Educational means designed to teach something or related to education and learning. An educational video about volcanoes helps you understand how they form and why they erupt. An educational toy like a chemistry set or building blocks helps children learn while they play. When something is called educational, it's meant to increase knowledge or develop skills.

Schools are educational institutions, places specifically created for learning. A documentary about ancient Egypt is educational programming, different from a cartoon made purely for entertainment (though sometimes the best shows manage to be both). Libraries, museums, and science centers are all considered educational spaces because their purpose is helping people learn.

The word can describe anything with a teaching purpose: educational games, educational software, educational trips to historical sites. Sometimes people use it to describe an experience that taught them something valuable, like saying “That mistake was educational” when they learned an important lesson the hard way.

Notice that educational doesn't mean boring. The most effective educational materials make learning so engaging that students don't even realize how much they're learning. A great teacher, an exciting book, or a fascinating museum exhibit can be deeply educational while also being completely captivating.