outline.
Unschooling: what it is, what the research says, and interest-led learning
What is unschooling? Where it came from, what a day looks like, what the small studies show and don't, worldschooling, and an honest look at Peabody's place.
Charlotte Mason homeschool: short lessons, living books and narration
The Charlotte Mason method, fairly explained: short lessons, living books, narration, nature study and picture study, the screen tension, and Peabody's small part.
AI in homeschooling: how to use it well, by age
AI homeschooling done well: AI as the grown-up's planning help, small supervised use for kids by age, the answer-giving risk, and teaching how AI works.
What a self-evolving learning platform actually is
What self-evolving software really means, the four loops Peabody runs today, what research says about agent-built code, and what such a platform must never do to kids.
How adaptive learning knows where your child is stuck
Right or wrong is half the evidence. How speed, streaks and rushing patterns show where a child is stuck, why emotion detection is out, and what a parent should get.
Knowledge tracing explained: BKT, Elo and deep learning
How learning software estimates what a child knows: Bayesian Knowledge Tracing with a worked update, Elo ratings, deep knowledge tracing, and why Peabody uses rules.
Spacing algorithms explained: Leitner, SM-2, FSRS and a fixed ladder
How spaced repetition schedulers actually work, what Cepeda 2008 and Karpicke 2007 found about gaps, what is known for children, and why Peabody uses two fixed ladders.
The 85% rule: why most of a child's answers should be wins
What the 85% rule from Wilson et al. 2019 actually models, how it compares with Math Garden's 75% and Bloom's two sigma, and how Peabody builds a practice round.
Do educational games work? What the meta-analyses say
The pooled evidence on learning games: effect sizes with study counts, why one session does little, why vendor numbers beat independent ones.
Intrinsic integration: why the learning must be the game
Habgood and Ainsworth's Zombie Division experiment, the taxonomy it gave us, and where a question on a crate, a gate or a runner's station sits between quiz and game.
Child-safe rewards: no loot boxes, no timers, nothing lost
What research and regulators say about rewards in kids' games, from loss aversion at age four to the FTC's Epic and Genshin orders, and the rules Peabody's games follow.
What is adaptive learning? A parent's guide
What adaptive learning means, the three parts every adaptive app has, what the independent trials show, what it isn't, and how to tell a real one from a label.
Mastery learning explained, and why grade levels are only a start
What mastery learning is, what Bloom's two sigma did and didn't show, how software decides a skill is known, and why a child's grade should only set the first step.
Decodable readers and leveled readers, free at your child's level
Decodable vs leveled readers, what the reading research says about each, and how Peabody's free first books are checked against the sounds a child knows.
Interleaving: the strongest practice effect you haven't heard of
Mixed practice beat blocked practice 61% to 38% in a 787-student trial. What interleaving is, why it feels harder, its limits, and how Peabody mixes a round.
AI tutors: what the 2024–2026 randomized trials show
The Harvard physics tutor, Nigeria, Tutor CoPilot, the Khanmigo trial and the GPT-4 study in Turkey, side by side: what the gains share and what they don't show.
The science of reading and AI-written stories
What the science of reading says about phonics, decodable and leveled text, how AI-written stories can follow it or break it, and how Peabody limits each story.
Flow, difficulty, and why a wrong answer never costs a life
What flow and dynamic difficulty research says, why rubber-banding backfires, how loss aversion shows up in five-year-olds, and how Peabody's games handle a miss.
Self-evolving games: procedural generation and what is real
Procedural levels, AI worlds like Genie 3, adaptive story games and agent-built updates, sorted into real, preview and hype, with how Peabody's games change.
Parent nudges that work: text messages, not dashboards
What randomized trials say about texting parents (Bergman, Ready4K, opt-out defaults), why dashboards rarely change anything, and what Peabody shows grown-ups.
AI safety by design for kids' learning apps, 2026
The 2025 COPPA rule, the UK Children's Code, the EU AI Act, California's chatbot law and Anthropic's rules for minors, as design patterns, with Peabody's gaps.
Use AI as a tutor that asks questions, not one that gives answers
How to set up a general AI chatbot so it quizzes your child instead of doing the work, with five prompts to try and the limits a grown-up should know.
Learning styles are a myth. Here is what to adapt to instead
Visual, auditory, kinesthetic: why matching lessons to a learning style has little research support, and four things about your child that are worth adapting to.
Stories built around your child's interests: why it works and how to do it
Interest can carry a child through harder reading. How AI stories built from your child's own ideas help, how to steer them, and where to be careful.
Spaced practice with AI: a cold check, a smart return, a short stop
How to use AI and simple rules to bring back what your child forgot, at the right time, in short sessions, with a loop you can run at home with or without an app.
Dr. Stone for kids: the anime that rebuilds science from a rock to the moon
Dr. Stone rebuilds the world in the order people invented things. A parent's guide to the science in all four seasons, who it suits, and safe kitchen experiments.
Free AI story generators for kids compared: what to look for
An honest look at the kinds of free AI story generator a parent can pick from, what each does well, where each falls short, and where Peabody's own limits are.
50 AI story prompts for kids: ideas to tap, type or say
Fifty story prompts for kids to try with an AI story generator, sorted by mood, from funny to spooky, plus how to turn any of them into a story a child can read.
AI bedtime stories by age: what suits a 3, 5, 7, 9 or 11-year-old
How to choose an AI bedtime story for your child's age, from first words to longer reads, with free examples and tips for keeping screens out of lights-out.
Kindergarten reading: free stories for first words, safe and short
Free short stories for kindergarten readers and a free AI story maker that keeps words few and gentle. What a kindergarten story looks like and how to read one.
1st grade reading: free short, decodable stories to read tonight
Free first grade reading stories and an AI story maker that writes at a first grader's level, with sight words inside. What to expect and how to use one.
2nd grade reading: free stories to read, and ones to make
Free second grade reading stories and a free AI story maker that adds five vocabulary words to each story. What 2nd grade stories look like and how to use them.
3rd grade reading: free stories with longer pages and richer words
Free third grade reading stories and an AI story maker that writes at a third grader's level, with vocabulary words and questions. What to expect and how to start.
Best free AI learning tools for kids: what to look for in 2026
A practical guide to the kinds of free AI learning tools for kids, what each is good for, what to watch out for, and where Peabody fits, with its limits stated.
Free AI tutor for kids: what it can do, and what it can't
What an AI tutor for kids can honestly do and can't, and how Peabody's free stories, word warm-ups and math practice compare to a chat tutor. Free through 2026.
Is AI safe for kids' learning? Ten questions to ask any app
A parent's checklist of ten questions to ask about any AI learning app for kids, from chat and microphones to data and ads, with Peabody's own answers beside each.
Free sight word games for kids: letters, words and stories to play
Free word games for early readers on Peabody: catch letters to spell words, hop on the word you hear, and dig by reading. Which suit sight words, and how to use them.
Free math games for kids: eight games that make practice feel like play
Free math games for kids on Peabody: blast aliens with the right answer, roll through number gates, hatch pets with sums and run from monkeys. What each is like.
How AI-driven adaptive reading works for kids, without the hype
What "adaptive" really means in a children's reading app: where AI writes the story, where plain code picks the level and tracks words, and what it can't do.
Adaptive learning for beginning readers: what to look for in an app
Six questions to ask about any adaptive reading app for a 4-to-7-year-old: phonics, repetition, read-aloud, short sessions, clear rules and a grown-up in the loop.
Free AI story generator for kids: children's stories at their reading level
Peabody turns a child's ideas into a short AI-written story at their reading level, screened for safety, with practice words inside. Free through 2026.
An AI story maker for kids with no sign-up: one tap and go
No email, no password, no name. How Peabody lets a child start reading and making AI stories in one tap, what that tap creates, and what it can't remember.
How Peabody tracks the words your child knows
A cold warm-up before each story, three right days before a word counts as sticking, and missed words first. How Peabody's word tracking works, and its limits.
Is an AI story generator safe for kids? How Peabody screens every story
An idea screen, hard limits, code checks, an AI screen with a second opinion, and stories held for a person to review. What Peabody does before a child reads.
An AI bedtime story generator that keeps bedtime calm
How to use a free AI bedtime story generator without making bedtime about screens. Make the story earlier, read it aloud later, and let Peabody's bedtime mode help.
How to make a story with AI with your kid, step by step
A parent's walkthrough of making a story with AI for kids on Peabody, from picking ideas and a mood to reading the first pages together, plus tips for better stories.
Personalized stories for kids with AI: what's worth tailoring
AI can tailor a story to a child's ideas, reading level, practice words and comfort with scary. What Peabody personalizes, what it leaves out, and what the research says.
An AI reading app for kids, with no open chatbot
In Peabody, AI writes and checks stories, and the one chat is short and screened. What the AI does, what plain code does instead, and why that split is safer for kids.
Free stories for kids to read tonight, by reading level (Pre-K to 8th grade)
Peabody's free library of short stories for kids, sorted by measured reading level from Pre-K to 8th grade, no account needed, and what each level looks like.
What "reading level" really means, and why one number misleads
Readability formulas, grade levels and why a short story's level wanders by a grade. How Peabody measures every story in code and shows a range instead of a score.
Where is my child stuck? What reading data can show you, and what it can't
Missed words, books that were too easy or too hard, story parts and math facts. What Peabody's learning data shows a parent, honestly, and when to talk to a teacher.
Sight words practice in stories, not flashcards
How Peabody's early-reader stories practise Dolch sight words inside short, readable AI stories, plus simple sight word games you can play at home tonight.
Vocabulary practice for 1st grade: easy ways to grow words at home
First graders learn most new words by listening and talking, and learn to read words on sight. Simple daily vocabulary practice for 1st grade, with and without an app.
Vocabulary practice for 3rd grade: five words, three days
Third grade is when reading vocabulary takes off. A simple at-home routine, how Peabody's stories teach five words each, and why words need several days to stick.
How to get kids to read every day (without the weekend cram)
A dad's case for a few minutes every evening instead of a Saturday catch-up, and practical ways to make daily reading something kids pull you into.
A little every evening beats a Saturday cram: what memory research says
Spacing, recall with feedback, and why right-after-reading isn't the same as learned. What research supports about short daily reading practice, and what it doesn't.
Read it to someone: why your child reading aloud to you matters
Being the audience, not the grader. How to listen when your child reads aloud, what Peabody's Read it to someone! mode does, and why Peabody itself never listens.
How long should kids read each day? An honest answer
There's no research-backed ideal number of minutes. What the evidence does suggest about short reading sessions for kids, and how to pick a length that works for yours.
Share a kid's story by number: peabody.kids/story/1234
Every story a child makes on Peabody gets a number, so they can tell a friend where to read it. How story numbers work, who can see them, and what keeps them safe.
No name, no email, no account: how Peabody handles kids' privacy
What Peabody keeps about a child who uses it without an account, what it never asks for, which outside services touch the data, and how to delete it.
Free times tables and math practice for kids, made by code, not AI
Peabody's free math practice for 2nd to 5th grade climbs a step with every right answer and eases off after a miss. Times tables, fractions and more, with no AI involved.
Writing prompts for kids: 60 story ideas for an AI story or a paper one
Story prompts for kids, sorted into who, where and what happens, plus moods, mix-and-match tips and three questions that turn any idea into a real story.
Questions to ask your child after reading: 30 that start real conversations
Reading comprehension questions for kids that go beyond "did you like it?", sorted by type, plus how Peabody's after-story questions and nightly word prompts work.
What a short story can quietly practise: concepts under the covers
Rhymes, word endings, similes, a character who changes. How Peabody's AI stories practise two reading concepts each, from a catalogue of 124, without ever naming them.
A free AI story generator teachers can suggest to families
For teachers and reading specialists, what Peabody is, what it isn't, and how to suggest it to families for short daily reading at home. No accounts, free through 2026.