 | ON: Content is age-appropriate for kids this age. |
 | PAUSE: Know your child; some content may not be right for some kids. |
 | OFF: Not age-appropriate for kids this age. |
 | NOT FOR KIDS: Not appropriate for kids any age. |
Free Rice
Common Sense Media says
Learning and ending hunger, a few grains of rice at a time.
Parents say
QUALITY
Kids say
QUALITY
What parents need to know
Parents need to know that for every correct answer to this site's endless quiz, ten grains of rice are donated to the UN World Food Program. It's addictive, it can spark competitiveness -- "I can donate more rice than you can!", and bragging -- "My vocabulary score topped out at 42!" Neither children nor adults are immune to its lure.
What's it about?
It's fiendishly simple: the screen presents the viewer with a vocabulary question. Click on the correct answer and FREE RICE donates ten grains of rice to the UN World Food Program. A graphic on the side shows bowls of rice as they fill and accumulate. That's it. Except that now there's another word on the screen, a harder word, so you click on the definition for that one and watch as the score improves. By the time the participant checks out the other topics available -- geography, French, multiplication tables -- dozens of words have been defined and multiple bowls full of rice have been donated.
Is it any good?
The site's stated goals make it plain. Free Rice exists to provide free education and help end world hunger. Period. Somehow they manage to make it fun in the process. Kids like the game format and respond well to the challenge of improving their scores. Parents will want to play it themselves for the mental stimulation. And all the while, every correct answer drops another ten grains of rice into some hungry person's bowl.
Interestingly, the site's FAQ does more than answer typical questions. It presents issues that might be raised about hunger, about the nature of learning, and why the site even exists. The sponsors who pay for the donated rice are listed and linked to, and questions that a thoughtful adolescent might ask -- like how much rice does it take to feed a person for a day -- are addressed. There's more to chew on here than just rice. At the time of this review, Free Rice had donated 62 billion grains of rice -- and improved the minds of countless people along the way.
What families can talk about
Families can talk about the meaning of world hunger and what they learned on this site. Be prepared for conversations about different artistic styles, or sentences peppered with words like "scoff" and "chastise." As vocabulary improves, confidence grows, and dinner table conversation may never be the same.
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Kid, 12 years old
April 12, 2010
AGE
Fun at first, then gets boring
When I first heard about this at my computer class at school, I played it, but sometimes it can get boring because sometimes, they use the same stuff over and over again. Don't go to this site if you don't like getting the same thing over and over again
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AGE
Perfect for all ages
It is the perfect website that my 5 girls can enjoy together though not all of them can play it gives a feeling of acomplishment to have been able to donate rice
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Kid, 11 years old
May 1, 2011
AGE
grest for someone older than 9
its better than early childhood games but its educational which i know is a great site for DUMB people older than 9 and the olny thing i know is that you dont really donate rice, you just pretend to so thats why i rated it 10 and up
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Kid, 10 years old
December 31, 2010
AGE
nice
cool but the Q can be hard
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AGE
Educational and Helpful
This site helps you learn and helps end world hunger all at once! You don't have to have an account to use Free Rice, you can just go on and start clicking. You should try it out. I know I felt good about what I was spending my time on.
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Kid, 12 years old
January 1, 2011
AGE
The Best Website!
Free Rice is probably one of the best websites on the web. There are so many good messages that it's hard not to play! It's a website to basically stop hunger- by answering educational questions for each question you get correct they donate 10 grains of rice to the hungry! It's so touching because the people who created this website actually care. I think that the world would be so much better without any people who go hungry. Don't you agree?
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Kid, 10 years old
December 31, 2010
AGE
what in the world is this
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AGE
Awesome!
I love this website! It's such a great idea: Answer questions and fight world hunger!
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Kid, 8 years old
August 20, 2011
AGE
I HATE THIS WEBSITE DONT GO ON ITTTT!!!!!!
BOOO my computer got i virus so im im using my moms laptop!!! the virus was on when i went on freerice
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Kid, 10 years old
September 17, 2011
AGE
Great Website
This is a great website! It has every awesome thing in it to make learning fun!
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| Genre: | Educational |
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