GCompris is a high quality educational software suite comprising of numerous activities for children aged 2 to 10. Some of the activities are game orientated, but nonetheless still educational. Below you can find a list of categories with some of the activities available in that category.

  computer discovery: keyboard, mouse, different mouse gesture, ...
  algebra: table memory, enumeration, double entry table, mirror image, ...
  science: the canal lock, the water cycle, the submarine, electric simulation ...
  geography: place the country on the map
  games: chess, memory, connect 4, oware, sudoku ...
  reading: reading practice
  other: learn to tell time, puzzle of famous paintings, vector drawing, cartoon making, ...

Currently GCompris offers in excess of 100 activities and more are being developed. GCompris is free software, that means that you can adapt it to your own needs, improve it and, most importantly, share it with children everywhere.

GCompris won the Free Software Awards that took place in France in the town of Soisson the 24 May 2003.

GCompris is part of the GNU project which is recognized by the Friends of the World Treasures. You can find GCompris in the list of software maitained by the FSF and the Unesco.

This software is distributed under the GNU GPL V3 License. It’s an official GNU package. GCompris works on GNU/Linux, MacOSX, Windows and other Unix version.

GCompris is provided WITHOUT ANY WARANTIES. It’s a free software, you are welcome to redistribute it under the term of the GNU GPL licence.

In GCompris, a special attention is made to keep the user interface simple and the graphics pleasant. While simple, GCompris is very addictive for the kids, even the youngest. The kid can discover the activities alone, but the help of a parent or teacher can be needed to help the kid go further.

You can see the screenshots for all the activities

GCompris runs fine on the PC 233MHz with 64MB of memory. It needs about 150MB of disk space. GCompris can be used on smaller configuration by using the light client technology used with GNU/Linux (X-Terminals).

It exists different software solution for using GCompris in thin client environment, all based on the excellent work of LTSP.

The main GNU/Linux distribution that targets schools are Edubuntu, AbulEdu, SkoleLinux and Freeduc.

  A comic explaining how GCompris is used in Namibia.
  ITworld: Defeat the Windows Monopoly, Teach Your Kids Linux
  A case study from the European Commission . GCompris usage in a Slovak school
  Use of GCompris in a nursery school in Extremadura (Spain)
  Using GCompris in a belgium school
  Using GCompris in an Italian school. In Italy again a documentation of GCompris.
  Training futur teachers in computer class in Slovakia
  In April 2002, an article in French as been published in Linux Magazine France.
  To know more on Ofset and GCompris : (In French) Free software from Ofset supported by the UNESCO

  Childsplay has a similar approach of GCompris but it’s based on the Python language and the pygame library (SDL based). It works on GNU/Linux and Windows
  The KDE Edutainment Project: high-quality educational software for the K Desktop Environment
  New Breed Software have Open Source software available for a variety of platforms, including Windows, Macintosh, Linux, Unix, BeOS, and even PDAs and video game systems!. Especially the famous tuxpaint
  Another application for the youngest, PySyCache teaches children to use the mouse.