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Educational and Entertaining Web Sites for Children
Kids Com
Subject: Games and Writing
Ages: 4-15
Organization: KidsCom (commercial site with advertisements)
This site has promise. An easy-to-understand graphical interface
leads children from one area to the next. The games are fairly simple but fun for younger
children (one even teaches Internet safety). Every week the site holds a writing contest
in which children write stories about things like a "a bear who lives in Canada and
wears a hat."While advertisements are sprinkled through the sites, they are clearly
marked with a cute little bug so that children know it is a commercial. On the negative
side, advertisements pop up that take over the entire screen and some questionnaires can
ask detailed questions (remind your children of Net Rule #1). Also, the languages options,
Spanish, Dutch, and French, were just vaporware � software that does not exist or
work as advertised � at the time this site was reviewed.
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Kids� Space
Subject: Writing, Music and Graphic Arts
Ages: 3 - 12
Organization: Kids� Space
A truly international site, Kids Space is a well-designed place
for children to get to know one another. Children can listen to recorded music and songs
from other children in different languages. They also can send in their own recordings.
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Library of Congress
Subject: Books and history
Ages: Older children
Organization: Library of Congress
This well-designed site contains catalogs of books, film, photos
and other documents. My favorite part of the site is the American Memory section, which
can be found by clicking on "American Memory" on the Library of Congress�
home page. Here, thousands of historical photos are available for viewing, as well as
special exhibits that may be of interest to older children. Links to other libraries also
are provided.
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NASA
SpaceLink
Subject: NASA and space exploration
Ages: 8 and up
Organization: NASA
Designed for educators and older children, SpaceLink covers a
wide range of NASA subjects. Children can learn about new NASA projects and see impressive
pictures of outer space.
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San Diego Zoo
Subject: Animals
Ages: All Ages
Organization: Zoological Society of San Diego
Those looking for a complete online zoo with pictures of every
animal from aardvark to zebra may be disappointed. However, the animals that are included,
such as the Pandas, are "virtually exhibited," providing much more than a few
lines of description. Educational animal games also are provided, as are animal
"postcards" that you can use to write messages to friends.
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Students for the
Exploration and Development of Space (SEDS)
Subject: Planets
Ages: 8 and up
Organization: SEDS
SEDS contains a comprehensive series of web pages devoted to
various aspects of the space program and astronomy. Use the search engine at the bottom of
the home page to conduct searches of all SEDS pages. Some of the best SEDS web pages are
those describing our solar
system. They are organized around an easy-to-follow outline of our planetary system,
complete with beautiful pictures and detailed facts about neighboring planets, moons and
the sun. The simple organization and completeness of material set it apart from many other
space oriented web sites.
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Yahooligans
Subject: Index of child friendly web sites
Ages: 6 - 12
Organization: Yahooligans is an offshoot of Yahoo and contains commercial advertisements
Yahooligans is a well managed, easily searched list of
child-friendly web sites. The list includes both educational and entertainment sites. The
"School Bell" section is especially useful to students. For example, if a child
has been given an assignment on the Declaration of Independence, he or she can click on
the School Bell category, then click on the Homework Answers category, then click on the
History category, then click on the U.S. Historical Documents category and then click a
link to the actual Declaration of Independence. This process is more intuitive than it may
sound. Some homework categories are not yet well represented. If you come across
inappropriate material here, e-mail the Yahooligans staff, [email protected], so they candelete
links to the offensive site.
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ESPNET SportsZone
Subject: Sports
Ages: All Ages
Organization: ESPN
For the sports-loving child, this is a must-see site. Scores,
articles and pictures of professional and college sports teams abound in this
well-organized site. Additional features, such as live audio broadcasts of NBA games, are
available to those willing to pay.
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Happy Puppy
Subject: Games
Ages: All Ages
Organization: Happy Puppy
Happy Puppy provides users with hundreds of computer games that
can be downloaded for a free trial period as well as games that can be purchased. Be aware
that while generally light hearted in appearance and content, some of the games are of the
graphic "shoot �em up" genre. On the other hand, educational titles and
games for young children also are available.
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Internet Gaming Zone
Subject: Games
Ages: All Ages
Organization: Microsoft
The Internet Game Zone provides free demo versions of popular
games that children can download. Better yet, it also provides a matchmaking service that
allows players to compete with one another over the Internet. Through this site, children
from all over the world can play Hearts with each other or race monster trucks.
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