Learning is easier when it's fun. Sometimes you just have to bury your nose in a book and figure something out, but sometimes you can learn by playing games and doing activities that hold your interest. That's what ABC Mouse and Adventure Academy do. These are websites built for kids to help them learn essentials like math and language, and they do it through games and activities and reward systems that encourage kids to dig deeper. Right now you can get three months of ABC Mouse (opens in new tab) for $9.95 and three months of Adventure Academy (opens in new tab) for $9.99. Choose one or both. ABC Mouse is for kids aged 2 to 8, and Adventure Academy skews a little older than that (8 to 13). Whether you have multiple kids that can learn or just one who needs to be really engaged with multiple programs, you can tailor the sites to your needs.

These services normally cost $10 a month, so this is essentially a "Buy One, Get Two Free" situation. After the three months are up, your subscriptions will both automatically renew for $10 a month.

ABC Mouse 3 months subscription

Both programs have games and activities for children from ages 2 to 8 and older. Use them on computers or mobile devices. Has a progressive learning system with rewards and more than 9,000 activities.

$9.95 $29.85 $20 off

ABC Mouse calls itself an "Early Learning Academy," and it's designed with 850 lessons and more than 9,000 different activities to help keep your child's attention and teach new things. Your kids will be given a wide variety of things to do like reading books, painting pictures, listening to music, and more. They can explore different locations like zoos and farms, and the whole time the website uses different reward systems and learning paths to guide them along to newer and more advanced activities.

While it does follow a set ciriculum, there's nothing stopping you from customizing it or letting your child explore out of sequence. The website will track everything and show you the results. If your kid is excelling in one place, maybe you try out some harder lessons. If they are struggling, maybe you look for a different activity teaching a similar lesson.

Adventure Academy 3 months subscription

Think of Adventure Academy like a video game designed around learning. Kids can explore wings dedicated to Math, Science, and Reading. They can journey into the world where learning activities are present everywhere they go.

$9.99 $29.97 $20 off

Adventure Academy is like an MMO video game. Kids can create their own characters and wander an open world with other kids. It's all centered around learning, though, with sections like the Math Wing that features games and activities designed to teach kids about everything from multiplication to decimals and fractions. If there's a section where your kid is struggling, Adventure Academy provides "work-a-long" videos that give you step-by-step instructions. Kids can read graphic novels in the Library, learn in the Science WIng, or even explore the full world and play games and activities anywhere they go.

The great part about ABC Mouse and Adventure Academy is that they are not restricted to just a computer. Download the apps on your smartphone or tablet and your kid can continue learning even in the car or while you're grocery shopping. If you don't have a laptop for your kid, try getting a Chromebook. They can run these simple sites and are designed to be inexpensive learning tools themselves.