Kids Learning Arcade
Questions and answers
Short, honest answers for parents, grandparents, sitters and teachers.
Updated October 2026.
Questions parents ask
What is the Kids Learning Arcade?
A free website of calm learning games for kids. It needs no sign-in or download and has a child lock in every game. Today it has nine games for ages 3 to 9: Spell the Picture, Watch, ABC Mailbox, Counting to 20, Memory Match, Name the Feeling, Shape Puzzles, First Coding and Tell the Time. Games up to age 11 are on the way.
Is it free?
Yes. There is no sign-in, nothing to download and nothing to buy inside the games. It runs in the web browser on phones, tablets and computers.
What ages is it for?
Spell the Picture has decks for ages 3, 4, 5, 6, and 7 to 8, 479 cards in all. Watch and six more calm games are for ages 3 to 8, and Tell the Time, telling time, for ages 7 to 9. More arcade games up to age 11 are on the way.
Is it safe for my child?
There is no sign-in, no chat and nothing to type in that is saved. Your child is never recorded: no camera or location is used, and the microphone only if a grown-up records their own voice for the games, which stays on the phone. Google Analytics counts anonymous page visits only, with ads signals off and no personal information. Ads are never inside a game, never personalized, and hidden while the Child lock is on.
Can my child leave the game by accident?
Turn on the Child lock at the top right of any game. The ways out hide and the back button stays in the game. To unlock, a grown-up holds the lock for 3 seconds and answers a sum.
Does it work on an iPad or tablet?
It runs in the web browser on phones, tablets and computers, with nothing to install. The letters and words are spoken in the phone's own voice (or pick your own voice, Heart or Bella under "For grown-ups"); if you hear nothing, check the sound button in the game and the device's volume.
Can the games talk in my voice?
Yes. A grown-up can record the letter names, the letter sounds, the cheers and "All done!" once, a few minutes in all, and every game then says them in that voice. Tap Record my voice on the arcade home page, or pick a Family voice under Voice in any game's For grown-ups box. Up to three grown-ups can each record their own. The recordings stay on the phone and are never sent anywhere.
Do the games help children with dyslexia?
Every game has Easier reading: wider spacing between letters, words and lines, bigger text, a plain font (Lexend or OpenDyslexic) and a soft cream page. Spacing is what research found helps dyslexic children read. A grown-up turns it on under Helps, and it is remembered on the device. Other helps read words aloud, make buttons bigger, give more time, calm motion, quiet chimes, raise contrast and show captions.
How can I check my child's reading level?
Use the free Reading Level Check: a grown-up sits with the child for 5 to 10 minutes, the child reads letters and words out loud, and the grown-up taps Got it or Not yet. It says which skills your child has and the grade level they line up with in the Common Core reading standards and the Dolch sight word lists. It is a quick check, not a diagnosis, and the results stay on your device.
Does my child need an account?
No. Nothing personal about your child is collected. Settings like the voice and the Child lock are kept only on your device.
Can I use it in my classroom?
Yes. It works on class tablets and on a whiteboard, with no accounts and no student data. The word lists print cleanly.
Where do the pictures come from?
The arcade draws its own wooden toy pictures (so far the home tiles and every card in Spell the Picture). The rest are Microsoft Fluent Emoji, a free picture set under the MIT license. The words come from common phonics patterns and the public Dolch sight word lists.