BrainPop (stylized as BrainPOP) is a group of educational websites founded in 1999 by Avraham Kadar and Chanan Kadmon, based in New York City.The Certificate of Incorporation of Brainpop.com, LLC was filed with the Secretary of State of the State of Delaware on December 31, 1999. Search Brainpop.com, LLC , Department of State: Division of Corporations, State of Delaware, accessed March 29, 2016 the websites host more than 1,000 short animated movies for students in grades K–8 (ages 5 to 14), together with quizzes and related materials, covering the subjects of science, social studies, English, math, engineering and technology, health, arts and music. In 2022, Kirkbi A/S, the private investment and holding company that owns a controlling stake in The Lego Group, acquired BrainPop.
BrainPop is used in schools and by homeschoolers in the U.S. and several other countries, where it offers videos in local languages that are designed for students in those countries. The site is available by subscription but has some free content, including a movie of the day, several movies from each topic area, educators' materials and games. Its content can also be accessed using its smartphone and tablet applications.
Most of the videos feature the characters Tim and Moby."Seen on Saturday – September 29th, 2007" . ABC News, September 27, 2007 The videos and other materials are aligned to state education standards and designed to engage students and assist teachers and homeschoolers. In addition to BrainPop.com for older children, the company offers BrainPop Jr. for younger children (grades K-3); BrainPop Español; BrainPop Français; BrainPop ELL for non-native speakers learning English; BrainPop Educators, a free site for teachers and parents to post materials like lesson plans and interact with BrainPop and each other; GameUp, a library of educational games; and My BrainPop, a tool for students and teachers to record learning accomplishments.
Description of the site
Company history
BrainPop.com LLC was founded in 1999 by Avraham Kadar, an immunologist and pediatrician, to explain medical concepts to his young patients using animation,BrainPop: About Us . Retrieved February 17, 2010. and co-founded by Chanan Kadmon, who served as the company's president, acting CEO and an executive producer, leaving BrainPop in 2003.BrainPop: Founders . Retrieved February 17, 2010 In 2009, Kadar reorganized the company as BrainPOP LLC. The BrainPop websites display animated, curriculum-based content that supports educators, and are intended to be fun and motivational for students to watch.Web Resources . Columbia University Teachers College. Retrieved March 3, 2010. The sites' movies cover the subjects of science, social studies, English, mathematics, engineering and technology, health, as well as arts and music., NorthJersey.com, January 20, 2012 The sites also access educational games."Free Animated Movies for Black History Month" . Newsday, February 4, 2007 As of 2022, BrainPop is used in two thirds of U.S. school districtsMollenkamp, Daniel. "Lego's Parent Company Acquires Edtech Firm BrainPOP", EdSurge, October 11, 2022; and Shulman, Sohie. "BrainPOP's mind-blowing deal: Israeli founder nets $875 million from deal with Lego", Calcalistech.com, October 18, 2022 and in many schools outside the U.S., as well as by parents, homeschoolers and others.Richards, Anne. "Why You Should Be Paying Attention to BrainPOP" , Kidscreen.com, October 6, 2014 Kadar served as CEO from BrainPop's founding until 2019, when Scott Kirkpatrick was named CEO."BrainPOP Appoints Scott Kirkpatrick as CEO" , Citybizlist, September 12, 2019 As of 2011, BrainPop hosted more than 11 million unique visits each month. BrainPop uses an in-house team of educators, animators and writers to produce and continually update the sites, incorporating teacher and parent input.
The site's resources include BrainPop.com, for grades 3–8 and up (ages 9 and up) and BrainPop Jr., for grades K-3 (ages 5 to 9). The sites also offer movies in several languages for regional markets aligned to local educational standards.BrainPop profile at Web100.com"BrainPop" , Edsurge, accessed December 23, 2014 The site's interactive resource for teachers and homeschoolers, BrainPop Educators, features tips, tools and best practices by and for educators."BrainPop Educators: A New Resource With Free Tips, Tools & Ideas" . Ed Tech Show Daily, January 22, 2009. Retrieved March 3, 2010. My BrainPop is a tool for students and teachers to record learning accomplishments, and teachers can track students' progress. In 2009, BrainPop introduced BrainPop ELL (originally called BrainPop ESL), targeted at students learning English as a second language. Schools and parents can use the site to help shape the student's curriculum.Seltzer, Sarah. "'Pop' Movies that Educate", New York Family magazine, May 2007, pp. 108–09. Retrieved March 3, 2010. BrainPop's free GameUp website contains online games from third-party game publishers that coordinate with the BrainPop, BrainPop Jr. and BrainPop ELL curricula.Estrada, Victoria. "GameUp with BrainPop" , New Media Consortium, August 3, 2012
BrainPop movies may be used to introduce a new lesson or topic, to illustrate complex subject matter concisely, or for review before a test. Content is aligned to USA state education standards and is searchable by topic or state standard."Interview with BrainPop's Allisyn Levy" , Teachhub.com In addition to movies, the site displays quizzes, educational games, experiments and other related content that students can use interactively to reinforce the lessons in the movies."BrainPop Turns Dads Into Geniuses" , Rare Bird Articles, August 18, 2003 BrainPop products are compatible with PCs, Macs, projectors and interactive whiteboards, as well as applications for tablets and smart phones. No downloading, installation or special hardware is required.Dawson, Carolyn J. "Apple iPad Gets Free Educational App from BrainPop" . TMCnet, April 6, 2010, accessed August 20, 2010; Smart, Gavin. "Students learning independently using the BrainPOP UK App" , Smarter Learning, November 2, 2012; BrainPop Tour The movies feature recurring characters such as the robot Moby, Tim (a teenager, at BrainPop) and Annie (a younger girl, at BrainPop Jr.). Most of the movies begin with the characters responding to correspondence and end humorously, often with Tim getting annoyed at Moby or vice versa.
After the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic, BrainPOP offered free access to the site to affected families, teachers and schools."Free BrainPOP Access During School Closures" , eSchool News, March 20, 2020; and "Make Any Room a Classroom" , BrainPOP, 2000, accessed March 30, 2020 According to Kadar, traffic and subscriptions to its websites greatly increased.Karmel, Yoghev. "Educate kids about the pandemic and they will teach the adults, says BrainPOP founder", CTech, July 25, 2020
On October 11, 2022, Kirkbi A/S, the private investment and holding company that owns a controlling stake in Lego, acquired BrainPop for $875 million. Kirkpatrick continued to act as BrainPOP's CEO, and Kadar remained on the board of directors; the same team continued to operate BrainPop independently. BrainPop was a nominee for a Shorty Award in 2025."Moby's Silver Anniversary", 17th Annual Shorty Awards, 2025 In 2026, the Trump administration posted a video depicting the BrainPop characters Tim and Moby wearing MAGA hats and promoting the administration's efforts to dismantle the U.S. Department of Education; the post drew a Community Note on X stating that the administration's video is not a publication of BrainPop, which "creates non-partisan" animations "and prohibits unauthorized use of its characters".Wolf, J. D. "Community Note Bursts White House BrainPOP Tweet"], MeidasTouch Network, August 26, 2026 BrainPop responded to the video by posting a lesson with Tim and Moby introducing the topic of copyright.Dickerson, Truman. "The White House posted a video of Tim and Moby in MAGA hats. Their creators responded with a copyright lesson.", Business Insider, August 28, 2026
Reputation "BrainPOP has built a reputation for quality, thoughtfulness, and robust support for teachers". BrainPop and its products have earned numerous awards and recognition from Common Sense Media, Association of Educational Publishers, District Administration magazine, Forbes magazine, Association for Library Service to Children, Association of Educational Publishers, Digital Innovation in Learning Awards, Tech & Learning Magazine, the KAPi Awards, the CODiE Awards, Apps for Homeschooling, International Serious Play Awards, Learning Magazine, EdNet's Best, Teacher's Choice Awards, eSchool News, Homeschool.com, Apple Education, the Interactive Media Awards, Teachers With Apps and Distinguished Achievement Awards, Media & Methods."Our readers' top ed-tech picks for 2012", eSchool News, January 3, 2012 A 2009 multi-grade study by SEG research, entitled "A Study of the Effectiveness of BrainPop", involved over 1,000 students in schools in Palm Beach County, Florida and New York City. The BrainPop-financed study concluded, "Students in classes using BrainPop made significant improvements compared to students in classes not using BrainPop.""A Study of the Effectiveness of BrainPop" . SEG Research, 2009. Retrieved August 20, 2010.See also Rosen, Yigal (Faculty of Education, University of Haifa). (2009). "The effects of an animation-based on-line learning environment on transfer of knowledge and on motivation for science and technology learning", Journal of Educational Computing Research, Vol. 40(4) pp. 451–467
Reviews for the websites and movies have been favorable. A review in Common Sense Media commented: "BrainPOP is a standard-bearer for quality, self-directed online educational content. … A year's subscription is worth it because there's at least a year's worth of content for a kid to explore on BrainPOP."Villamagna, Dana. "BrainPop" (Section: Is it any good?) , Common Sense Media, November 13, 2012; Villamagna, Dana. "BrainPop, Jr." , Common Sense Media, August 30, 2012 A homeschooler wrote in Curriculum Choice: "The videos are very funny, plus they explain information in a way that is easy for kids to understand and remember. … [The quizzes are] a quick and easy way for me to see whether [the students] really grasped the material."Zechman, Megan. "BrainPOP Review" , Curriculum Choice, October 13, 2014 A review in The Reading Matrix stated: These presentations provide meaningful, standard-driven instruction and assessment [due] to the exceptional quality. … One of the best features that teachers like about BrainPop is its ease of use. … [T]he layout, webinars, and free tutorials make navigating through the tremendous amount of information a cinch. … [A] State Standards Tool … allows educators to search their state standards in order to fit different activities with appropriate standards. … [The] interactive characters … help explain concepts, design experiments, and show students how to acquire a particular skill or use the information given. … Tim and Moby have personalities of their own and are relatable, trustworthy friends to their viewers. … [the] site allows students to teach themselves.Nichter, Nicole, BrainPop review . The Reading Matrix, Volume 10, Number 1, April 2010