FreeRice.com
Oh, hey! You know how everyone in the whole world has been talking about a site where you play word games and it somehow sends rice to hungry people? And you know how people keep saying, “OMG it is actually FUN!”?
Well, I tried it for the first time this past weekend, and OMG it is actually FUN!
Here is the deal. You sit at your computer, which is what you were going to be doing anyway, and the site gives you a word and a list of four possible definitions. You pick the definition you think is the right one. If you get it right, the site donates 20 grains of rice through the UN World Food Program (the money to buy the rice comes from the ads at the bottom of each page). Then you get another word to try.
You might think that this would be about as fun as taking a standardized test, only without the sweaty excitement of knowing your entire future was at stake. But I found myself playing it more and More and MORE, getting all competitive and heart-poundy as if I were playing a video game or something. It gives you a SCORE! And it shows your little grains of rice building up in a bowl!
Why is this so fun? I can tell you only by showing you. Click the link below, which will take you to a screen where you will immediately start playing (there’s no registration or anything). Play until you’ve donated 300 grains of rice. Then quit. Or, if you’re like me, keep playing for the rest of the evening, getting increasingly agitated about your score your score your precious score (46 so far—BEAT THAT, you ricers!). —Swistle
Link: FreeRice.com
Posted: April 22nd, 2008 under Webby distractions, Good causes.
Comments: 11
Comments
Comment from Paul
Time: April 22, 2008, 6:33 am
I haven’t beat it, but I did match your 46. It isn’t so much knowing vocabulary as recognizing greek and latin roots. I’ve never even seen the word “relucent” before, but with an option that includes something related to light….duh.
That said, it does help to recognize a lot of words. I just got “blench” which doesn’t have any roots that I see but I knew it from the N times I’ve seen it before.
Comment from John Bennet
Time: April 22, 2008, 6:48 am
Another great charity site is AIDtoCHILDREN.com. It donates money to children in need through World Vision.
AIDtoCHILDREN.com is a dual-purpose site for building an English vocabulary and raising money for under privileged children in the most impoverished places around the world.
Check it out at http://www.aidtochildren.com
Comment from Paige
Time: April 22, 2008, 7:23 am
That was fun! I donated 1000 grains!
Comment from Paul
Time: April 22, 2008, 10:36 am
<neener>48</neener>
Comment from willikat
Time: April 22, 2008, 12:15 pm
so addicted to freerice.com….i have had a 46. man, do i get mad when i get one wrong and they move my level down.
Comment from Beth
Time: April 22, 2008, 12:27 pm
That is fun, at least if you are a geek like me. 48.
Comment from nonsoccermom
Time: April 22, 2008, 2:45 pm
Wow. This is totally addictive. So far I have yet to break 41 (sad) but I will. OH I WILL.
Comment from Susan
Time: April 22, 2008, 4:04 pm
Arg. 600 grains and only 41. But boy, it’s fun!
Comment from fillyjonkknitter
Time: April 24, 2008, 1:32 pm
50 here, but I acknowledge that I spend FAR too many years in school…
(it is a very addictive game.)
Comment from BRash
Time: April 25, 2008, 1:47 am
I love this, but cannot do it or I will spend all night laying in bed thinking about it. Same reason I had to give up Tetris. But but! When I first found out about it, it turned into some family closeness. I sent my mother there and told her to report back her score, fully knowing I was WAY smarter than her, but it turns out she was smarter than me. Wow! Am I petty or what?
Comment from Erica
Time: April 25, 2008, 1:31 pm
47 and I cannot stop playing.
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