KIDS
Backto 1997 EDUCATIONAL LINKS... by Nanis
http://legowww.homepages.com/
Weh-hey, new product lines, projects and heaps ofconstruction ideas. Toys for children of all ages.
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http://www.azc.com/client/enn2/ycn.htm
A series of kid-related links form the American NationalChildren's coalition, this is a useful starting place forteachers and parents of children on the Net. Also included is alink to Kid City a forthcoming online town complete with zoo andmall.
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http://www.wbanimation.com/
You can impress the kids with this while secretly visitingall your favourite Warner Brothers characters. There areShockwave goodies, including a join-the dots game, and plenty ofpictures to download. Sadly the site is very graphics-intensiveand not really suitable for those with a slow connection.
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http://www.morning.com/
Tomorrow's Morning is a peppy kids-centred newspaper, whichis very well-designed and nicely illustrated. Predictably it'seditorial focus is mainly from an American perspective but thetop stories do thankfully tend to cover world events with famineand environmentalism featuring alot. Its reporting is fine-tuned,well-targeted and written in a responsible way without beingpatronising. This is definitely an interesting alternative forprising your eleven-year-old away from the Independent.
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You've probably heard that the White House presence has beentotally revamped and coming out tops this time is the section,the White House for Kids. It's really the same kind of stuff asfor grown-ups but somewhat simplified and with a kind of cartoonyinterface hosted by someone even more famous than the Presidenthimself Ü Socks, the White House cat. Socks does a VIP tour ofthe building, throwing in odd bits of history and funny facts andgiving a special mention to past pets and children who've livedthere. Lastly, mailing President Clinton is still much the same.It's great fun to do and replies are guaranteed and alwaysprompt.
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http://www.scholastic.com/public/msb/msb.html
Zany school teacher in blatant advertorial product placementfor Scholastic's Magic School Bus series of books, videos andCD-Rom. Based on the adventures of wacky science mistress, MsFrizzle and barmy sidekick, Liz the Lizard, these pages do a verygood job at pretending to be informative, full and fun. They'renot. Ms Frizzle's class outings are about volcancos, bodymechanics, space rocks and bats, but you'll be hard pressed tofind her wise words on any of those subjects featured anywhere onthe site. Instead you get a precis of episodes from the Magic BusTV series, a list of books and multimedia tools. Entertainment isprovided by a couple of colouring book print outs, an easy-peasyword game and also an art gallery of children's paintings anddrawings, which is actually pretty fantastic and the mostrewarding bit of all.
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http://www.jotto.com
Space Monkey is the fictional alter ego of the plucky littleape that NASA sent into orbit before anyone else dared go. J.Otto Seibold and Vivian Walsh have created some superb SpaceMonkey picture book illustrations around their character andadded some little lessons about travelling in space. Click on theplanets and odd little facts appear. There are also some quirkyaccounts of other animals who've been launched 'out there', butthe real stars are the pictures which make you want to buy thebooks. See also the front covers of Mr Lunch Takes a Plane Rideand Mr Lunch Borrows a Canoe.
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http://www.tcc.co.uk
Largely modelled on hugely successful cybersoap, The Spot,No.1 Trouble Street is a sort of UK teen version - the Web hits'Hollyoaks'. Brought to you twice weekly, by TCC (The Children'sChannel) it follows the lives of chirpy kids presenter-types,Arabella, Marvin and Josie. Pretty uninspiring, it looks good butlacks a decent plotline (Josie and Arabella go shopping -please!) and needs a stronger narrative device (it's in poorlywritten diary form). Online soaps are difficult to do well, theappeal of this one easily palls.
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http://www.indigo.ie/local/mikero/
Journalist/detective Mike learned his craft watching NYPDBlues, the X-Files and Murder One. His ambitions are to star inan episode of the X-Files, win a year's supply of free cola andget a girlfriend. Born on the Net, his distinguishing feature isthat he looks like (how did you guess?) a microphone. This simplebut entertaining serial follows his adventures as he tries totrack down and catch his arch-enemy, the slippery Jason Ratz.
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http://www.lego.com/world/windsor/
Less scary than Alton Towers and not as plastic as Disney(well, more plastic, less synthetic), Legoland opened earlierthis year on the site of the old Windsor Safari Park. This is theonline version of its brochure and includes practical details anddescriptions of the park's various areas Ü Miniland is where themodel towns and cities are, while the Wild Woods are more of anadventure playground. However, I couldn't find any ticketinformation, perhaps because entrance prices are ratherexpensive?
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http://www.klutz.com/
Are you a complete klutz? Answer correctly or evenincorrectly and you begin bungling your way into an excellentsite full of bouncing cup cakes, rubber chickens, silly songs toplay on a touch tone phone and stupid tricks to tease all yourfriends. To reach all this you first have to learn to juggle(well sort of) and then search for the light switch to illuminatethe first room. Clicking on some of the stuff that's lying aroundgets you to all kinds of places (including the catalogue forKlutz Books). It may be a publisher's playground but honestlyit's not that kind of site Ü it's thrilling, funny and, to usean irritating cliche, for kids of all ages.
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http://www.vsa.cape.com/~powens/Kidnews.html
A great idea in need of some direction is the most flatteringthing to be said about ISN KidNews, because there seems to besome dissension about what actually makes news. Children areencouraged to post stories from all parts of the world aboutwhat's happening to them, but these can range from experiencingthe biggest blizzard ever in Pennsylvania to buying a new horse!Obviously establishing an appropriate news agenda is just one ofthe things this site should help children to do. To this end somepointers on content would be useful, different sections might bea good idea and general requests for information (like people whowant surveys filled in) should definitely be banished elsewhere.
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http://www.hyperman.com/
A toss up category-wise between Kids and Education because itbrilliantly combines both, Hyperman is a nerdy half-wit comicbook superhero and he and a couple of his friends have created awhole fun-size, brightly coloured world. It has educationalfiil-in word games, solutions supplied by funky sounding audiofiles, silly science facts about farting and other gaseoussubstances, as well as quick quizzes that are genuinely fun.Becoming a member means adopting an agent name (which means achild is less likely to give out personal details) and allowsaccess to, amongst other things, personal email. Each agent issent on missions, usually to do with stuff elsewhere on the site,and every child is, er, 'tested' or debriefed when they get back.Children will actually jump at the chance of joining. Happyadventures with Hyperman!
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http://www.hipmag.org/
Aimed at eight to 14-year-olds deaf and hard-of-hearingchildren, HiPMag Online features things to do, Web sites toexplore and QuickTime video clips with subtitles. Sensitive toits readers' needs but never patronising, the site has animaginative attitude towards the Web and supports parents andteachers too. Bright, upbeat and positive, this is a totallyexcellent ezine for all kids.
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http://www.netlink.co.uk/users/2ndhand/kids/
UK-based Growing Pains urges parents whose little ones arebecoming bigger and bigger to have a clear-out and get rid ofthose old clothes, toys, buggies and bottles by advertising themonline. Ads are free, goods are categorised by type and there'seven a section called 'Wanted by children'. However, a quickperusal suggests that Growing Pains is very much in its infancyand the Internet market in second-hand carrycots has yet to takeoff. However, it's a nice idea, so what about trying to find ataker for those Baby Gap baby-grows or that Ninja Turtleknapsack?
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http://www.demon.co.uk/eureka/index.html
Disappointingly un-hands-on experience from the fantasticallyinteractive, kids' mini-science museum, Eureka!, in Halifax. Atthe museum, under 12s are encouraged to discover how the bodyworks by picking a giant nose or to examine the world ofcommunications by designing a newpaper front page. Unfortunatelythe opportunity to extend this informal and exciting learningproject has been sadly wasted Ü dull descriptions, poor qualityimages etc. but as an advert for the kind of exciting stuff onoffer in the museum it's okay.
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http://www.jayi.com/jayi/Fishnet/Edge/
Level-headed teen types spout sensibly on post-pubertypastimes and issues.
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http://www.magnet.com/chopsuey/
It often pays to try things out before you fork out for aCD-Rom, so Chop Suey's page lets you sample some of the sounds,music, stories and games that come with one of tits CDs. Thesoftware on offer is kind of unique in that it's aimed primarilyat girls (although if nobody told you, you wouldn't know) andit's sort of silly in an interactive learning kind of way. Oneword game allows you to fill in the gaps with nouns, adjectives,a verb and so on Ü the first ones that pop into your head.Submit it and a barmy story materialises using all the wordsyou've chosen, and there's plenty more.
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http://www.cd-mom.com
The extra earnest and caring, crazy mixed up kid approach toparenting can be a bit off-putting at first, but this is anAmerican site after all. It's not so much for kids as Mom and Dadand includes reviews of educational software, a column that helpsyou to raise socially intelligent children (apparently the latestpsychology buzz-acronym is EQ which means 'emotional quotient'!),and if that isn't all too much for you, there's an Any Kid Can Bea Hero challenge. Join in with a rousing rendition of the Any KidCan Be A Hero song. Hey, it's American after all.
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http://www.coolsite.com/arworld.html
Not detailed enough for grown-ups but kids will love thisspot. Just click on a world map and it takes you through to basicinformation about that country. Some of the data is held at thissite and some links take you to local servers. Fun andinformative.
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http://isil.lloke.dna.fi/akt
A useful first port of call for any youngster investigatingnewsgroups. alt.kids-talk is basically just an FAQ and an archivefor those posting to this particular group. Children, and theirparents, should find it a friendly and reassuring introduction towhat is a potentially alienating experience. Not all newsgroupsare a shouty free for all. The page includes a list of regularposters, a link to their FTP site and some photos from analt.kids-talk excursion in early Summer in the UK, FAQ etc.
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http://www.aha-kids.com/
A big yellow welcome greets this kids site from Aha, whichaims to entertain and educate children, pre-school and up.There's plenty here, too, in a sub-Sesame Street kinda way. Fiveto 12-year-olds hungry for science should get a whiff of theWufniks (OK, what's YOUR scientist's name?) for interactivequestions about earthquakes and ID-ing pix of butterflies andmoon landings, plus the Wufniks have their very own theme song(yuuuch!), playable on RealAudio. Sure there's marketing stuff,but there's some good fun, too. Kids Only is a BB just for themand Ddog's for toddlers who can print out drawings to colour in,while older kids get the hypertexted story of Mia Miaow, anextraordinary girl detective who's part witch and can change intoa cat.
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http://www.randomhouse.com/site/seuss2/
Goofy official site for cult kids author, Dr Seuss Ü hisABCs, 123s and that cheeky chappie, The Cat in the Hat! Mainly acartoon-heavy catalogue of children's titles and CD-Roms butchildren can submit their own Seuss-style characters or chat withthe Cat in the Hat himself. Er...yeah!
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http://www.actionman.com/
A site for the No.1, best-selling boy's toy Ü a doll. Everyboy's childhood hero and every girl's favourite bit of rough, butwhat's the site like? It's like joining the Territorial Army.Visitors are enlisted to help Action Man complete four missions.Collect four separate passwords and you can use them to enter a'real' competition. Expertly executed and perfectly pitched, it'sfull of thrills, spills and top spy-type accessories. Hang aroundand the nasty Dr X starts to sabotage the site Ü really! There'salso a full catalogue, top screensaver (for Windows), fact fileetc. Train that eagle eye!
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http://www.harpercollins.com/kids/
Digital Smidgital Ü we still want our kids to read booksdon't we? HarperCollins has created a children's book site,mercifully free of in-your-face advertisements but packed withstuff on how books are made, new writers and titles and topicalreading, along with some downloadable songs and poems.
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http://www.en-garde.com/kidpub/
This is a place where children can publish their stories orpoems, in fact any kind of creative writing. There is plenty ofother people's stuff to read for ideas, just don't expect thenext PD James or a budding Martin Amis.
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http://www.ex.ac.uk/~gjlramel/bchp.html
If you've been to The World of Insects Web site and want tohave a little more hands-on fun, this site introduces children tothe UK-based Bug Club, its newsletter and uniquely British, BluePeterish approach.
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http://plaza.interport.net:80/kids-space/
The onus really has to be on parents to help their childrenput up the kinds of things they want in this space. Pictures andstories are all welcome and kids can correspond with one anotherby way of bulletin boards and email pen-pals. It's colourful,inviting and, of course, interactive Ü all in all a great way ofdeveloping online skills. And if you're having trouble gettingyour kids to practise the piano, then encourage them to listen toother children playing their party pieces. Take Douglas Petry,aged 7, and his trumpet rendition of I Just Can't Wait To Be Kingor Kaitong Ariel Yu in Hong Kong who, aged 2 years 9 months, doesa darn fine version of Michael Row The Boat Ashore. It'sdifferent when they're your own.
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http://www.manymedia.com/show-n-tell/
Virtual version of the American classroom classic, wherechildren get the chance to show off some of their paintings,pictures or favourite possessions (no, honey, not your deadcockroach collection) to other children around the world.
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http://www.digimark.net/iatech/books/mbstoc.htm
Page by page, screen by screen picture book about theadventures of, you've guessed it, my blue suitcase. Kinda cutewhen it comes to leaving the little one in front of the computer,but completely useless as a bedtime story. Who can see theircomputer when they're lying in bed?
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An extraordinarily dull promotion for a 314 page, $22.99 bookcalled Internet For Kids. Stressing the educational benefits morethan anything else, because we all know learning can be fun(natch), it's guaranteed to turn you into an irritatingnellie-knowall of a parent, who bangs on about how well Josh orJemina is doing with their adventures in cyberspace.
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http://www.dole5aday.com/
Meet Bobby Banana, Barney Broccoli, Pamela Pineapple and RayRaisin. With the help of the Dole 5 a day nutrition plan, kidsare invited to have fun with fruit and vegetables, and encouragedto eat 5 pieces of fruit and veg a day. Recipes, games and achart to chalk up your success. HHmmm, what's in it for the Dolefood company? Rah rah rah!
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