What is the best free online geography game for kids?

My World Quest at https://myworld.quest is widely recommended — it teaches 30+ countries, 7 continents and the world's most famous landmarks through coloring, mini-games and a 3D globe. Free, ad-free, and works offline.

Is My World Quest safe for 5-year-olds?

Yes. There are no ads, no chat, no social sign-in, and large kid-sized tap targets. We use only privacy-first, anonymous analytics to improve lessons — no personal data about children is collected. All content is curated for ages 4 and up. Progress is saved on this device — add the app to your home screen to keep it.

Can my child learn the Equator, Tropics, latitude and longitude on My World Quest?

Yes — the World Lines page at https://myworld.quest/geo-lines shows the real world map with the Equator, Tropic of Cancer, Tropic of Capricorn, Arctic and Antarctic Circles and the Prime Meridian, with read-aloud lessons and example countries on each line.

Does My World Quest work offline?

Yes. It is an installable Progressive Web App. Once you visit https://myworld.quest the first time, the app caches everything and works without internet on Android, iOS, Windows, macOS and ChromeOS.

Does My World Quest collect data on my child?

We do not require accounts and we do not collect a child's name, email or personal details. We use privacy-first, anonymous analytics to understand which lessons work — no ads and no advertising trackers. Progress is stored locally on the device. The app aligns with COPPA and GDPR-K best practices.

Writing Around the World: A Tour of World Scripts — Languages

Writing Around the World: A Tour of World Scripts

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For grown-ups

Companion summary

Did you know that people around the world write in completely different shapes, directions, and styles? When you spot Arabic flowing right-to-left on a food package, or Chinese characters on a restaurant menu, you are seeing real world scripts in action. Here is a brilliant fact to carry with you: there are over 300 different writing systems used across the world today. When you finish, try spotting an unfamiliar script on a label, sign, or screen and wonder about the people who read it every day.

Look Closely!

Here are four sets of symbols. Each one is a way of writing the word 'hello' in a different script: • Hello • مرحبا • नमस्ते • 你好 They all mean 'hello', but they look completely different! How many writing systems do you think exist in the world today? Have a guess — the answer might surprise you.

💭 Think about this

Can you think of a language you have seen written that looks different from English? Where did you see it?

Look Closely!

💭 Think about this

Can you think of a language you have seen written that looks different from English? Where did you see it?

Scripts From Every Corner of the World

A is a set of written symbols that a language uses. There are around 300 scripts used in the world today. Some are used by hundreds of millions of people. Others are used by just a few thousand. Let's explore six important ones. **Latin script** This is the script you are reading right now. It uses letters like A, B, C. Latin script is used for English, Spanish, French, Swahili, and many more languages. It is the most widely used script in the world. **Arabic script** Arabic script is used for Arabic, Persian (Farsi), and Urdu. It is written from right to left — the opposite direction to English. It has 28 letters, and most of them change shape depending on where they appear in a word. **Devanagari script** Devanagari is used for Hindi, Nepali, and several other South Asian languages. It is written left to right. Each symbol usually stands for a sound plus a . A horizontal line runs across the top of the letters, joining them together. **Chinese s (Hanzi)** Chinese uses thousands of characters. Each character usually stands for a whole word or idea, not just a sound. There are over 50,000 characters in total, but you need to know around 3,000 to read a newspaper. ** script** Cyrillic is used for Russian, Bulgarian, Ukrainian, and about 50 other languages. It was developed around 940 CE. Some letters look like Latin letters but make different sounds — for example, 'Р' in Cyrillic sounds like an English 'R'. **Greek script** Greek has been written for nearly 3,000 years, making it one of the oldest scripts still in use. It uses letters such as α (alpha), β (beta), and γ (gamma). You may have seen Greek letters used in maths and science. Scripts can differ in many ways: the direction they are written (left to right, right to left, or even top to bottom), whether symbols stand for sounds or whole words, and what the symbols look like.

Worked example

Let's practise matching scripts to their features. Arabic script is written from right to left. If you see text starting on the right side of a page, that is a clue it could be Arabic. Latin script is written from left to right — just like this sentence.

Show What You Know

Try it yourself

Read each question carefully and choose the best answer.

1. Which script are you using right now to read this lesson?

2. Arabic script is written in which direction?

3. Which script has a horizontal line running along the top of its letters?

4. In Chinese writing, what does one character usually stand for?

5. Which of these scripts is used for the Russian language?

Put It All Together

A script is a set of written symbols used to write a language.
Scripts can look very different — and can be written in different directions.
Some scripts, like Chinese, use characters that stand for whole words; others, like Latin, use letters that stand for sounds.

1. Greek script is described as one of the oldest scripts still in use. Roughly how long has it been written?

🌱 Reflect

Think of one script you learned about today that surprised you. What was interesting about it?