Five Top Online Dictionaries for Kids

September is finally here and the kids are on their way back to school. One phrase you will be using a great deal throughout the school year is, “look it up!” kids learn dozens of new words everyday, especially during the school year. Giving them the advantage of being able to look up each word and learn all of its definitions can mean the difference in an entire letter grade at the end of the year. Here are the features of five free online English dictionaries, with programs for grammar, that you will want to review and bookmark for the students in the house.

All Words is an excellent student online English dictionary. It combines a very good English dictionary with a multilingual search which allows you to search and display words in English, German Dutch, French, Italian or Spanish. Every time you enter a word you are treated with six English definitions and the corresponding equivalents in the above languages

Dictionary.com combines a standard dictionary with a glossary of biblical names, chemical elements, computer terms, international statistics, and zip codes as well as the correct spelling and definitions of English words, all in one search function. They also include many fun features like word searches, Word of the Day, Ask Doctor Dictionary and more. While there is no on-site thesaurus, there is a link to dictionary.com´s sister site, thesaurus.com.

Little Explorers is especially designed to not only be attractive to children by kid friendly. For each letter visited there are dozens of illustrated entries, most of them with links to other sites containing more information about that entry. As you roam through the site the Little Explorers alphabet frame remains at the top of your screen, making it only a click away. No matter how deeply you roam, getting back to the original entry is easy.

Merriam-Webster Online. Everyone has that one word. The one that, every time you try to say it your tongue gets tied up in knots. Mine is citadel. I always put the stress on the “ta”. With the Merriam-Webster dictionary site I have the option of using audio pronunciation tools. This is an invaluable tool for students who learn many new words each day. In addition to the audio clips you can get a free dictionary lookup tool bar and play a fun game of Dictionary Devil or listen to the Word for the Wise audio broadcast.

Word Central is the student dictionary site from Merriam-Webster. It has a fast dictionary feature, you can play games (second floor), and even build a dictionary made up of made up words.

Shop around online. Find the free online English dictionary that is best suited for your children’s computers.