Kids' sites on the World Wide Web are as varied as the kids they're
trying to reach. Some are specific to preschoolers, others to preteens and
teens. All offer activities for kids that complement the teachings of teachers
and parents. So, sit down with your child, take out your mouse and start
clicking away at the following sites. School was never like this!
For a
different searching experience, try Ask Jeeves for
Kids. It's a quick, easy and fun way to search for answers online. Just
type in a question in plain English like
"who's the Prime Minister of Canada". Ask Jeeves
for Kids will confirm your question then take you to only one web site that
answers your question. That's all there is to it.
http://www.benjerry.com/yule/index.html
Ben and
Jerry, the ice cream guys from Vermont U.S.A. have added a new flavour to their
roster: Yuletide Stuff. Read about the origins of Christmas and how
evergreens, holly and mistletoe came to be a part of the celebration; Find out
why Hanukkah is also spelled Chanukah and why it is more of a celebration than
a religious holiday; Learn how Kwanzaa an African-American holiday started in the United
States in 1966; and what exactly is meant by the Winter Solstice. Great links to other sites for more info. "Habari gani"
anyone?
This
site is billed as a SuperSite for Kids, is a well
designed, easy to follow website with activities ranging from the preschooler
to the teenager. The owners' commitment to appropriate content and kid friendly
sites makes this website as safe as is possible on an ever- changing Internet.
In keeping with this philosophy, there is no two-way chat area. Bonus.com has
hundreds of activities which at times can be overwhelming. There is so much at this
site that parents, teachers and especially kids will each find something to
come back to over and over again. Set aside a couple of hours and check out
this site.
Here's
the place to find out if you've been naughty or nice. Just type in your
first or full name and an instant report of what Santa Claus has written about
you on his naughty or nice list appears. You can also learn the top ten ways to
make the naughty list, and the top ten ways to
make the nice list. Go over to Mrs. Claus' kitchen and find out elf
bedtime snacks, Santa's favourites and reindeer cravings. Send Santa a
letter, then click on the Santa tracker and find out where's he's been and when
he's coming to your house.
But, you
better be nice!
Whoever
said that computers and the Internet were for boys, has never visited Club Girl
Tech. This great site offers girls ages 12 to 18 a place to interact with other
girls, learn about women inventors, sports figures and girl views. One feature
I found intriguing was the ability to send a letter to a foreign friend in
their own language. This site translates it for you. Bonne chance!
http://www.cyberkids.com
http://www.cyberteens.com/ctmain.html
Are
you a budding composer, writer or artist looking for a place to publish your
masterpiece? This site, created by Mountain Lake Software, Inc., offers kids
and teens the opportunity to submit their work online and also the chance to
enter writing and art contests, and chat with other teens.
Give your
brain a fun workout. Use your math skills to score runs in math baseball
or
field
goals in power football. Need to fine tune your spelling? Then
check out the
Spellaroo and the Spell Check games. Think you know your
way around the world?
Where
is that? will test those brain cells. These
games and more will give your brain the workout it needs.
Need
activities for your preschooler and kindergarten child? This regularly updated
site, uses Java applets to engage your child in activities such as connect the
dots, jigsaw puzzles, letter and number matching, food groups and more. It may
take a while to load the Java applet, depending on your computer, but the wait
is well worth it. Go ahead and connect those dots!
Once
in this site, it's easy to understand why over 100,000 kids between the ages of
4 and 15 in 75 countries around the world have participated in KidsCom activities. I like this site for its emphasis on
online safety, educational activities and fun. The graffiti wall chat area is
monitored with consequences outlined for inappropriate language. There is an
Internet safety game, areas to read and write stories and an opportunity to
send messages that concern kids worldwide to some very important people and
organizations. There's also a chance to earn points for prizes on completion of
certain activities.
http://www.eduplace.com/kids
http://www.eduplace.com
The
people at the Houghton Mifflin Company know how to put together a content rich,
easy to follow website. It's actually two websites in one. The education place
link is a great place for parents and teachers to find great sources of math,
language arts and social studies activities, projects and other links. The
after school clubhouse site has great educational games, book reviews, brain
teasers, word finds and scavenger hunts, which also gives kids the chance to
win great prizes. There are a lot of contests, good emphasis on authors and
books and a great geography game called GeoNet that
lets you compete with other kids on the Internet.
Never
judge a person until you've walked in their shoes--never judge a web site until
you've
checked out its links! At first glance this web site doesn't offer many
Native
resources.
Three prominent links in the middle of the page offer some information, but no
gems. All that changes by scrolling down to the bottom
of the screen to Native Links.
Behind
this link lies a goldmine. Hundreds of well laid out links, organized
into 13
categories makes this a must see site for anyone doing a
research project on our First Nations.
AT&T
VIRTUAL CLASSROOM
http://www.att.virtualclassroom.org/
AT&T
Virtual Classroom 1999-2000 is bigger and better than ever! Now
in
its fourth successful year, this fun, innovative program brings
together
primary and secondary students in a unique and stimulating
environment
that simulates a real classroom.
It's
all via the Internet, and it's all free! Your students can learn to:
-
communicate and work with people from different cultures
-
improve typing, language proficiency and writing skills
-
research, analyze and solve problems
-
delegate and carry out tasks
-
work in teams and make group decisions
- use
the Internet to communicate and research
-
plan, design and create web pages
Studyweb is a very easy site to navigate for homework and
research information. There is a collection of over 73,000 links here
which can be quickly searched with studeyweb's own
search engine. A new feature is a study buddy
dubbed "The Researcher's Virtual Companion". Here you
can quickly access 18 tools to help in your research including a calculator, fact book, daily news, maps,
dictionaries and more. Who says doing homework has to be boring!
Yahooligans!
is the kid friendly search engine of the popular Yahoo! web site.
8 main
subject
categories and sub categories are easily and quickly searchable by clicking on
their links or entering a key word in the search box. Check out
Yahooligans' Cool, What's New and Club Yahooligans! buttons.
Here you'll find the latest web sites, latest news, contests and what's really
cool on the web.