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The Internet Education

Interesting and Educational Web Pages for Children? 450

Posted by Cliff from the exposing-young-minds-to-the-digital-world dept.
watashiwananashidesu asks: "I am a teenager with no siblings and a a good number of little cousins. Being something of a nerd, I'm incredibly popular with these cousins, especially the ones who are 8-11. Recently, when my first cousin (female, 8) was over, I began a collection of links that she might enjoy--sites that were appropriate and fun. Now that the Cold/Flu season is over, I can expect more visits from my first, second, and third cousins, and I'm left with a dismally small collection of links (eight, to be specific) for them to peruse. Also, the few I have are unsatisfactory; they're mainly corporate sites like Barbie.com and Lego.com with a few non-corporate games mixed in. None of the sites have any educational value, least of all about the things that I really want to expose them to--science, math, literature, and computers. In fact, I especially need sites that will teach them about computers, so that they'll be able to better keep in touch with me, when we're all older. What are some good sites I can bookmark for my cousins that are: educational, appropriate for children aged 5-11, (mainly three boys and two girls), fun, not a security threat, non-corporate (though this last one is optional) Also, how can I make my friends/protégé(e)s/cousins make the best of what few links I have or manage to find?"
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Interesting and Educational Web Pages for Children? More

Interesting and Educational Web Pages for Children?

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  • Noggin (Score:4, Informative)

    by bgog ( 564818 ) on Tuesday April 15, 2003 @08:25PM (#5740486) Journal
    It's slightly corporate but a great site. www.noggin.com is the site for the kids tv channel Noggin. It has some great educational games etc. My 2 year old LOVES to play 'Pigeon patterns' with Bert on in the "play with me seseme' section.

  • Edumakation (Score:3, Insightful)

    by blitzoid ( 618964 ) on Tuesday April 15, 2003 @08:27PM (#5740493) Homepage
    The problem with finding educational sites is that when you look for 'Educational', it's almost always pointed at an older demographic (Older than 8-11, anyway.). I hear companies going on and on about how the internet is great for kids - but aside from Homework and FPS games, what is there?

    I apologize for my rambling.

    • Re:Edumakation (Score:3, Funny)

      by kmac06 ( 608921 )
      ...aside from Homework and FPS games, what is there?

      Isn't that enough? Minus the homework, I mean.

  • By far is the most researched topic online.
  • with screenshots linking to games [frob.us].

  • Old link lives! (Score:5, Informative)

    by BrynM ( 217883 ) on Tuesday April 15, 2003 @08:27PM (#5740496) Homepage Journal
    I dusted off an old Netscape Navigator 2.x bookmark list to pull this one out, but it still works!

    http://www.educationindex.com/ [educationindex.com]

    It's a site of educational links, but has categories for age group and more. Unfortunately, all the kids I used to send there are young adults now and can find stuff themselves.

  • how stuff works (Score:5, Informative)

    by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday April 15, 2003 @08:28PM (#5740501)
    www.howstuffworks.com is pretty good, though it might be for the older of your cousins.

    • another one (Score:5, Interesting)

      by trmj ( 579410 ) on Tuesday April 15, 2003 @09:31PM (#5740887) Journal
      Everybody keeps posting about howstuffworks.com, but they all seem to be missing one website that has a massive wealth of information, and discusses nearly everything encompassed by the phrase "useless knowledge":

      The Straight Dope [straightdope.com]

      A great site that explains all sorts of stuff that is helpful to kids of all ages, and even goes into some more advanced topics.

  • Try this... (Score:2, Informative)

    by Cyno01 ( 573917 )
    Bonus.com [bonus.com] not so educational, and some ads, but lots of fun games for kids ages 8 to 80. Battlefield is an especially addictive mulitplayer cartoony tank game, lots of fun.

  • Comment removed (Score:4, Funny)

    by account_deleted ( 4530225 ) on Tuesday April 15, 2003 @08:28PM (#5740504)
    Comment removed based on user account deletion

    • Re:slashdot (Score:4, Funny)

      by Pharmboy ( 216950 ) on Tuesday April 15, 2003 @09:15PM (#5740796) Journal
      What could be more educating then slashdot.org. Your cousins will learn how to spell and use appropriate grammar from CmdrTaco and other certified instructors. They will post the same story more then once to make sure you have learned everything you can from the article.

      Any teacher will tell your repetition is the key to retention.

      On a different note: Did anyone else notice that this teenager seemed to use grammer and vocabulary skills more like a 40 year old with a BA in Literature? Siblings? Correct grammer? Correct spelling? And polite as well.

      This has got to stop, you're making the rest of us look bad ;)
    • Daddy...I was on this site called Slashdot and I clicked on a link to Disneyland, and I didn't go to the Disneyland site...instead, there was a picture of this naked guy with a huge hole in his butt...eew...

  • Sorry to break it to you but... (Score:5, Funny)

    by disneyfan1313 ( 138976 ) on Tuesday April 15, 2003 @08:28PM (#5740505)
    Being something of a nerd, I'm incredibly popular with these cousins, especially the ones who are 8-11.


    Welcome to being a teenage nerd.


    Fortunatly you have started reading slashdot at a young age so you will learn all sorts of incredibly cool and geeky stuff and probably make a decent living and have cool tech toys.


    Unfortunatly being popular with cousins aged 8-11 will be a theme for your entire life.


    Enjoy!

  • how stuff works (Score:2, Informative)

    by bodrell ( 665409 )
    i assume you've already used the link howstuffworks [howstuffworks.com]? it's pretty appropriate for any age, and has a great section on computers.

  • Volcanos!!!! (Score:5, Informative)

    by AmigaAvenger ( 210519 ) on Tuesday April 15, 2003 @08:31PM (#5740525) Journal
    Just have to plug my own site. We get 1m+ per month, bookmarked by most schools, and considered one the best kid related sites for volcanoes... (and yes, we run linux!!)

    Volcanoworld [und.edu]

    • I saw the "plug my own site bit" and glanced up to sheck what your site was... http://www.rtcwclans.com/, OK. "bookmarked by most schools, and considered one the best kid related sites for volcanoes..." OK... :P

  • Make them smarter. (Score:2, Interesting)

    by 0xffffffff ( 161827 )
    When I was 12 I could have spent whole days recursing this site:

    http://www.treasure-troves.com/

    Instead I had to read real books. Drat.

  • Orisinal.com (Score:5, Informative)

    by thefinite ( 563510 ) on Tuesday April 15, 2003 @08:31PM (#5740534)
    Orisinal.com [orisinal.com]. The coolest collection of flash games you will ever find. Just have mercy on his server :)
    • Great....

      Now you've sucessfully wasted another 3-20 hours of my life...

      And please my girlfriend (she loves simple games, being somewhat simple herself (don't tell her i said that)).

      Double-sided blade i guess.

  • (mainly three boys and two girls) (Score:2, Funny)

    by Anonymous Coward
    Umm...so what, pray tell, are the rest of them?
  • http://www.cool-2b-real.com/

    See if you can figure out who sponsers it!

    (I gotta figure out how to post links as links someday)

  • safeplaces.net (Score:4, Informative)

    by Chuckaluphagus ( 111487 ) on Tuesday April 15, 2003 @08:35PM (#5740560)

    Safeplaces.net [safeplaces.net]is a beautifully done Flash animation site geared towards kids. Very good graphics and sound and lots of things to interact with on the pages. It isn't exactly educational(other than getting them comfortable with using a mouse and experimenting with an interface), but it is certainly entertaining and completely appropriate for small children.

    (And now I pray they won't get /'ed for this.)

  • How about... (Score:2, Informative)

    by kotj.mf ( 645325 )
    ...the page of the children's department at your local public library. Or mine [cincinnatilibrary.org]. Plenty of links, all nicely vetted by real live children's librarians.

    Yes, I work for them.

  • ABC Kids (Score:2, Informative)

    by steveroehrs ( 74840 )
    The Australian Broadcasting Corporation (our version of PBS) has a great kids site - lots of flash games, science pages, etc.

    http://www.abc.net.au/children

  • Try a public library's website. (Score:3, Insightful)

    by Asperity ( 9314 ) on Tuesday April 15, 2003 @08:36PM (#5740570)
    Most libraries have already tackled this topic, and provide at least some annotated links, as well as suggestions for Web directories aimed at children. For a non-local example, try the Internet Public Library's offering [ipl.org]. Your local public library probably has something similar, tailored to local interests.

  • Easy one (Score:4, Informative)

    by bravehamster ( 44836 ) on Tuesday April 15, 2003 @08:36PM (#5740573) Homepage Journal
    Nothings makes me smile more than seeing a child tell you exactly why everything in a movie is incorrect or physically impossible. I suggest getting them started with:


    BadAstronomy.com [badastronomy.com]

    • Re:Easy one (Score:2, Informative)

      by IcerLeaf ( 586564 )
      Bad Astronomy is only one of a number of "Bad Science" pages. One of my old college professors, Dr. Alistair B. Fraser, maintains a Bad Meteorology page. He also links to several other Bad Science pages.

      See Dr. Fraser's Bad Science [psu.edu] page, with links at the bottom.

      However, I do think some of the material and writing is too high-level for 8-11 year old kids.

  • A couple years ago I used to do an Internet treasure hunt called the "CyberSurfari [cybersurfari.org]." It was run by the SPA and sponsored by search engines like Lycos and Yahoo. During the hunt you would follow links through educational sites mostly targetted at children.

    Looks like they are a few weeks away from starting the Spring treassure hunt. It might be something you want to do with your cousins.

  • A great site! (Score:2, Funny)

    by Anonymous Coward
    Send them to the whitehouse.com (http://www.whitehouse.com/). It's an excellent site for learning more about the United States government. It's fun for kids too!

  • Try this (Score:3, Insightful)

    by djupedal ( 584558 ) on Tuesday April 15, 2003 @08:39PM (#5740591)
    ...set up your own page, and pepper it with family info (nothing too private), a few photos, basic family tree, vacation photoes, etc. Start with a few links to things like dictionaries, maps and some easy flash based games. Once they get the hang of things, you can add more links to the outside. Doing your own site first will allow you control, while showing an example of what they can expect, in terms of a 'good' site out on the net. Watch the logs for extraneous activity, and again, keep the personal info to a minimum. Predators always appreciate it when you make things easy for them.
  • thats easy, give them a dose of the real sex ed!

    www.sublimedirectory.com
    www.ninenine.com

    just don't click that goat something another link!!!!

  • The Exploratorium [exploratorium.edu]. Especially, the activities in the "Accidental Scientist" and "Try This!" sections. And if you're ever in San Francisco, you should visit it. Lots of hands on exhibits designed for kids. Can't say enough good things about it.
  • Just don't let them go to http://www.slashdot.org if you want them to learn any spelling or grammar.

    • I was just thinking how nice it was to read an entire slashdot submission without glaring spelling or grammar gaffes. I just read it a second time through and still didn't find any (if you find one, then good for you). There are usually so many in the average four-line 'article' that they jump out at me.

      Now if only we could have some /. editors who show such eloquence and good command of the language as this teenager, and/or the ability to use a spell-checker.

      =poke!= Oh! Huh? Whuzzat? Oh, sorry, I mu
  • Interesting AND educational? Now let's try to stay away from those oxymorons...

  • Good Site....If You've Got Earplugs (Score:3, Informative)

    by Snagle ( 644973 ) on Tuesday April 15, 2003 @08:43PM (#5740622)
    http://www.sfskids.org/templates/splash.asp is the san francisco symphony orchestra's kids site. It's got a cool little flash app that runs in the browser that lets kids compose their own music with a variety of different instruments. If nothing else it'll teach them a little about music and possibly get them interested in playing an instrument.

  • neopets.com (Score:2, Informative)

    by Maria D ( 264552 )
    This is a virtual pet site with MANY games and other interesting things to do. It is absolutely free and the ads are small.
  • Happy Tree Friends [happytreefriends.com].

    Nice (Flash) cartoon site. Very appropriate for kids, especially the very young, impressionable ones.

  • sites (Score:4, Informative)

    by MCS ( 202073 ) <<scherem> <at> <gmail.com>> on Tuesday April 15, 2003 @08:48PM (#5740649) Homepage
    a classic [slashdot.org]

    Now that the obvious joke is out of me, here are some more serious ideas....

    one poster mentioend why not getting them outside and do something physical. With that in mind, you can look here at yes mag [yesmag.bc.ca]. Yes Mag is a good science and engineering magazine aimed at children around your cousins age. The website has links to articles, sites and some good from hands on science/engineering activities.

    Another site I used heavily this past summer at the computer/tech camp I worked at was Space Kids [spacekids.com]

    Actually looking at the national organzation, actua, that ran the camp I've worked at just now, they also have a list of project and links you can do here: Actua Projects [actua.ca]

    If you want to teach them something about programming, I've been looking around for Logo [softronix.com] I believe this site has some good tutorial movies on how to use the program.

    There also always the Bill Nye [billnye.com], Beakmen's [lycos.com] of the world too which may be good starting grounds.
  • I used to work on a web site that gives kids access to scientists (and astronauts) at NASA through interactive chat and webcasts. Pretty fun stuff if your kid is into space or science:

    http://quest.nasa.gov/

  • http://www.scitoys.com/ (Score:3, Interesting)

    by Sanctuary ( 124701 ) on Tuesday April 15, 2003 @08:49PM (#5740658)
    http://www.scitoys.com/ [scitoys.com] Lots of information on this site.

  • the abc kids programs and links to links kidsstuff (Score:5, Informative)

    by wadiwood ( 601205 ) on Tuesday April 15, 2003 @08:50PM (#5740663) Journal
    http://www.abc.net.au/rollercoaster/ [abc.net.au] - slightly older kids maybe 10+
    http://www.abc.net.au/outthere/stuff/animal01.htm [abc.net.au] educational


    from here http://www.abc.net.au/kids [abc.net.au]abc kids
    Sesame streethttp://www.sesameworkshop.org/sesamestreet/ [sesameworkshop.org]
    Play Schoolhttp://www.abc.net.au/children/play/home.htm [abc.net.au]


    my favourite beginners site. Not specifically aimed at kids but steers well clear of nasty stuff.

    Lots of computer links

    http://www.blackstump.com.au/ [blackstump.com.au]

    From the black stumphttp://www.blackstump.com.au/kids.htm [blackstump.com.au]

    at this point you are never going to run out of links, theres links of links

    zoo flash extra cool with sounds http://www.oac.schools.sa.edu.au/oes/zoo/ [sa.edu.au]

  • Education and REAL Science for Kids (Score:5, Interesting)

    by nsample ( 261457 ) <nsample AT stanford DOT edu> on Tuesday April 15, 2003 @08:50PM (#5740664) Homepage
    www.globe.gov [globe.gov]

    A good site that kids all over the world that has kids doing real science.

    Good times, good times.

  • "Yes, officer, I confess. Hand me a piece of paper to write off my guilt.
    Twenty-seven, sir, twenty-seven and I'm still playing CartoonNetwork.com [cartoonnetwork.com] games. Even during business hours - that should be definitely added to my charges.
    Say what?
    Oh, no sir, a please pardon me for letting you down and not getting caught playing legally allowed games like: Grand Theft Auto, Quake 3, WarCraft and other. I find them... err... unrealistic. :)"

    Serious now - for kids under 9, just like me (divided by 3), I found the

  • NSA (Score:2)

    by zurab ( 188064 )
    The NSA website has an interesting kids section - it has some educational material as well as a lot of related puzzles. Kids interested in computers and/or cryptography or solving puzzles in general will enjoy it.

    Check it out http://www.nsa.gov/programs/kids/ [nsa.gov].
  • This site is a lot of fun.. [plastelina.net]

    infact, forget the kids, I love this site. It has fun games (3 are free) that are cool logic puzzles. Also, the graphic design style is reminiscent of stereolab!

  • Your particular audience is older than this, but for others who might be interested try PBS Kids [pbskids.org]. Hours and hours of entertainment for little tykes.
  • A buddy of mine turned me on to http://www.squeakland.org. [squeakland.org] Squeak provides an object oriented environment that's drag and drop, and fun to play with. Think of it like Oracle Forms, Power Builder, or VB for kids. There are published squeak projects that are fun to play with. At the same time, kids can make their own. I'm just getting my feet wet, but I expect to get my daugher (7) using it soon. And it's supported under Linux, Unix, Mac, and other, less useful, operating systems.

  • Educational links, regardless of age (Score:3, Interesting)

    by Nameles ( 122260 ) on Tuesday April 15, 2003 @08:59PM (#5740716) Homepage
    Here's where I go when _I_ want to learn.

    How Stuff Works [howstuffworks.com] - Helped with a project or two.
    So You Wanna [soyouwanna.com] - Doesn't look like it's been updated recently, a pity too. Great step-guides to doing lots of things, from good interviews to skydiving (some vague, some specific)
    Everything2 [everything2.com] - Geeks guide to everything and anything (including the kitchen sink [everything2.com])

  • hmm (Score:2)

    by odin53 ( 207172 )
    In fact, I especially need sites that will teach them about computers, so that they'll be able to better keep in touch with me, when we're all older.

    What makes you think you'll still know computers better than them when you're all older?

  • M-x mail (Score:3, Funny)

    by 10am-bedtime ( 11106 ) on Tuesday April 15, 2003 @09:05PM (#5740736)
    forget websites and all that crap. you want to turn a mind towards the art of programming (arguably a superset of education itself, if one applies the techniques selfwards)?

    • make sure you're on the net and your MTA is properly configured;
    • start emacs [gnu.org];
    • type M-x mail RET and enter a short message, like "hi";
    • type C-c C-c to loose your missive upon the world;
    • retrieve the mail and look at the full headers;
    • (here's where it gets cool...) repeat, but add random "X-" headers;
    • repeat, but set env var REPLYTO or "Reply-To:" directly;
    • repeat, but w/ some elisp to do "M-x emulate-spammer-scum" (it's good to demonstrate wanton misuse of technology to plant the seed of ethics, yaknow);
    • repeat, but w/ the tetris high score file (necessarily after playing a little tetris first, of course);
    • type M-x gnus and surf alt.religion.emacs [alt.religion.emacs];
    • etc

    (ok that last one is getting into indoctrination but you've already done the corporate damage, why not a little humor in the process... :-)

    anyway, i'm always glad to see people teaching others through their good deeds. bravo! (basically the only lesson you need to teach is that you yourself know how to enjoy learning -- that is an example that sticks -- and what better way to learn than to debug --er-- program?)

  • Zeeks.com (Score:2, Interesting)

    by LinuxScribe ( 158687 )
    My 10 year-old recommended zeeks.com [zeeks.com] when I asked her this question. I scoped it, and it looks okay, though it's heavily laden with Shockwave animations.

    The Feed Your Brain section looked the most interesting for your proto-geeks.

    Peace,

    LinuxScribe

  • sodaconstructor (Score:3, Interesting)

    by jbennetto ( 41159 ) on Tuesday April 15, 2003 @09:11PM (#5740772)
    Try sodaplay [sodaplay.com], a fun applet which allows users to simulate walking creatures made from soda straws. Good for encouraging creativity and stuff.

  • BrainPOP (Score:2, Informative)

    by Asriel86 ( 547129 )
    BrainPOP [brainpop.com] It was a bit nicer when they didn't use cookies to keep you from seeing more than 3 movies a day, but very fun and educational movies about all kinds of stuff. Better than school, but what isnt?

  • SciToys (Score:2, Interesting)

    by jhudick ( 662956 )
    I haven't seen this posted yet, and even as one of legal drinkin' age, I still steal an idea here and there from it: SciToys [scitoys.com]
  • 8 might be a bit old, but I have gone to www.pbskids.org with my friends children and they absolutely love it. Their problem is that they are too young to be able to read, but there is alot of neat stuff there for a kid to fool around with and learn. A++

  • From the American Library Association (Score:3, Informative)

    by mwdib ( 56263 ) on Tuesday April 15, 2003 @09:23PM (#5740849)
    You should find this useful:
    [ala.org]
    Web Sites for Kids from the American Library Association.

    Have fun.
  • I don't have any favorites, but DMOZ has a huge selection of kid-specific links here [dmoz.org].
  • But I think PBS [pbs.org] has some of the best fun educational websites... for children AND adults. They have a spectacular design, loads of content.

    Heck, I probably spend as much time on their Frontline [pbs.org] as I do on /. I just heard a biopic was being made on pornographer Seymour Butts. If you look for the old show Frontline did called "American Porn" you can see the interesting story on how Mr... Butts is a test case for the State of CA against fisting. Mr Butts on the topic: "You stick four fingers in a person,
  • All sorts of places have great kids pages: You could try the NRA [nra.org] or the CIA [cia.gov], for instance.

    More seriously, you could try somethings like HowStuffWorks.com [howstuffworks.com] or project-oriented sites like PARTS [portlandrobotics.org] or FIRST [usfirst.org] (yes, I have a robotics bias) that could get them involved in activities beyond just websurfing.

    I'll betcha places like Smithsonian, National Geo, NPR, PBS or other traditional educational media organizations are good places to look as well. I swear BBC has a kid's oriented news page. It's just too bad 26

  • passive entertainment? (Score:3, Insightful)

    by Phoenix Dreamscape ( 205064 ) on Tuesday April 15, 2003 @09:35PM (#5740912) Homepage
    I'm disturbed by the number of people recommending flash and java games/videos. Is that really what kids are using the internet for? A high-tech television replacement?

    If the kids want to do something fun, there's got to be something more exciting than browsing the internet. But if computing is a necessity, why not teach them how to make something on their own? Creating your own flash video is a thousand times more exciting than watching someone else's. Teach them how to make their own fonts or icons or webpage. Something they can impress their friends with. It's more fun, more useful, and more educational than idly watching someone else's creativity.

    When I was 8 years old, I remember running home from school every day to play on the computer. I doubt a day has gone by since then that I haven't used a PC. But the things that stick out the most are my own creations. Things like drawing a picture with an ANSI graphics editor in DOS. It wasn't much (hell, it was FAR from much), but that sense of accomplishment of creating my very own digital art is unforgetable.

    It doesn't take much. Let them experiment with "Swish" to make some simple flash animations. Get them started with BASIC or Logo. Do anything you can to discourage New Television Generation 2.0, now better than ever.
  • Here are some useful links:

    Andrex Puppy: http://www.andrexpuppy.co.uk/flashsite/intro.html [andrexpuppy.co.uk] - a great site for younger kids. I've yet to find a kid who doesn't love it.

    Loney Tunes Teach The Internet: http://www.warnerbros.com/ltti/homepage.html [warnerbros.com] - Just what it sounds like. Lots of educational games.

    Lots of other great sites can be found via these links:

    Teachers Online [teachers-online.co.uk]

    Search-Info.Com [search-info.com]
  • Can't tell if you're down on the corporate web sites or not, but a couple that are aimed at the younger crowd are Nickelodeon [nickelodeon.com] and Cartoon Network [cartoonnetwork.com] which both have great games. Not particularly educational and the advertising can be a little annoying, but definitely good bookmarks for the "fun" category. My daugher loves them both.

  • Not very educational (although it does teach the more traditional Battleship process of elimination method), but it meets the remainder of your requirements and is quite fun.

    Battlechips [wwwattmedia.co.uk]

  • Here's a thought (Score:4, Interesting)

    by f00zbll ( 526151 ) on Tuesday April 15, 2003 @09:46PM (#5740979)
    go outside and play ball. Here's a couple more. Get some crayons, markers, pencils, pens, charcoal, pastels, water color, or oil paints and draw. Get a bowl of fruit, place it on a table, put a spot light on it and try to draw it. when you're done with that, take out some pipe cleaners and try to make stick figures playing sports or doing some activity. This one isn't as much fun, but it's rewarding. Clean up your room and help your parents around the house. It's pretty rewarding when you see them smile.

    • Re:Here's a thought (Score:3, Insightful)

      by warpSpeed ( 67927 )
      go outside and play ball. Here's a couple more. Get some crayons, markers, pencils, pens, charcoal, pastels, water color, or oil paints and draw....

      My kids do this already. Thier "TV time" is limited, on avarage, to about 1 hour per week. And that is mostly when they are not feeling well and are low energy.

      I do agree the point of your post: that most kids are not active enough and spend waaaaaay to much time inside doing passive activities. However the original question is valid. I would like to b

  • Another vote for sodaplay.com (Score:3, Interesting)

    by unfortunateson ( 527551 ) on Tuesday April 15, 2003 @09:46PM (#5740984) Journal
    It's more than just constructing walking robots... it's a laugh and a half, at how ridiculous some of these moving animations are.

    But it shows the beauty of math within nature, reduced down to a handful of lines and tension points.

    Check out Sodaplay [sodaplay.com]
  • postopia.com [postopia.com]

    toomunchfun.com [toomunchfun.com]

  • http://www.homestarrunner.com

    Not exactly educational, but it will pipe them down for hours.

    Caveat: the word "crap" is mentioned a lot, but that's the extent of the vulgarity.
  • I especially need sites that will teach them about computers, so that they'll be able to better keep in touch with me, when we're all older.

    Get them to Gentoo [gentoo.org] - the best way to learn Linux (which is the best OS so far). Lots of very good documentation, very friendly forums full of volonteering teachers, nothing related to any corporation. And don't forget to go there yourself, otherwise in a month you won't understand your cousins :)

    In the joke above there is a bit of a joke. Now seriously.

    I think th

  • More for younger kids (my daughter is 3 and loves em)

    www.noggin.com -- EXCELLENT TV network
    www.pdskids.org
  • ...the cbeebies [bbc.co.uk] site from the BBC.

    It's a collection of sub sites organised around BBC children's programmes. Most of them have flash games, stories, activities for kids etc. The parent's section [bbc.co.uk] sets out what the site is all about from an educational persepctive, plus there's a parent's newsletter you can sign up for.
  • The Patent Office [uspto.gov] has a kids page. My mother is actually a Philadelphia elementary school teacher and she used it in class once. It went well
  • Recommended by adult-check pages everywhere!
  • http://www.jinjapan.org/kidsweb/

    I'm studying Japanese at college and I came across this at one point - it's an excellent educational site about Japan aimed towards kids - it has very basic tutorials in Japanese language and it has tons of information on Japan's culture, like an interactive shockwave thing to try ikebana (the art of flower arrangement) and kimonos. It also has information about some elementary schools in Japans and messages and drawings from the students. A really great site.

  • pbskids.org (Score:3, Informative)

    by nycbrujah ( 578979 ) on Wednesday April 16, 2003 @12:08AM (#5741750)
    My 4 year old loves this site. She's always wanting to go to pbskids.org [pbskids.org]

  • Prongo.com (Score:4, Informative)

    by phong3d ( 61297 ) <phong3d AT gmail DOT com> on Wednesday April 16, 2003 @12:39AM (#5741851) Homepage
    A friend of mine runs prongo.com [prongo.com] - it's pretty much a site with counting games and other sorts of "edutainment" - probably more skewed to the younger set (maybe 3-7), but worth a look.

  • Carlos's Coloring Book (Score:5, Interesting)

    by ScottForbes ( 528679 ) on Wednesday April 16, 2003 @03:07AM (#5742275) Homepage
    I'll mention one of the oldest kids sites on the web: Coloring.com [coloring.com], a.k.a. Carlos's Coloring Book. It's exactly what it sounds like -- an online coloring book -- and it dates back to November 1994, before Shockwave and Java and all that other high-bandwidth stuff. Turn your computer into a $20 box of crayons.

  • Couple nice sites here (Score:3, Insightful)

    by MichaelPenne ( 605299 ) on Wednesday April 16, 2003 @03:18AM (#5742303) Homepage
    Education for a Sustainable Future [concord.org]
    In response to one of the key issues of the World Summit on Sustainable Development, the future of our planet's waters, we have created a comprehensive and highly interactive curriculum Common Water, Common Ground: An Exploration Into Watershed Sustainability and Stewardship and are making it available here on our website see it at: Common Waters, Common Ground.
    Foundation for Our Future [ffof.org]
    As Alan Kay once said, The best way to predict the future is to invent it. By encouraging young people to ask What kind of world do I want to create? and giving them good tools and support to find their answers - we offer the next generation a real opportunity to lead.

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