How to Teach Kids Online: A Practical Guide for Teachers

To teach kids online, plan the lesson as short segments of 5 to 10 minutes, use big colourful drawing tools, turn practice into games on a shared whiteboard, involve a parent from the first class, and control who can join, chat and draw. Young learners stay focused when they get to draw, move and play, not just watch.

Teaching children through a screen is a different job from teaching teenagers or adults: shorter attention spans, a need to touch and move things, and an adult nearby more often than you might expect. This guide covers how to plan, run and keep safe an online class for children, based on what works on the Educastic whiteboard.

How long should each part of a kids' online class be?

Each part of an online class for young children should last about 5 to 10 minutes before the activity changes. Plan your lesson as a chain of short segments instead of one long explanation.

Put each segment on its own board tab. Switching tabs feels like turning a page in a picture book, and it stops the board from becoming a crowded mess.

Which whiteboard tools work best for children?

Big, colourful tools work best for children, because young learners respond to colour and size. Educastic's whiteboard includes these, so pick the ones that make marks easy to see:

• Markers, crayons and colored pencils feel familiar to young learners and look friendly on the board.
• Brushes such as watercolor and spray are great for colouring in a shape or painting a scene together.
• Shapes and the fill colour let you build simple pictures fast: a circle and a triangle become a house in seconds.
• Zoom in before children write, so their marks are large and easy for everyone to read.

Write less than you would for older students. One word and one picture beat a full sentence.

What whiteboard games work for kids online?

Simple drawing and sorting games work best for kids online: sorting sticky notes, labelling a picture, finishing a drawing, spotting a mistake and drawing what they hear. Games keep children engaged and show you quickly what they understood:

1. Sticky-note sort. Put words or pictures on sticky notes and ask children to drag them into two groups, such as "living" and "not living".
2. Label the picture. Draw an animal or a plant and let each child add one label with the pen.
3. Finish my drawing. You draw half a shape or a pattern; a child completes it.
4. Spot the mistake. Write a short word or sum with one error and ask who can circle it.
5. Draw what you hear. Describe something simple ("a red ball under a tree") and let them draw it on their own tab.

Give each child a turn rather than letting everyone draw at once. On Educastic the teacher grants and takes back drawing access per student, so you decide who holds the pen at each moment.

What role should parents play in an online class?

Parents should help the child join and settle, then sit nearby without answering for the child. With young children, a parent or carer is part of your class whether you plan for it or not, so make that role clear before the first lesson:

• Ask a parent to help the child join the first few classes and to check the microphone and camera.
• Explain what helpful support looks like: sitting nearby, not answering for the child.
• Share a short note after each lesson with what you covered and one thing to practise at home.
• If you record the class, tell parents first and agree on how the recording is used.

Recorded lessons in Educastic are kept in the My Recordings tab of My Library and can only be watched by that class's participants, admitted guests and the owner, which is worth explaining to parents.

How do you keep children safe in an online class?

You keep children safe online by admitting each child from a waiting room and deciding who can chat and draw at every moment. Educastic gives the teacher these controls:

• Waiting room. Guests wait until you admit them, so you know exactly who is in the class.
• Chat control. If chat distracts younger students, remove it from the session in Educastic's session tools and run the lesson on the board and by voice.
• Drawing control. Give the pen to one child at a time and take it back if a drawing goes off topic. You can do this per student at any moment.
• Clear rules. Agree on a few simple rules in the first class, draw them as pictures and keep them on the first tab.

What device should a child use for online classes?

A tablet with a touch screen often suits younger children best, because they can draw with a finger; older children manage well on a laptop. Educastic runs in the browser, so children join from the invite link on a laptop, tablet or touch screen without installing an app. Before the first class, run a five-minute tech check with the parent.

For more ideas on keeping a group involved, read how to keep students engaged in online classes.

Frequently asked questions

How long should an online class for kids be? About 30 to 45 minutes works for most young children, as long as the class is split into short segments with a movement break.

Can children draw on the whiteboard? Yes. On Educastic the teacher gives a child drawing access and can take it back at any time, student by student.

How do I stop strangers from joining a children's class? Use the waiting room. In Educastic, guests wait until the teacher admits them, so only the children you expect enter the class.

Do children need to install anything? No. The Educastic whiteboard runs in the browser on laptops, tablets and touch screens.

Plan your first kids' class

Open the Educastic online whiteboard, set up one tab per segment, and try a sticky-note sorting game in your next lesson.

Start teaching kids free