🧸 Early learning (ages 2-6) · 🎮 Learning games and sites
Sesame Street (games and apps)
By Sesame Workshop. Visit Sesame Street (games and apps)
Desk research from the maker's own pages. Not yet tried by us. Checked 2026-10-24.
Free preschool games, videos and coloring pages from the nonprofit behind Sesame Street. The official Sesame Street app holds 100+ free games and hundreds of videos with Elmo, Cookie Monster and friends, sorted by character and learning area. Kids tap through short games on letters, numbers, feelings and kindness. A free grown-up account saves favorites. A separate paid app, Sesame Street Games Club, is made by StoryToys under license.
Our take: A good free pick for preschoolers who love the characters; check who made any Sesame-branded app before paying.
Checked in a browser
A browser check on 2026-10-25: what loads, the ads and trackers we saw, and what a child meets first. Not a hands-on test.
| Child safety: 3 out of 5 | No ads or chat seen; a Sign In link, house promotions (Shop, Apps & eBooks, Sesame Place, Sesame Street Live) and links out to Roblox, TikTok, Netflix, Max and Tubi. |
|---|---|
| Data: 4 out of 5 | Google Analytics/Tag Manager only, plus the Osano consent tool and JW Player; no ad networks (stats.g.doubleclick.net is Google Analytics' beacon). |
| Ease: 4 out of 5 | Big picture tiles with play icons and a Games / Videos / Art menu; some text links for grown-ups mixed in. |
| Cost honesty: 4 out of 5 | Free games and videos; a 'Support Our Work' link and a shop link. |
What we found
- 8 third-party hosts on 7 sites; no known ad or tracking networks
- 5 cookies set, none from third-party domains
- 26 outbound link sites, including roblox.com, tiktok.com, netflix.com, max.com and tubitv.com
- The first screen shows Halloween videos with Abby and Elmo and an 'I Notice, I Feel, I Can!' feelings activity
From the test: Ad-free and light on data in this check, with big picture tiles for young children; the footer links out to streaming and social sites.
| Ages it suits | about 2-5 |
|---|---|
| What its terms say about age | No minimum age. The terms are accepted by the adult on their own behalf and on behalf of their children; the privacy policy has a separate children's section for under-13s. (terms) |
| Price | Free. Official Sesame Street app and website games are free (Oct 2026). The separate StoryToys 'Sesame Street Games Club' app sells unlocks ($6.99 monthly or $39.99 'unlock everything' on the App Store). |
| Works on | Web, iPhone and iPad |
| Account | No account needed |
| Ads | None |
| In-app purchases | None |
| The AI in it | No AI in the games; the website terms say some AI-based features may be built into the sites and warn their output can be inaccurate. |
What's good
- Free and ad-free official app
- Trusted nonprofit maker
- Social-emotional themes alongside letters and numbers
- No account needed to play
Watch for
- The official app is rated 3.7 on the App Store, lower than peers
- Licensed Sesame apps from other makers (StoryToys) carry in-app purchases
- Terms reserve the right to add AI features and disclaim their accuracy
- Short activities, not a learning path
Data and privacy
On its children's platforms Sesame says it follows COPPA principles, asks for no more than needed (a 'share with a friend' feature takes first names and a friend's email), and collects device IDs, IP address and usage through cookies for internal operations. Its general policy for adults allows interest-based advertising. Last updated May 31, 2023. Read the privacy policy.
Does it work?
Strong evidence exists for the Sesame Street TV show (for example, Kearney and Levine's NBER study linking early access to the show with better school outcomes). We found no independent study of the games or app themselves.
In the Big Index
- On the list Top 50 free game sites for kids (2026)
- On the list 20 best free learning game sites for kids
- On the list 18 best learning games for preschoolers
- The maker in the who's who: Sesame Workshop
Alternatives to Sesame Street (games and apps)
Desk researchFree, with paid extrasNo ads
99math
99math (Estonia) · ages about 5-14 (grades K-8)
A low-effort, free way for teachers to make fact practice lively; parents of kids who dislike timed competition may want a calmer tool.
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ABCya
ABCya.com LLC (a division of IXL Learning) · ages about 4-12 (pre-K to grade 6+)
Handy for quick grade-level practice in class or at home; skip if you want an ad-free experience without paying.
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Adventure Academy
Age of Learning, Inc. · ages grades 3-8 (about 8-13)
Good for kids who love online games and need a nudge toward school subjects; families wanting no social contact should set chat to off or choose a solo app.
Desk researchFree, with paid extras
Arcademics
Arcademics · ages about 6-14 (grades 1-8)
Fine for quick fact-fluency races at school or home; families who want no ad tracking or who have a child anxious about speed should skip it.
Desk researchFreeNo ads
Be Internet Awesome: Interland
Google · ages about 7-12
A good free starting point for online safety with kids 7-12, best paired with family talks since the game alone did not change behavior in testing.
Desk researchFreeNo ads
Blob Opera
David Li with Google Arts & Culture · ages about 4 and up
A delightful five-minute music toy for any age; not a music course.
Where these facts come from
- https://www.sesamestreet.org/
- https://www.sesamestreet.org/games
- https://sesameworkshop.org/about-us/legal/terms-of-use/
- https://sesameworkshop.org/about-us/legal/privacy-policy/
- https://apps.apple.com/us/app/sesame-street/id912435108
- https://apps.apple.com/us/app/sesame-street-games-club/id6449282808
- https://www.nber.org/papers/w21229
Prices, terms and features change. Nobody paid to be listed, nothing here is an affiliate link, and Peabody never rates itself. Where we and the maker disagree, the maker's own pages are the ones to trust.