Interesting and Educational Web Pages for Children? 450
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?"
Noggin (Score:4, Informative)
I personally think this thing is pretty cool... (Score:4, Informative)
Old link lives! (Score:5, Informative)
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)
Try this... (Score:2, Informative)
how stuff works (Score:2, Informative)
Re:Noggin (Score:4, Informative)
Volcanos!!!! (Score:5, Informative)
Volcanoworld [und.edu]
Howstuffworks.com (Score:1, Informative)
Orisinal.com (Score:5, Informative)
safeplaces.net (Score:4, Informative)
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)
Yes, I work for them.
ABC Kids (Score:2, Informative)
http://www.abc.net.au/children
Easy one (Score:4, Informative)
BadAstronomy.com [badastronomy.com]
For science, check out: (Score:2, Informative)
Good Site....If You've Got Earplugs (Score:3, Informative)
neopets.com (Score:2, Informative)
sites (Score:4, Informative)
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.
the abc kids programs and links to links kidsstuff (Score:5, Informative)
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.ht
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]
27 and still hooked on cartoonnetwork.com games (Score:2, Informative)
"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 games available on cartoonnetwork.com hard to resist. If you wanna get the addicted to good stuff (of course), that IS the place.
Seriously? (Score:1, Informative)
http://canada.gc.ca/cdns/children_e.html#kid
h
http://www.nlc-bnc.ca/kids/
h
http://www.civilizati
http://www.virtualmuse
http://kids.discovery.com/
http://pbskids.or
http://www.howstuffworks.com/
http://www.nati
http://www.yahooligans.com/
http://scholastic.ca/
http
http://www.squeakland.org (Score:2, Informative)
How to post links (Score:1, Informative)
#a href ="http://www.google.com">Google #/a>
will give you:
Google [google.com]
but umm, those #'s should be a less than sign because i don't know how to make slashdot NOT make the first into the actual link!
BrainPOP (Score:2, Informative)
easy enough (Score:1, Informative)
And good luck! Teaching kids and having fun at the same time is w-a-y-y-y-y cool. Explore the links together, see which ones THEY like.
Got a spare box? do a little "install fest" to get started, let THEM click here and there and fill in what they want, then get online and get started. Sort of one thing leads to another leads to another.
Loved that old PBS show "connections", BTW.
Squeakland (Score:1, Informative)
Try Squeakland [squeakland.org] From their site:
(who modded up the stupid "slashdot.org" posts so people don't see relevant ones from ACs?)
Try these: (Score:1, Informative)
http://www.whyville.net (geared to younger kids)
http://pumas.jpl.nasa.gov/ (Practical Uses of Math and Science, generally grade 3 and up)
Re:Easy one (Score:2, Informative)
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.
From the American Library Association (Score:3, Informative)
[ala.org]
Web Sites for Kids from the American Library Association.
Have fun.
Re:How to post links (Score:1, Informative)
ampersand+g+t+; = greater than sign
Use the source, luke.
<a href="http://www.google.com">Google</a>
My 2 year old toddler loves... (Score:2, Informative)
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 has a great kids site too (Score:2, Informative)
no!! not straight dope! (Score:3, Informative)
I think it's much more approporiate to suggest something that informative and *safe*, like an educational site such as Britney Spears guide to Semiconductor Physics [britneyspears.ac].
pbskids.org (Score:3, Informative)
Science is How Stuff Works (Score:3, Informative)
I usually find out some cool stuff too :)
Prongo.com (Score:4, Informative)
lii.org (Score:2, Informative)
A few moments of searching there found some likely winners:
Space Place [nasa.gov]
The Kids on the Web [zen.org]
Kids' Castle [si.edu]
8 Years of The Internet Public Library (Score:1, Informative)
some sites our kids regularly visit (Score:2, Informative)
http://candystand.com/ (not much educational there)
http://pbskids.org/
http://planethotwheels.com/
The coolest link is http://www.juniornet.com/ it's a client you download and can let the kids roam freely within it.. even has a safe form of email... it's very cool.
Re:Big Idea Fun (Score:2, Informative)
Big Idea Fun [bigideafun.com]
Sorry About that.
My kids' favorites..... (Score:2, Informative)
http://www.howstuffworks.com/
http://www.space
http://spaceflight.nasa.gov/ (was better for the kids before January, but still lots of great archival stuff)
http://www.exploratorium.org/
http://www