PuzzlEd

http://www.crosswordsforfun.com.au - an excellent site with lots of free puzzles- crosswords, codewords, quizzes, kids' crosswords, sudoku

http://www.angusj.com/sudoku/  - a free sudoku program to download and install;  make and play your own sudoku puzzles in a range of difficulties. I've been using ths program for over a year. It's easy and fun to use.

http://www.rinkworks.com/brainfood/  - has a good range of word, logic and number puzzles; also has a free online cryptogram maker.

http://www.awesomeclipartforeducators.com  - has free clipart on educational and seasonal themes; also an online wordsearch and cryptogram maker.

http://www.schoolhousetech.com/ - has free downloads for Basic Facts Worksheet Factory at http://www.schoolhousetech.com/Products/BasicFacts/Download.aspx    as well as others to try/buy. I have used, and recommend, the Wordsearch Factory (free Lite version)

http://www.botproductions.com/conc/conc.html  - has an excellent Concentration/Memory game program, with options for playing the games (number of items, sets of picture cards,  timer etc) and the option of adding your own card sets. I have made some sets of cards with common sight vocabulary words on them; you can access this game via my memory game page.

http://www.jochenkaercher.com/ - has several free games, including a good memory-training game, Master of Colors (this is a Simon- type game where you have to remember an increasingly long sequence of colours/tones).

http://www.free-puzzles.net On this site, you can create worksheets to print out: Word Search, Sudoku, Brain Teasers and Word Scrambles. There are also Travel Games to print, and links to other puzzle games and sites.

http://www.wartoft.nu/software/ This has an excellent free downloadable game called Sebran's ABC which has basic spelling and maths games, including a word/picture Memory game; there's also Mini-Sebran for toddlers.  The games are attractively presented and very easy to use; excellent freeware! There are also other free programs on the site (geography and language programs).

http://www.caltrox.com/products/hangword.htm -a free downloadable hangman game.

http://www.quiz-tree.com/Sight-Words_main.html  Sight words lists, free game trial, "Sight Words Buddy".

http://www.carlscorner.us/  Lots of excellent games, puzzles and resources to help children learn about all aspects of words.

http://pbskids.org/  music, games, colouring- simple, fun activities for younger children.

http://pbskids.org/lions/ Stories, educational games, video clips. Lots of fun...try "Chicken Stacker", a hilarious reading game.

http://www.starfall.com/  Appealing animated alphabet activities, reading, etc.

http://www.kidsknowit.com/ This site has many different educational activities in a wide range of topics, from animals, dinosaurs and astronomy to math, memory and spelling.

http://www.dmoz.org/Kids_and_Teens/Games/   Open Directory Project page with links to many  good sites, including:

http://www.dmoz.org/Kids_and_Teens/Games/Puzzles_and_Mazes/ -loads of sites to explore!

http://www.parenthoodkids.com/index.html   -games, recipes, riddles, cards, colouring, as well as parent and autism support

http://www.gameskidsplay.net/  Descriptions and rules for dozens of traditional children's games

http://www.funandgames.org/  Games, puzzles, activity ideas, humour, quizzes, and lots more- for all ages

http://www.topics-mag.com/edition11/games-section.htm  -traditional children's games from around the world

http://www.free-kids-games.com/  Cute, child-friendly site with a selection of Games | Puzzles | Jigsaws | Coloring Pages | Jokes | Songs

http://www.mazes.org.uk/   A range of mazes from easy to difficult (and one "impossible" one)

http://www.word-searches.com/  Interactive Word Search Puzzles for everyone... Find all hidden words quickly and make it into the Word Search Hall of Fame. Printable Word Search Puzzles  also available

http://www.greeneclipsesoftware.com/  An excellent, totally free program to download and make your own crosswords... I have used this for the puzzles on my Crosswords page.

http://www.varietygames.com/ Free crosswords, wordsearches and crytograms to print, and free trial downloads of programs to make them. The link to the free cryptogram maker I use is ftp://ftp.io.com/pub/usr/vgi/Win98/setup_cgm.exe (see my Cryptograms page for examples).

http://www.soundreaders.ca/games.html- Top recommendation for this site, if you are looking for advice and ideas/games for teaching children to read. There  are some products to buy if you wish, but lots of valuable free advice and ideas. Great for teachers as well as parents.   ..Added Nov 08

LessonSense.com - free worksheets, crafts and printables excellent printable worksheets, flashcards etc for parents and teachers of primary school children, and also some great games, including Memory Game cards, to download and print.  ..Added Mar. 09

 www.janbrett.com -heaps of activities, including games and a free book to print, with delightful woodland animal illustrations..all free!  ..Added Mar.09

Oh, and in case you're wondering about the free website provider I use, www.freewebs.com  (now  www.webs.com)...

I would recommend them very highly- totally free (if you don't mind some banner ads- unfortunately including dating site ads...), but very easy to use for most people (even I have managed to figure it out), and very few problems. Lots of fun!